event details
Event Details:
Start: 24 September 2016 12:00
Finish: 24 September 2016 14:15
Event Type: Member event, External Event
Location:
Venue Name: Leamington Spa Baptist Church
Venue Address: Leamington Spa Baptist Church, Chandos Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Venue Postcode: CV32 4RN
Contact point for this event:
Full Name: Mr Gian Clare
E-mail:gianclareuna@gmail.com
Telephone number:01926 338430
Is the UK fuelling brutal war in Yemen by selling Arms to Saudi Arabia? Guest Speaker: Chris White Member of Parliament for Warwick & Leamington Spa Chair of the Committees on Arms Export Controls in House of Commons Member of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee Previously served on the International Development Select Committee. Responsible for Private Member's Bill, the Social Value Act, was passed in the last Parliament. Also Co-Chair the Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group and Chair the All Party Group on Video Games, two vital sectors in our area. The Committee on Arms Export Controls is responsible for the issuing of export licences for arms and these licences provide for the export of bombs, grenades, rockets, missiles and other devices - all of which are subject to stringent international arms controls. There has been numerous high level findings by Oxfam, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and well respected lawyers have provided evidence that shows that the UK was violating the International Arms Trade Treaty. The Treaty regulates the transfer of conventional arms to ensure there are no violation of international humanitarian law. Governments who sign up to the Arms Trade Treaty are obliged to review their weapon sales and ensure that they are not being used for human rights violations. The UK arms and military support are fuelling a brutal war in Yemen, harming the very people the Arms Trade Treaty is designed to protect. We are concerned that the weapons sold by the UK has resulted in thousands of deaths in the Yemen and not only that the UK government cannot guarantee that these weapons do not end up in the wrong hands. We are also concerned that the UK government continues to authorise arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners at a time when this war is raging on. The UK authorised an arms licence to Saudi Arabia worth $4bn. Earlier this year our local MP Chris White was elected as Chair of the Committees on Arms Export Controls of the House of Commons. Chris has very kindly agreed to come and address the UN Association and to discuss some of the issues we will be raising with him on arms controls relating to the conflict in the Yemen as well as his role as Chair of the Committee on Arms Export Controls as well as the position of the government on its arms sales policy in general and also the international Arms Trade Treaty. Unfortunately the biggest culprits are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council who are the world`s largest arms traders and the largest importers of these arms are India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries in Asia, Middle East and Central African states. These are the areas of the world where there has been long standing historical conflicts and many are still going on and add to that with the growth and rise of Islamist/Jihadi movements in recent years does give us a great cause for concern regarding the supplies of arms. Please do come along with a friend and contribute to this very important debate.