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Arms Export Controls

It is good to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Nicholas, and to follow the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik), and it is nice to see the Minister in his place today. This has been an interesting debate, and I sincerely congratulate the hon. Member for Kingswood (Roger Berry) on the way in which he chairs a quite difficult Committee. It is not easy to chair a joint Committee of four Committees, to secure a unanimous agreement and to come up with a constructive report within the constraints of the Official Secrets Act, which we have all heard about today. So, I welcome the opportunity to reply to this debate on behalf of the Opposition for the second time running. It is a pity that more right hon. and hon. Members are not present, considering its importance. This country should have three arms exports controls objectives: first, that our export policy is concurrent with our global status as a trusted and reliable trading partner, but equally, as a nation that recognises its role in fostering and developing peace and upholding the highest standards of human rights; secondly, that the reporting and scrutiny of our arms exporters occurs without providing an unnecessary burden on the industry, which is a vital part of our economy; and, thirdly, that our export policy considers the interests of our defence exporters. In recognising the need for the comprehensive scrutiny system that we have in place, we must not underestimate the importance of our defence exporters to this country. Although it is right that we scrutinise, we must not ignore the skills of those in the industry or the excellent quality of the equipment that they produce. It is of huge benefit, not least to our own armed forces. Defence exports assist the UK in strengthening our relations with allies and in reducing the unit cost of equipment to our own armed forces. Given that our defence manufacturers produce some of the most respected military hardware anywhere in the world, and given the current need for such equipment within our overstretched armed forces, that point simply cannot be ignored. The capacity to produce the best kit for our troops is dependent on a world-leading and thriving defence export industry. Figures for 2006-07 show 25,000 jobs dependent directly on the defence export industry, with a further 30,000 people indirectly employed in the supply chain, as sub-contractors or as suppliers, as part of a £5 billion industry. The industry is very important to this country, and it is therefore equally important that we strike the right balance with our regulatory regime. I have just returned from India, where I found that the country spends 2 per cent. of its GDP on defence, an increase of 34 per cent. on last year, and plans to spend $29 billion on major acquisitions over the next five years. BAE Systems is targeting that major industry, and it will be of considerable benefit to this country, notwithstanding the remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) about India's re-export of arms to Burma. Our regulatory regime should be well capable of dealing with that.