IAN Blackford has dismissed as a "ludicrous distraction” claims that he chairs a company that invests in selling arms to Saudi Arabia, insisting he has no direct involvement in any such matter.
The SNP leader at Westminster, who has regularly condemned the sale of arms to the Gulf state, was accused of “rank hypocrisy” after it was reported he is the remunerated chairman of the Golden Charter Trust Limited investment company, which supposedly has stakes in BAE Systems and the French aviation manufacturer Airbus.
These firms are part of a consortium that in 2007 sold scores of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to the Royal Saudi Air Force in a multi-billion pound deal. Last March, the sale of 48 more of the warplanes was agreed as Riyadh ramped up its campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Mr Blackford, a former investment banker before he entered Parliament, has been a vociferous opponent of UK arm sales to the Saudi regime, branding them “utterly shameful” and accusing UK Ministers of being complicit in the killing of children in the Yemeni conflict, which has left millions of people needing humanitarian help.
But a Scottish Conservative spokesman hit out, saying: “Do what I say not what I do is the hallmark of the SNP and Mr Blackford is no exception. People in Scotland have had enough of the Nationalists' rank hypocrisy.”
Labour’s Lesley Laird also weighed in saying: “It is staggering that Ian Blackford has been privately profiting from arms sales to Saudi Arabia at the same time as publicly condemning them and just another example of the SNP saying one thing and doing the other.
“Ian Blackford should either divest from these companies or, better still, resign his chairmanship of Golden Charter and provide his constituents in Ross, Skye and Lochaber with a full-time MP,” added the Shadow Scottish Secretary.
However, a spokesman for Mr Blackford hit back, saying: “This is a ludicrous distraction from the fact that successive Tory and Labour Governments have refused to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia.
“Ian Blackford has led calls for an end to these UK Government arm sales and will continue to campaign on this important issue.”
He added: “Golden Charter’s investments are determined by a fund manager and Ian Blackford has no involvement."
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