Committee publication · Correspondence · 16 September 2025

Letter to the Ministers of State at the Department for Business and Trade, for Defence Readiness and Industry, and for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan relating to evidence given to the Committee on 15 September, 16 September 2025

From: Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls

Summary

The Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security writes to three ministers following their 15–16 September evidence session, seeking detailed responses on arms export licences to Israel, assessment of potential genocide and international humanitarian law violations, the government's interpretation of the Arms Trade Treaty, obstacles to suspending F-35 component exports, and the legal implications of recognizing Palestinian statehood. The committee characterises Israel's conduct in Gaza as 'completely unacceptable' and disputes the government's legal reasoning on export controls.

Key findings

55 military-use export licences remain active for Israel as end-user, including nine for F-35 components; 76 additional licences have been suspended since September 2024.
The committee contests the government's characterisation of the 'genocidal intent' test, asserting the relevant threshold is whether there is a 'serious risk' of such intent—a significantly lower bar than the government implied.
The government's FCDO International Humanitarian Law Cell found 'insufficient information' in 411 of 413 incidents examined as of September 2024; updated figures are requested.
The committee challenges the government's claim that its Arms Trade Treaty Article 7 interpretation is unchanged, citing the UK's previous EU membership conduct and its own October 2024 'Voluntary Report on the Implementation of IHL' as contradictory evidence.
A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded on 16 September that Israel 'bears responsibility for the failure to prevent genocide, the commission of genocide and the failure to punish genocide' in Gaza; the committee asks whether the UK government agrees.

Tone

Adversarial

Topics

arms-export-controlinternational-humanitarian-lawmiddle-east-israel-palestinedefence-procurementgenocide-prevention

Key actors

Sir Chris Bryant MP, Luke Pollard MP, Hamish Falconer MP, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohammed Deif, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for Business and Trade

Notable line

“The conduct of Mr Netanyahu's government in Gaza is completely unacceptable and as your last assessment confirmed …”

Key Quotes

“The conduct of Mr Netanyahu's government in Gaza is completely unacceptable and as your last assessment confirmed, Israel is not committed to complying with international humanitarian law.”
— Committee Chair · Opening statement on the committee's position following ministerial evidence

“… the relevant test for the Government is whether there is a serious risk of such intent, which is a significantly lower bar.”
— Committee Chair · Correction of Minister Falconer's characterization of the genocidal intent threshold

“Minister Falconer stated that "we take quite a thorough approach, compared with many of our comparator countries, to ensure that we focus on the final destination rather than simply the country we are trading to"”
— Committee Chair · Quoting ministerial evidence on export control verification procedures

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗