Thank
you to constituents for writing to me about their concerns over the UK’s export
of tear gas, rubber bullets and riot shields to the US.
I
share their concerns about the deterioration in race relations in the US, and
also the spike in violence and rioting that we have seen across American
cities.
The
right to peaceful protest is a key tenet of any democracy and I have spoken in
favour of this essential right to be respected in places where there is clear
state suppression of protest and dissent, such as Hong Kong.
Some
demonstrations in the US are by and large peaceful and I do not condone the use
of force against unarmed, peaceful protestors. But where protests turn violent
and out of hand as a direct result of the actions of protestors, there are
reasonable steps that I believe any democratic and law-abiding society need to
take in order to prevent damage to property or people.
What
is also clear is that unlike places such as Hong Kong, the US has a criminal
justice system that allows for police officers to be held accountable and even
prosecuted for their actions taken against civilians.
I also note that the Secretary of State for International Trade
has now stated the following on this issue:
“UK takes its export control
responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust and
transparent export control regimes in the world. We rigorously examine each
export licence application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU
and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.
The Consolidated Criteria
provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to think hard about
the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. These are not decisions
we take lightly, and we will not licence the export of items where to do so
would be inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria
We publish information of
all export licences issued, refused and revoked on a quarterly and annual basis
as official statistics on GOV.UK. The most recent publication was in April, on
licences issued until the end of December 2019.”
Therefore,
I disagree with constituents that we need to suspend the above export licences
to the US. But I can assure them that I will be monitoring the situation
closely as it unfolds and ensure that my position on this matter is informed by
latest developments.
