Minister accused of ‘grossly misleading’ parliament about Israeli arms exports

Lord Howard of Lympne pointed out that the Government does not only rely on international humanitarian law when deciding on export licences, and referred to the exception to this partial export ban for F-35 fighter aircraft.

Foreign Secretary Baroness Chapman of Darlington said the exemption was because F-35 components were part of a global supply chain and stopping these exports could harm “global security.”

Lord Howard argued, however, that, taking other factors into account, the Government was not compelled to suspend the 30 arms licences. It could have made other exceptions for Israel – for example on grounds of self-defence – but did not do so.

The Tory peer said: “The Foreign Secretary said in his statement: 'The obligation to comply with international humanitarian law is not the only criterion in deciding on export licences', and he justified the decision to exempt the F-35 equipment from export authorisation by using other criteria.

“Does it not follow clearly that the government could, if it had wanted to, have decided against a ban on the grounds that Israel was acting in self-defense against an organization whose goal is the destruction of Israel and which is recognized by our own government as a terrorist organization?”

“In this context, will the Minister now accept that her statement in this House on Tuesday that the Government was obliged to suspend certain export licences was both factually incorrect and grossly misleading?”

Lady Chapman replied: “No, I do not accept that.

“Our legal test is that there is a clear risk, and the indication we have received that these 30 licenses could pose a clear risk does not mean that this is the case, that there is no infringement, but that there is a clear risk.

“This is not an embargo on arms sales to Israel.

“I am quite sure that the noble Lord knows that the F-35 issue is different because we are supplying components that are part of a global supply chain. If we were to stop the supply of those components, it could cause very, very serious disruption and affect global security.”

She added: “Our approval criteria state that the government will not issue export licenses if there is a clear risk that they could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law. We have concluded that there is a clear risk.”

Lady Chapman also confirmed that the decision to suspend the 30 export licences was a question of law and not a question of international Labour Party policy.

In response to a question from Tory peer Lord Bellingham, she said: “If he wants to talk about the internal politics of the Labour Party, this is the right place for him.”

“I have spent a lot of time on this issue and I can assure him here, and he must bear with me, that this decision had nothing to do with Labour policy and should not have.”