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Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Bill [Lords]

I think we are making slightly heavy weather of this. In an ideal world, the whole world would be ratifying this convention at the same time and we would be seeing an end to cluster munitions. There is a difficulty for us, however, because some countries are not. So, for instance, a national of a country that is not ratifying who uses cluster munitions in another part of the world—not in the UK—and who has no involvement in the UK, could, when travelling through the UK, be arrested for something that is perfectly legal in their own country and in the country where they operated. That is the difficulty that would come about were we to get rid of subsection (3). For instance, because the United States has not ratified, and has no intention at the moment—unfortunately—of doing so, an American military personnel engaged in the use of cluster munitions in another part of the world, could be arrested immediately when passing through the UK. I do not think that is what people really want to countenance. That is why I disagree with the amendment and urge Members to vote against it, I am afraid.