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Arms Exports

What I can say in general is that the ECGD is another arm of the Government that supports the defence industry, among a range of other customers. It operates on a break-even basis and charges sufficient premiums to cover its risks. The hon. Gentleman asked several follow-up questions about the response originally given by the Minister of Trade on 9 March 2006. I can simply confirm that the situation remains as set out in that response and I am unable to provide any further information, for the reasons stated then. However, let me venture into other, very important territory, not least because the hon. Gentleman may want to intervene and congratulate the Government yet again. Export control is, by its very nature, an international activity. Controls stem from international agreements and the UK plays a key role in enhancing those agreements to meet the changing challenges in this area. The Government have led calls for an international arms trade treaty, known as the ATT, to control transfers of conventional weapons. That is a cross-Government effort, and to this end the DTI is working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other Departments that play a central role in export controls, notably the Ministry of Defence, but also the Department for International Development, to take that important initiative forward. The precise content of the treaty will be a matter for negotiation, but as the former Foreign Secretary outlined in a speech in March 2005 on ATT, key elements that the UK would like to see in any treaty include the following: it should be legally binding; it should cover all conventional arms not just small arms; it should include core principles that make clear when transfers are unacceptable; and it should have effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.