asked the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will prohibit the manufacture or the use in the Armed Forces of the high-velocity bullet having a dum-dum effect, or small calibre projectiles which break or deform following entry into a human body, create shock waves causing extensive tissue damage outside the trajectory or tear their way through the tissue with a broad face, causing large wounds.

High-velocity small calibre projectiles, and "dum-dum" bullets, are quite distinct in their effects. The use in armed conflict of "explosive" bullets weighing less than 400 grms, and of

"bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core"

that is, "dum-dum" bullets, are already prohibited by the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 and the Hague Declaration of 1899 respectively. The United Kingdom is a party to both conventions, and abides fully by their provisions.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will classify high velocity projectiles for small arms in the same category as dum-dum bullets.

No.