THERESA May has been warned by Jeremy Corbyn that unless she challenges Saudi Arabia over its human rights abuses during a trip to the Gulf state on Tuesday, she will be sacrificing them “on the altar of the arms trade”.
The Labour leader’s stinging broadside came as the Prime Minister, who is due to travel to Saudi after a visit to Jordan on Monday, will have talks with the kingdom’s Crown Prince, Muhammed bin Nayef, primarily about security and trade.
Ahead of her trip, Mrs May stressed the intelligence collaboration between Saudi Arabia and the UK, saying: “We must never forget that intelligence we have received in the past from that country has saved potentially hundreds of lives in the UK.
"And there is so much we can do together on trade, with immense potential for Saudi investment to provide a boost to the British economy.
"So I hope my visit will herald a further intensification in relations between our countries and deepen true strategic partnerships, enabling us to seize the opportunities ahead and ensure the security and prosperity of our people for decades to come," added the PM.
Britain exports more than £6 billion-worth of goods and services each year to the oil-rich state, making it the UK’s largest partner in the region.
But Mr Corbyn insisted Mrs May should put human rights and international law “at the centre” of her talks with the Saudi Government.
“Numerous human rights organisations, including the UNHRC and Amnesty International, have documented the dictatorial Saudi monarchy's shocking human rights record.
“The Saudi-led coalition bombing in Yemen, backed by the British government, has left thousands dead, 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and three million refugees uprooted from their homes,” insisted Mr Corbyn.
Calling for the UK Government to halt all arms sales to the Gulf state immediately, throw its weight behind a UN ceasefire resolution and back an independent investigation into the evidence of war crimes in Yemen, the Labour leader said: “As it stands, the British-Saudi relationship is damaging to the people of Saudi Arabia, Britain and the wider Middle East, and helping to export insecurity to the rest of the world.
“Unless the Prime Minister challenges the Saudi regime over its abuses this week, it will be clear she is ready to sacrifice human rights and security on the altar of the arms trade,” he added.
Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesman, has written to Mrs May, highlighting three issues: the targeting of civilians in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition; prolific use of the death penalty in the kingdom and the attacks on freedom of speech. The London MP said: “Theresa May has scrubbed human rights from the agenda in a panicked bid to get a trade deal.
“It is well-known that Saudi Arabia has repeatedly infringed the rights of its own citizens as well as those in neighbouring countries yet Theresa May is silent.
“Human rights are a core value that we must defend. To ignore them, to sweep them under the carpet to avoid a difficult conversation, is a shameful indictment of how desperate May has become,” he added.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade[CAAT] said that since Saudi Arabia began bombing Yemen in March 2015, killing some 10,000 people and leaving millions without essential services, the UK had licensed more than £3.3 billion-worth of arms to the Gulf state.
"The humanitarian situation in Yemen is terrible,” declared CAAT’s Andrew Smith. “Thousands have been killed in a two yearlong bombardment and a civil war that has left the country on the edge of a famine. Whitehall has been complicit in the destruction since day one. It has sold billions of pounds worth of arms and offered an unlimited and uncritical political support to the Saudi regime."
He added: "We are always being told how much influence the UK supposedly has over Saudi Arabia. But it hasn't led to the regime improving human rights at home, and has only served to legitimise its brutal bombing campaign in Yemen. If May wants to play a positive role in turning around a dire situation, then she must end the arms sales and her government's complicity in the destruction."
The PM’s spokesman, asked if she would raise human rights during her talks in Saudi, replied: “The discussion in Saudi will mostly focus on defence and prosperity issues.”
Pressed on what subjects she would raise, he said he would not go into “every cough and spit” discussed between the PM and the Crown Prince but confirmed Yemen was “not on the agenda”.
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