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A NEW “citizens committee” tomorrow is set to take evidence and shine a light on Parliament’s lack of accountability on the arms trade.
Figureheads from organisations such as CorruptionWatch are due to speak at the event, as is former British Army brigadier John Deverell and Labour MPs Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Catherine West.
Nearly half of all British arms sales go to Saudi Arabia, which is engaged in Yemen’s civil war, and has been accused of starving Yemeni civilians.
Mr Russell-Moyle said that the committees on arms export controls (CAEC) are “broken” and has called for a new arms control committee to be elected.
He added: “CAEC is meant to ensure that the government follows arms export control law, which is clearly being violated by Saudi Arabia on several grounds such as targeting civilians in Yemen and diverting arms to its proxies in the region.
“It’s not just Saudi though; the government is licensing powerful dual-use mass-surveillance kit to autocrats around the world.”
The meeting will take place at 5.45pm on Wednesday May 22 in the Attlee suite in Portcullis House.
