“A dubious ally who devalues our government”
Following up yesterday’s story about Vince Cable’s boycott of the Saudi state visit, here’s a link to his article in The Independent in which he expands on his decision:
The British government should not have offered the accolade of a state visit to the head of a regime which is authoritarian and deeply corrupt. Our own Foreign Office has described Saudi Arabia, without hyperbole, as follows: “Women are subject to discrimination. Prisoners suffer maltreatment and torture. Capital punishment is imposed without adequate safeguards and often executed in a cruel way and in public. Amputations are imposed as corporal punishment … We also have concerns about freedom of expression, assembly and religion.” British expatriates have been tortured to extract false confessions of involvement in terrorism.
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Trade, too, is beneficial but not at any price and not if it is lubricated by bribery and government subsidy. The massive Al Yamamah arms contract, spanning two decades, has left a deep stain on British public life. Conservative and Labour governments have been complicit in large-scale corruption. Our legal system has been compromised by a refusal, under Saudi pressure, to pursue fraud investigations. Parliament has been compromised by the suppression of a Public Accounts Committee inquiry, which could embarrass the Saudis – the only such report thus suppressed in the history of parliament.
Posted in Saudi Arabia, Vince Cable |
