Tories must grow a backbone and stand up to Saudi regime after Jamal Khashoggi's murder

At last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, the SNP’s Westminster leader brought the Tory Government back down to reality over their cosy relationship with the Saudi regime.

کد خبر: ۸۴۷۰۴۰

تاریخ: ۰۷ آبان ۱۳۹۷ - ۰۸:۳۳

Three weeks on from the brazen kidnapping and murder of acclaimed journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Ian Blackford MP warned that mere words of condemnation will no longer cut it. The Tory Government have to act.

It’s been revealed that UK military sales to the Saudi regime rose by two-thirds in 2017 compared with the previous year – a rise of more than £450million – and an estimated 49 per cent of all UK manufactured arms are sold to the Saudis.

Earlier in the week, German chancellor Angela Merkel said her government would not approve new arms exports to the Saudi kingdom until further notice. That is moral leadership.

Instead of following suit, the Tory Government have repeatedly palmed off the calls saying the UK’s procedures for selling arms are among the “strictest” in the world.

Strictest? Those are the very same so-called “strict” procedures that have resulted in arms being sold to dictators and despots around the world without consequence from consecutive UK governments.

Rather than keeping their allies in check, those procedures have shielded regimes from action and have instead enabled them to flout international law and human rights.

The Saudi monarchy have dismissed criticism over their actions both at home and abroad.

The Saudi regime have publicly executed a staggering number of people, they have tortured dissidents, they have imprisoned women activists campaigning for their basic freedoms, and they have crushed any sign of peaceful protests from minority communities.

But their actions go beyond their own borders.

In neighbouring Yemen, the regime have bombarded the country to the brink of famine, pushing it towards a humanitarian disaster.

They are the very same regime who were responsible for the targeted airstrike of a school bus in Yemen that killed more than 40 children.

According to the UN, more than two-thirds of the Yemeni population are in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 2.9million people have fled their homes. It doesn’t just stop there.

The World Health Organisation reported more than 500,000 people were suspected of contracting cholera because of a lack of clean water and health centres due to the Saudi government’s brutal and often indiscriminate bombing campaign.

The question for the Tories is simple. What crime or outrage do the Saudi regime need to commit before they grow a backbone and act?

The SNP have been clear – the ending of arms sales is the first, but most important, step in pressuring the Saudis and holding them to account for their actions.

The UK Government cannot be a neutral or genuine partner in the pursuit of justice for Khashoggi, or for peace in Yemen, for as long as they continue to unquestionably arm the regime with one hand, and meaninglessly wag the finger of condemnation with the other.