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Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Bill [Lords]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the question of how the measure impacts on the armed forces. The MOD has worked with clear and swift purpose to ensure that there is no conflict for individual members of our armed forces. In particular, in Committee we may wish to look at the interoperability questions as outlined in clause 9. He is right in saying that we need to take care to ensure that we have the right command structure and orders in place for our personnel, so that they are legally protected when they are operating in conflicts alongside personnel from other countries, which may not be signatories to the convention.