Row over UK arms export licences to Zimbabwe

British members of parliament accused the Labour government on Tuesday of breaching its own ethical guidelines on arms exports by granting licences for Hawk fighter jet spare-part sales to Zimbabwe, news reports said.

They quoted a parliamentary inquiry which said the licences undermined a European Union resolution on arms sales and “seems to have constituted a breach of the UK’s national criteria on arms exports”. The licences were revoked in May.

The MPs said there was also a “disturbing degree of muddle and confusion” in the granting of licences to Zimbabwe over the last two years. “Many were appalled when Labour granted licences for Hawk spare parts to Zimbabwe, despite evidence showing that those planes were being used in the violent and bloody military adventure in the Congo,” said Conservative foreign affairs spokesman Francis Maude.

Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain denied the government had breached arms sales criteria. “We are confident that our case-by-case approach (to licence approvals) was the right way of dealing with the situation as it was at the time. When the internal situation worsened, we acted quickly to impose a full embargo,” said Hain.