Email from Boris Johnson to Liam Fox

Submitted as supporting evidence to Edward Bell’s witness statement, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson provides a recommendation to International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and states that, following advice from senior government lawyers, he is satisfied that issuing export licences which could be used by the Royal Saudi Air Force in the conflict in Yemen would be consistent with the requirements of Criterion 2(c). He considers that there is an ‘encouraging positive trend’ when it comes to Saudi practices but that the issue of export licensing to Saudi Arabia continues to be ‘very finely balanced’.