Former Diplomat Alleges Britain’s Arms Export Controls Are Broken
Mark Smith claims that UK officials manipulated arms sales reports, suppressing evidence of misuse in sales to Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Mark Smith, a former UK diplomat who resigned from the Foreign Office in August, has alleged that Britain’s system for controlling arms exports is deeply flawed and subject to political manipulation.
In an article for The Guardian, Smith, who served as a Middle East desk specialist adviser on arms sales and later as a second secretary at the UK embassy in Dublin, claimed that officials were instructed to alter or downplay evidence showing that UK arms were misused by allies.
According to Smith, if initial reports indicated non-compliance with international humanitarian law, senior colleagues would edit the findings to create the appearance of compliance.
Smith stated that his repeated attempts to raise concerns were blocked and that he was instructed not to document his worries in order to avoid triggering freedom of information requests.
He described the handling of these issues as a serious scandal, asserting that officials were effectively bullied into silence and that the process was manipulated to secure politically convenient outcomes.
Much of his criticism focuses on arms sales to Saudi Arabia during its military campaign in Yemen, and on arms sales to Israel, where he contends that despite evidence of civilian casualties and infrastructure damage in Gaza, the government continued to endorse these exports.
During a high-level meeting on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which included legal advisers and Queen’s Counsel, Smith noted that it was acknowledged that the United Kingdom had exceeded the legal threshold for halting exports.
Rather than suspending arms sales, Smith claims that officials opted for tactics such as extending reporting deadlines and requesting additional information, thereby creating a loophole that allowed exports to continue.
He also recounted that when he sought clarification on the legal basis for arms sales to Israel from the Foreign Office, his inquiries were met with hostility and stonewalling, including unanswered emails and instructions to delete correspondence.
A Foreign Office spokesperson responded by stating that the allegations misrepresent the government’s practices.
The spokesperson emphasized that the United Kingdom’s export licence controls are among the most robust in the world and operate strictly under legal advice.
It was noted that after the current foreign secretary took office, a review was launched into Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law, leading to the suspension of export licences to Israel for use in military operations in the Gaza conflict on 2 September.
The Foreign Office also confirmed that it maintains established procedures for handling internal concerns, without commenting on individual cases.
In an article for The Guardian, Smith, who served as a Middle East desk specialist adviser on arms sales and later as a second secretary at the UK embassy in Dublin, claimed that officials were instructed to alter or downplay evidence showing that UK arms were misused by allies.
According to Smith, if initial reports indicated non-compliance with international humanitarian law, senior colleagues would edit the findings to create the appearance of compliance.
Smith stated that his repeated attempts to raise concerns were blocked and that he was instructed not to document his worries in order to avoid triggering freedom of information requests.
He described the handling of these issues as a serious scandal, asserting that officials were effectively bullied into silence and that the process was manipulated to secure politically convenient outcomes.
Much of his criticism focuses on arms sales to Saudi Arabia during its military campaign in Yemen, and on arms sales to Israel, where he contends that despite evidence of civilian casualties and infrastructure damage in Gaza, the government continued to endorse these exports.
During a high-level meeting on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which included legal advisers and Queen’s Counsel, Smith noted that it was acknowledged that the United Kingdom had exceeded the legal threshold for halting exports.
Rather than suspending arms sales, Smith claims that officials opted for tactics such as extending reporting deadlines and requesting additional information, thereby creating a loophole that allowed exports to continue.
He also recounted that when he sought clarification on the legal basis for arms sales to Israel from the Foreign Office, his inquiries were met with hostility and stonewalling, including unanswered emails and instructions to delete correspondence.
A Foreign Office spokesperson responded by stating that the allegations misrepresent the government’s practices.
The spokesperson emphasized that the United Kingdom’s export licence controls are among the most robust in the world and operate strictly under legal advice.
It was noted that after the current foreign secretary took office, a review was launched into Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law, leading to the suspension of export licences to Israel for use in military operations in the Gaza conflict on 2 September.
The Foreign Office also confirmed that it maintains established procedures for handling internal concerns, without commenting on individual cases.
