In January of that year he informed Parliament that "while the Government attach[es] the highest importance to making progress in the field of arms control and disarmament, we must also take what practical steps we can to ensure that this country does not fail to secure its rightful share of this valuable commercial market.
[1] On 26 July 2007 Gordon Brown announced that the DESO would be transferred to UK Trade & Investment from April 2008, and would be renamed to UKTI Defence and Security Group.
According to its website, "Successive Customer Satisfaction Surveys of the UK defence industry revealed that over 75% of [arms export orders] would not have been achieved without the assistance of DESO".
[citation needed] The Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party of England and Wales as well as around 30 NGOs have signed a statement calling for DESO's closure.
For instance, in 2004, UK arms export licenses were granted to 13 of the 20 'major countries of concern' identified by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in its 2005 Human Rights Annual Report.