Ministry of Defence written question – answered at on 28 April 2022.
Alicia Kearns
Conservative, Rutland and Melton
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has had discussions with NATO allies on the sale of military jets to Serbia; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the (i) level of risk of escalation in Bosnia and (ii) implications for its policies of the absence of Serbian sanctions against Russia in the context of that matter.
Alicia Kearns
Conservative, Rutland and Melton
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with (a) NATO allies and (b) Cabinet colleagues on the sale of military jets to Serbia in the context of the (i) level of risk of escalation in Bosnia and (ii) failure of Serbia to sanction Russia.
Jeremy Quin
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence
The Government carefully considers its support to Defence exports given the range of opportunities they can provide to support the UK industrial base and expand our global economic and security partnerships. Export licences are granted only in accordance with the UK’s robust Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, which provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to consider the possible impact of providing equipment and capabilities. We do not issue licences where we determine there is a clear risk that the items would, overall, undermine peace and security.
Yes8 people think so
No6 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
