Excerpt:

Licences to export arms worth millions of pounds to Russia remain in place despite fears Moscow is arming rebels in Ukraine, MPs have said.

… The cross-party Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls said 31 UK licences had been halted or suspended.

… A total of 251 licences worth at least £132m remained in force, it said.

… The committee also strongly criticised the award of licences for the export of chemicals which could be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons to Syria.

It said the award by the previous Labour government of five licences for the export of sodium fluoride had been “highly questionable”, while the decision of the current government to issue a further two licences for sodium and potassium fluoride after the civil war had begun was irresponsible…

Read full article