EXCL Ministers condemned as British arms exports hit lowest level since 2011
2 min read
A former defence minister has blasted the government after it emerged British arms sales hit have hit their lowest level since 2011.
The UK made £5.9bn exporting military equipment overseas last year - down from almost £10bn in 2013, figures released today by the Department for International Trade show.
Labour MP Kevan Jones said ministers were harming the UK’s reputation as a defence manufacturer by themselves looking overseas for weaponry.
Arms exports in 2011 were £5.38bn, and increased to £8.8bn in 2012 before rising again to £9.78bn in 2013. They then fell back to £8.48 in 2014, £7.74bn 2015 and £5.9bn last year.
Mr Jones, who served as veterans minister under Gordon Brown and quit his job as a shadow defence minister over Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on Trident, hit out over the figures.
“Ministers have flatly refused to pursue a defence industrial strategy over the last seven years and we are starting to see the impact of this, regardless of annual fluctuations,” he told PoliticsHome.
“Instead of investing at home, the Government has instead decided to buy more equipment from overseas, harming the UK’s reputation as a responsible manufacturer of leading-edge defence equipment.”
A spokesperson for the Government told PoliticsHome: “The nature of the defence acquisition cycle means annual export figures can fluctuate.
“However, these figures still represent a significant achievement. The UK’s defence export total of £5.9 billion in 2016 amounts to a 9% share of an increasingly competitive global market and makes the UK the fourth biggest exporter behind the USA, France and Russia.
“The Government is committed to supporting the UK’s thriving defence sector.”
The UK also delivered £4.2bn in security exports last year - mostly to Europe and mostly cyber security - with contracts expected to rise to £6.6bn by 2021.
But it lagged behind the US, Japan and China in the list of major security exporters.
Paul Everitt, chief executive of military trade body the ADS, told PoliticsHome today’s figures “show the importance of the UK’s defence and security sectors to our national prosperity”.
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