Britain has become the world’s second biggest arms trader -- and Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen is a major reason why.
Saudi Arabia are bombing charity hospitals, schools, food factories and wedding parties in Yemen -- which should be reason for Britain to suspend sales of weapons to the country.
But instead, exports have soared, rising from £140m to an astonishing £3bn in the 22 months either side of the 2015 general election.
Tell Boris Johnson to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia -- now.
Last year, the Committees on Arms Export Controls said it was “inevitable” that weapons supplied by the UK had been used to violate humanitarian law -- making the move not only immoral, but illegal.
Since the weight of evidence for Saudi Arabia’s crimes has grown, many countries such as Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands have tightened up arms exports. But the UK continues to allow companies to profit from the murder of innocent civilians.
So far, the government’s response has been pathetic. First, they claimed that they’d been given reassurances that the weapons weren’t being used on civilians -- by Saudi Arabia! Then, the High Court rejected a legal challenge on the sales due to procedural matters -- ignoring whether or not the weapons were being used to kill civilians.
But anger at the government’s decision to continue to allow arms sales is growing. We need to make it known that we won’t stand for the complicity of the UK in killing civilians in Yemen. Together, our voices will be much stronger, and with the government now in a much weaker position after this year’s election, it’s time to put the pressure on.
Boris Johnson - suspend UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia immediately.
More information
The Observer. 10 September 2017.
BBC News. 7 September 2016.