UK arms trade and the United Arab Emirates
Worldwide, only few countries supply the majority of weapons sold in the arms trade. Among them is the UK and other permanent members of the UN Security Council like the US, China, France, and Russia.
• The UK government has its own body, the Defence and Security Organisation (DSO), which helps the arms and security industries to sell their products around the world.• 70 arms and security companies have regular meetings with the UK government, involving 28 different departments and thereby giving the arms industry a huge political influence.• Since 2008, the UK has been licensing over £69bn worth of arms.
• The UK abides by arms embargos imposed by UN and EU laws on countries such as Libya, Iraq, and Syria. However, many importers of UK arms do not, making the UK an indirect supplier of weapons to these conflict
