Arms sales to Saudi Arabia banned!
There's not a lot of good news around at the moment, but here's one item to cheer: the Court of Appeal has determined that arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful, and congratulations are due to the Campaign Against the Arms Trade.Actually, it's a little more nuanced than that: the court decided that the government "made no concluded assessments of whether the Saudi-led coalition had committed violations of international humanitarian law in the past, during the Yemen conflict, and made no attempt to do so". He said the government "must reconsider the matter" and estimate any future risks. However, the judges said licences should be reviewed but would not be immediately suspended.And of course the government is likely to appeal, but this is a very significant first step in stopping sales to our "allies", sales which should never have been made in the first place: since the Saudis started their horrific bombing campaign in Yemen four years, the UK has made arms sales to SA worth almost £5 billion and sent military to advise and support the campaign.
Richard Carter ● 2701d3 Comments