- New arms export licensing data shows that Labour approved £10.9m in arms exports to Israel in its first three months in office. Data from July to September 2024 show a large increase in arms exports compared to the first half of the year.
- While the £10.9m figure only includes individual licences, the data also shows that Labour approved an open license for “components for combat aircraft”. Open licenses are not shown in the financial figure, as once granted, companies can export unlimited amounts of specified military equipment. While there is currently no information available on which licenses Labour suspended in September, this license appears completely incompatible with its supposed commitment not to supply military equipment that could be used in Gaza.
- The biggest single issue license awarded, worth £7.2m, was for “technology for submarines”, with a footnote stating that it was for “marketing and promotional purposes, including demonstration to potential customers, temporary exhibitions”.
- In total, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) estimates that the UK has approved and/or delivered at least £100m in military equipment to Israel since October 7th, 2023. This figure includes single and open licenses and is conservatively estimated from a combination of publicly available sources due to the lack of data published on open licenses.
- Globally, £2.9bn worth of arms exports were licensed between July and September 2024. Despite having committed horrific war crimes in Yemen and committing appalling human rights abuses at home, Saudi Arabia was the biggest recipient of UK arms exports with £1.65bn of licenses issued. This included £800m in air-to-surface missiles, £741m in components for bombs, and £100m in surface-to-air missiles.
- Licenses were also issued to other human rights-abusing states, including £23m to Egypt, £15.7m to Turkey and £8.6m to Bahrain. The US was the third biggest recipient of UK arms with licenses worth £253m.
CAAT’s Media Coordinator, Emily Apple, said:
“It appears that a Labour government has made zero difference to arms dealers profiting from war crimes and human rights abuses. Despite the government’s admission that Israel is not committed to upholding international humanitarian law, it has authorised millions of pounds of military equipment to Israel, directly supporting its genocide against Palestinian people and supporting Israel’s domestic arms industry.
“These figures show that this government is deeply complicit in genocide and human rights abuses. Labour promised change – but it is business as usual for arms dealers.
“If our government refuses to act, it is down to all of us to take action against this vile trade and ensure that both politicians and the arms companies are held accountable and face the consequences of their actions.”
More info:
- UK arms export licensing data is published here Strategic export controls commentary: 1 July to 30 September 2024 – GOV.UK. The data is available in a more usable format in CAAT’s arms exports data browser. The data for Israel can be seen here – Campaign Against Arms Trade
- The F-35 combat aircraft open licence, which was not exempted from Labour’s partial arms embargo, is almost certainly still the largest part of the UK’s arms trade with Israel. Our briefing shows how we’ve estimated the value of this license.
