... and in Whitehall
This page looks at Parliamentary and Government developments relevant to the arms trade.
- What the Labour leadership candidates say about the arms trade
- Coalition government's programme
- Government Ministers
- Select Committees
- Strategic Defence and Security Review
- Early Day Motions
What the Labour leadership candidates say about the arms trade
CAAT has contacted the five Labour leadership candidates asking about their policies on the arms trade. You can find out who has replied, and what they have said here.
Coalition government's programme
On 20 May 2010, the coalition Conservative - Liberal Democrat government announced its programme. CAAT's comments on the arms trade aspects of this can be found here.
Government Ministers
The coalition Conservative - Liberal Democrat government ministers have now been appointed. You can find details of those with relevant responsibilities here.
Select Committees
Each Government Department has a Select Committee monitoring its work. These multi-party committees of backbench MPs also hold inquiries into specific aspects of their Department's work.
The Committees generally most relevant to the arms trade are the:
Business, Innovation & Skills Committee, which is currently looking at Government Assistance to Industry, including the role of UK Trade & Investment (the Government's arms export unit, the Defence & Security Organisation is part of this) and the Export Credits Guarantee Department;
Defence Committee,
which has an inquiry into the Strategic Defence Review, see below;
Foreign Affairs Committee;
International Development Committee.
The Arms Export Controls Committee, which, before the Election, was formed from representatives of the four committees above. It is not yet certain it will be reformed in the new Parliament.
Strategic Defence and Security Review
This is being overseen by the National Security Council with strong Treasury input and will report in the autumn, at the same time as the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Early Day Motions
These are a kind of parliamentary petition which show the strength of feeling on an issue, and whether or not there is cross-party support. They are usually only signed by backbenchers. MPs can add their names to an EDM any time Parliament is sitting and the EDMs remain open for signature until the end of the parliamentary session, at the moment until October/November 2011.
Current EDMs relevant to the arms trade are:
EDM 110: Trident and the Strategic Defence and Security Review;
EDM 460: Arms and military equipment sales.