What is really going on in politics?  Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A Tory minister took a leaf out of TV farce The Thick of It by saying he hadn't received a leaked report - while seemingly waving it in the air. 

Tobias Ellwood prompted guffaws in Parliament during a serious debate on the United Nations dossier which accused Saudi Arabia of bombing civilians in Yemen. 

The Foreign Office minister faced questions over Britain's alliance with Saudi Arabia over the report, which he tried to play down saying it was based on satellites and not first-hand evidence. 

But there was an odd moment when he explained the government still did not "officially" have the 51-page document. 

Read more:

Speaking after questions from Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn, he said: "[Mr Benn] made reference to a report, the UN panel of experts. 

"He's got a copy of it, I do as well, but it is a leaked report, it was received to the UN on Monday, not to us. 

"We haven't officially received it." 

He was passed a sheaf of paper and gestured to it, saying: "Yes of course I've got it, but I haven't received it, and I haven't had time..."

But he was halted by laughs from Labour MPs. 

He added: "I haven't received it officially, if the honorable gentleman can hang on to his seat." 

Mr Ellwood rejected calls for a ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia despite reports British weapons were being used to kill innocent women and children in Yemen. 

But Hilary Benn called for an immediate suspension of arms sales in the light of the UN report. 

The Shadow Foreign Secretary said the UN panel had found evidence that Saudi bombing raids had targeted “weddings, residential areas, schools, mosques, markets and factories.” 

“Given all the reports and particularly in the light of the new findings of the UN panel can you explain to the House on what grounds you think there should not be a proper investigation into whether there is a clear risk that British arms might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law? 

“And given the detail of the UN panel’s report and the extreme seriousness of its findings, will you now suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia until that investigation concludes? 

(Image: Reuters)

“This is about whether the Government is implementing its own arms control rules,” Mr Benn said. 

The call was backed the SNP defence spokesman Brendan O’Hara who said the UN report was “deeply, deeply worrying”. 

He added: “It raises serious questions about the UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia. 

“But it also raises questions about what the British military advisers are currently doing in Saudi Arabia, particularly as this report states that Yemeni civilians have been deliberately starved as a tactic of war by the Saudi coalition. 

“It’s worth remembering that last year this Government gave just £75 million in aid to Yemen while at the same time raking in £5.5 billion in profits from armed sales over the last five years. 

“It’s now time for an immediate ban on armed sales between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.” 

But Mr Ellwood questioned the evidence behind the UN report, saying it was based on satellite photographs and not on-the-ground accounts. 

He ruled out an arms ban but said the Government would raise it with the Saudis. 

“I commit myself to take this report, speak to the Saudi Arabians and to see what we can do to move forward,” he told MPs.