Rt Hon Dr Vincent Cable MP

Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills

Department for Business Innovation and Skills

1 Victoria Street

London SW1H 0ET

14 June 2012

Dear Vince,

I am writing with regard to the need to secure a robust and effective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) during the final UN negotiations that run from 2^nd – 27^th July.

Firstly I would like to applaud the efforts of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office negotiating team who, as I am sure you will know, have been pushing for a strong Treaty, and I hope they will continue to do so.  However for the ATT to be achieved it will require departments across Whitehall to remain engaged and work collaboratively, both before and during the coming negotiations. 

Many of my constituents have raised concerns that UK Ministers could do more to ensure the final Treaty is robust, effective and contains watertight human rights protections at its heart.

They have emphasised the importance of rules that are effective in preventing arms being supplied to a country if there is a substantial risk that those arms will contribute to serious human rights abuses, or undermine sustainable development, and the importance of the ATT covering all conventional weapons and their components, including ammunition and weapons used in internal security. I would be grateful if you could let me know what your department is doing to help achieve this. 

Specifically, I would ask you to ensure a Minister from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills is on the negotiating team in July. The UK has valuable experience to share on the implementation of export licensing systems.

BIS will also be responsible for the implementation of any additional measures as a result of the Treaty, and your support for human rights protections during the negotiations will, therefore, be crucial.

Importantly, it is also essential that BIS are prepared to support the inclusion of measures in the ATT which the UK does not currently implement in its domestic arms export controls, where this is relevant to delivering a robust and comprehensive Treaty which fulfils the UK’s humanitarian and human rights objectives.

Public statements from senior cabinet members are important, in addition to the role the UK plays in negotiations. I therefore urge you to make an unequivocal public statement in support of a strong, comprehensive and enforceable Treaty.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to Amnesty International’s five golden rules and whether you support their statement that Governments have an obligation to stop arms supplies that:

• Are likely to be used for serious violations of international human rights law or international humanitarian law

• Have an impact that would clearly increase poverty by undermining sustainable development or involve corrupt practices
• Provoke or exacerbate armed conflicts that are in violation of their obligations under the UN Charter and existing treaties.
• Contribute to an existing pattern of violent crime.
• Risk being diverted for one of the above outcomes or for acts of terrorism.

I hope you will do what you can to ensure the UK government plays a leadership role between now and the final negotiations, and at the final negotiations in New York next month, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP Brighton Pavilion

Read the ministerial response here.