PM defends Gulf arms sales tour

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13 November 2012

Prime Minister David Cameron has defended his decision to fly to the Gulf to promote British defence exports to countries that have been criticised over human rights.

Mr Cameron said he made "no apology" for helping Britain's defence industry do deals abroad. His comment was delivered in a high-profile speech at the Guildhall in the City of London, where he unveiled plans to boost UK exports to growing economic markets around the globe.

He also used the occasion to warn against any temptation to "trash the banks", vowing to get behind a reformed financial sector and protect it from being damaged by EU reforms. Lamenting the "utterly terrible mistakes" made by banks and financial institutions, he said it was vital the sector was part of the recovery.

The annual speech is traditionally the Prime Minister's highest-profile foreign affairs address of the year. But rather than talk about Syria or Iran or the EU budget, Mr Cameron spelled out his argument that the Government should use its clout to help British companies win the "global race" for jobs and business.

Mr Cameron came under fire last week for his three-day tour of the Gulf, in which he hoped to help sell 100 Typhoon jets to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman this year.

He said he accepted that some people are "squeamish" about the human rights records of some of the region's governments. But he insisted that Britain has the toughest arms export rules in the world to prevent weapons being misused.

He added: "Every country in the world has a right to self-defence. And you cannot expect every country to be self-sufficient in providing the tanks, ships and planes needed.

"So when Britain has a very strong defence industry, with 300,000 jobs depending on it, it's right that we should be at the forefront of this market, supporting British jobs and British allies, and that's why last week, in the Gulf, I was pushing for new contracts for Typhoon jets worth billions of pounds and thousands of jobs."

Mr Cameron said he had tasked Business Minister Lord Green with leading an £8 million pilot scheme to provide better help for smaller firms looking to trade abroad in 20 key markets.

And he announced the appointment of six peers and two MPs as trade envoys to markets that he feels have been under-exploited by the UK, including Mexico, Kuwait, Vietnam, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, South Africa and Morocco.

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