13Dec/11Off
UNSC Accounts For Up To $60bn Of Arms Trade – Says Guildford Foreign Office Minister
Analysts estimate that Britain and the other four permanent members of the UNSC, along with Germany and Italy, accounted for around 85 per cent of the arms sold between 2002 and 2009. This is roughly a $45bn to $60bn business. The sale of surveillance technology also accounts for a multi-billion pound income stream.
Foreign Office minister, Lord Howell of Guildford, insists that "the government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and does not license the export of controlled equipment where there is a clear risk that it could be used for internal repression or human rights abuses."