The Earl of Haddingtonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether police forces in the United Kingdom use small arms ammunition when attending an operational incident which the Armed Forces are prohibited from using in wartime. [HL1213]
§ Lord Williams of MostynAuthorised police firearms officers may use soft point ammunition operationally. In accordance with our obligations under the Hague Convention of 1899, the Armed Forces would not use such ammunition in wartime. The convention does not apply to police use of firearms. The circumstances in which the police are, on rare occasions, required to use firearms are different from those found in wartime. Police use of soft point ammunition reflects the need for them to have ammunition which is effective in quickly incapacitating someone who is presenting an immediate threat to life and who cannot be dealt with in any other way. It is also important for the police to have ammunition which is less likely to pass through a target and thus put others at risk.