§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on the manufacture, purchase, deployment and export of(a) cluster bombs and (b) munitions containing depleted uranium; and if he will make a statement. [95677]
§ Mr. HoonCluster bombs and depleted uranium (DU)-based ammunition are purchased for the UK armed forces because they are currently the most effective weapons available to satisfy the military requirements for which they are deployed. Cluster bombs are used against armoured and soft-skinned vehicles, artillery, surface to air missile sites, anti-aircraft artillery or forces on the ground. DU-based ammunition is used because of its unique capability as a kinetic penetrator. It offers a significant operational advantage over all currently available alternative materials.
Any applications for a licence to export these equipments are considered against the criteria which my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary announced to the House on 28 July 1997, Official Report, columns 26–29, and the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports.