Tag Archives: arms exports

Mark Valladares

28 July 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 28th July 2020 - 10:30 pm
  • Davey calls for PM to put Martin Forde QC in charge of a Coronavirus Inquiry
  • Davey: PM must take second wave risk seriously
  • Government gaps in support for freelancers leaving employers to pick up the tab
  • Government must apply same human rights standards to US when it comes to exports
  • Dodds: ‘Swansea Tidal Lagoon is a vital part of our post-Covid recovery’

    • Davey calls for PM to put Martin Forde QC in charge of a Coronavirus Inquiry

    Today Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has written to the Prime Minister with a plan for an immediate inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic.

    Ed has called on the Prime Minister to appoint Martin Forde QC as the chair of an independent coronavirus inquiry and to start work immediately. Martin Forde was the independent adviser on the design of the Government’s Windrush Compensation Scheme and is chair of the independent inquiry into Labour’s report on the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints.

    Ed also released proposed Terms of Reference for the independent inquiry agreed to by the Covid19 Bereaved Families for Justice.

    A spokesperson for the Covid19 Bereaved Families for Justice said:

    Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice are relieved that Ed Davey has seen the urgent need for a rapid inquiry.

    The Government’s own ‘Preparing for a challenging winter 20/21’ report (The Academy of Medical Sciences) predicts over 119,000 excess deaths this winter if urgent action is not taken now.

    That action has to be informed by this transparent inquiry. It’s time the Prime Minister put the well-being of the nation above politics.

    Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

    The Prime Minister confirmed to me weeks ago that there would be an independent inquiry, but we have seen no action from the Government since. Bereaved families I speak to are so disappointed that the Government is yet to begin an inquiry. They just don’t want any more families to go through what they have.

    The coronavirus threat remains very real. Were a second wave to happen during the winter, it could be even more deadly and damaging than the first. The Government must immediately start an inquiry so that we can learn from mistakes and properly plan for a second wave.

    This plan has been agreed by the Covid19 Bereaved Families for Justice. I hope Boris Johnson takes it seriously and sees it as an opportunity to get an inquiry going as soon as possible.

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Mark Valladares

2 June 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 2nd June 2020 - 10:45 pm
  • Govt must review exports of security equipment to US
  • Lib Dems: PHE report fails to properly address inequalities in our society
  • Govt must extend transition given NI Assembly vote

Govt must review exports of security equipment to US

Responding to news that President Donald Trump has threatened to use military force to quell protests in the United States following the murder of George Floyd, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:

Today the US President threatened to use force against his own citizens. As things stand, our Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have stood silent. Their silence is shameful.

The Prime Minister must make

…

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NewsHound

Farron slams UK’s billion pound arms deals with Saudi Arabia

By NewsHound | Tue 19th January 2016 - 10:17 pm

The Guardian reports that human rights groups have expressed concern at a major rise in UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Last month Saferworld and Amnesty commissioned a legal opinion from Professor Philippe Sands QC and other lawyers which concluded that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia, in the context of its military intervention and bombing campaign in Yemen, were breaking national, EU and international law.

UK arms sales in the three-month period from July to September 2015 for the export category that covers missiles, rockets and bombs amounted to £1,066,216,510, the BIS documents show. They were sold under five separate licences.

You can see the official figures showing the details of the export licences here.

Tim Farron has accused David Cameron of putting profits before human rights.

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The Voice

Farron: I don’t want British weapons used for human rights abuses

By The Voice | Mon 23rd November 2015 - 3:45 pm

The Guardian reports a Liberal Democrat call for stricter controls on arms exports so that weapons could not be sold to regimes which have poor human rights records:

The Lib Dems tightened the already strict criteria while in government, delivering on a manifesto commitment to secure the first international arms trade treaty, limiting the sale of weapons to dangerous regimes. More than 150 licences granted by the Labour government were revoked as an immediate reaction tot he Arab Spring.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, said: “Human rights should not be pushed aside in a headlong rush to profit. We currently sell weapons to a series of regimes that have terrible human rights records. I do not want British weapons or equipment being used to commit human rights abuses.

“We do have a strong regime of safeguards, some of the strongest in the world, but they can be strengthened.

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