UK approves £1.4bn of Saudi arms sales in six months after lifting ban, campaigners say

Most licences are for bombs and missiles – as ministers resist pressure to copy Joe Biden and end exports

(Getty Images)

The UK has licensed £1.4bn worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia since a ban was lifted last year, campaigners say – most of them bombs and missiles.

The figure is revealed as the government resists pressure to follow Joe Biden and end arms exports that fuel the “humanitarian catastrophe” of the war in neighbouring Yemen.

Liz Truss, the trade secretary, restarted sales last July – after the Court of Appeal had imposed a block – insisting any breaches of humanitarian law by the Saudis were “isolated incidents”.

Now the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) has used new official statistics to calculate that, in little more than six months since, £1.4bn of licences have been racked up.

“These new figures are shocking and once again illustrate the UK government’s determination to keep supplying arms at any cost,” said Sarah Waldron, a CAAT spokeswoman.

“UK-made weapons have played a devastating role in the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen, and the humanitarian crisis they have created, yet the UK government has done everything it can to keep the arms sales flowing.

“Even the US is curbing its arms sales, while the UK government is continuing to fuel the war.  They must change course now and work to support meaningful peace.”

The figures were released by the Department for International Trade (DIT), as the government rejected calls to follow Washington’s lead and halt arms sales to Riyadh.

Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, said the issue was the UK’s “first big test” of its international stance after Brexit.

“I encourage the UK to fully align ourselves with our closest security ally by ending arms exports connected to the war and to reverse the cuts to our overseas aid budget,” he told ministers.

But James Cleverly, a Foreign Office minister, pointed to “Yemen’s need to defend themselves and to have support from the international community to do so”.

“The UK takes its own arms export responsibilities very seriously, and we continue to assess all export licences in accordance with strict licensing criteria,” he told MPs.

Arms sales resumed last July, one day after the UK sanctioned senior Saudi figures over their suspected involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Court of Appeal had ruled the government had failed to properly assess whether incidents during the war with Yemen constituted breaches of international humanitarian law.

But Ms Truss decided the Saudis had “a genuine intent” to comply, adding there was no “clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment” would violate humanitarian law.

CAAT said the majority of approvals were “for ML4 licences which cover bombs, missiles and countermeasures”.

In total, the UK had licensed £6.8bn of arms to Saudi forces since the bombing of Yemen began in March 2015.

The government did not dispute that the £1.4bn calculation, but a spokesperson said: “The government takes its export responsibilities seriously and rigorously assesses all export licences in accordance with strict licensing criteria.”