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Quadripartite Committee Reports

: The Quadripartite Committee is an interesting creature. As Members will be aware, it is a Joint Committee involving the Trade and Industry, Foreign Affairs, International Development and Defence Committees, all of which have an interest in arms export control policy and want to scrutinise what the Government do in that area. Many years ago, we agreed to come together as one. I thank my colleagues on the Committee for producing a unanimous report yet again. Although most Select Committees deliver unanimous reports, there are difficulties occasionally. However, we four Select Committees have delivered unanimity. I am sure that the Minister will acknowledge that that increases substantially the weight and validity of our conclusions. Thanks must go to our Clerks for the excellent drafting. When the report before the House was drafted, the Clerk was Steven Mark and I place on record our thanks to him. Since the general election, our Clerk has been Glenn McKee, and I place on record our gratitude for the work he is doing on our behalf. I also thank those who have given evidence to the Quadripartite Committee, such as the representatives from EGAD—the Export Group for Aerospace and Defence—which represents the defence manufacturers. They gave us a wealth of advice and information on how the system works and have offered to give further evidence on their experience of the arms export control regime. I am sure that that will give us further insight into how the system operates. Non-governmental organisations are very active under the UK Working Group on Arms, which comprises Amnesty International, the British American Security Information Council—or BASIC—Christian Aid, Oxfam, Save the World and International Alert. The last time we took evidence, the journalist and broadcaster Mark Thomas also contributed. Like that of the defence manufacturers, the input of the non-governmental organisations has been invaluable, and I express the Committee's gratitude for their written and oral evidence. I also thank the Foreign Secretary, who always willingly gives evidence to the Committee, and earlier this week the Minister for Energy, who has responsibility for the Export Control Organisation, kindly gave evidence. We are grateful for that too. There is widespread acknowledgement that in recent years the Government have made great progress in developing an effective and transparent arms export control policy. That is illustrated by the opening few sentences of the written submission to the Quadripartite Committee by the UK Working Group on Arms:"““In recent years the UK Government has taken a strong lead on arms export controls at national, regional and international levels. As well as overhauling the national export control regime, the Government was instrumental in establishing the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports . . . the world's first regional politically-binding agreement to control the transfer of conventional arms. In the last year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been actively promoting a legally-binding global Arms Trade Treaty to control international arms transfers.””" I would add that there has been the ban on the export of torture equipment as well as the Landmines Act 1998 and annual—now quarterly—reports giving details of licences granted. In sum, we have greater transparency and accountability than ever.