Sheep magazine Archive 2: issues 10-17

and democracy, but it is arming and supporting some of the most repressive
regimes in the world. The impact of UK arms sales is clear in Yemen, where
British fighter jets and bombs have been central to the Saudi-led destruction,”
he told The Independent.
“These regimes aren’t just buying weapons, they’re also buying political
support and legitimacy. How likely is the UK to act against human rights
violations in these countries when it is also profiting from them?
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“There is no such thing as arms control in a war zone and there is no way of
knowing how these weapons will be used. The fact that so many weapons
were sold to Russia and Libya is a reminder that the shelf-life of weapons is
often longer than the governments and situations they were sold to.”
A Government spokesperson said its approach to arms export control was
“sufficiently tough”.
“The Government takes its arms export control responsibilities very seriously
and operates one of the most robust regimes in the world. We rigorously
examine every brokering application on a pre-licensing case-by-case basis
against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.
“Export licensing requires us to consider how the equipment will be used by
the end-user and risks around human rights abuses are a key part of our
assessment. We consider this approach to be sufficiently tough but where
there is evidence of a need for further action we have the powers to do so
under existing legislation”.
Artwork: Paul Tompsett
SHEEP IN THE ROAD : NUMBER 15