50 MPS TAKE £300K SAUDI FREEBIES
‘BLOOD MONEY’ SCANDAL Fury at junkets laid on by regime.. as murdered writer’s body parts found
SAUDI Arabia’s murderous regime lavished £320,000 of freebie trips on 50 MPs.
One, Tory Leo Docherty, met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on visits costing £16,057.
Body parts of executed Jamal Khashoggi were found yesterday.
BLAMED for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, embroiled in a Yemen massacre and with a woeful human rights record, Saudi Arabia should be approached with caution by MPs.
But in fact 50 British politicians have accepted junkets worth £320,000 to the Middle East kingdom since the Tories came to power in 2010. They include Theresa May’s parliamentary private secretary Seema Kennedy and MPs Kwasi Kwarteng and Leo Docherty.
And campaigners last night accused them of turning a blind eye to the Saudi regime’s atrocious behaviour because of the mega money deals in oil, arms and other goods between the countries.
There is already growing anger over Saudi bombing of Yemen, where thousands of innocent civilians have been killed, its persecution of political opponents, public executions and the alleged hacking to death of Mr Khashoggi.
One branded the cash lavished on the MPs for luxury hotels, business class flights and hospitality “blood money” and accused the Government of “collusion” over the Yemeni deaths.
On Monday members lined up in the Commons to condemn the Saudis over Mr Khashoggi’s murder. But those words now appear empty after the Mirror discovered gifts to Tories have risen 10-fold since the party came to power.
Andrew Smith, from Campaign Against The Arms Trade, said: “The Saudi regime has an appalling human rights record and has done for decades.
“Its abuses didn’t begin with the murder of Khashoggi, they began years ago, and Westminster has supported it every step of the way.
“For the last three and a half years it has inflicted a humanitarian catastrophe on Yemen. MPs should not be taking its blood money.”
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett: “This shows just how cosy the Tories are with the Saudi regime and helps explain why they’re so reluctant to speak out about human rights abuses and the war in Yemen.”
War on Want campaigner Ryvka Barnard added: “Some 13 million people in Yemen are facing starvation and thousands have been killed in relentless attacks by the Saudi-led coalition, fuelled by billions of pounds worth of British weapons exports.
“The UK’s export control policy, if properly applied, would result in a de facto arms embargo on Saudi Arabia because of war crimes committed by it.
“But weapons continue to flow because too many British politicians lack the political will to uphold the rules, stop the exports and end this violence. This isn’t just negligence, it’s collusion. MPs should be pressing the Government to end its complicity in the war crimes committed by the Saudi regime by suspending all arms exports to Saudi.”
Before the Tories came to power in 2010, the kingdom funded just seven trips for five MPs costing nearly £27,000.
But since then, 44 Conservatives
The regime has an appalling human rights record. MPs should not take its blood money ANDREW SMITH ARMS CAMPAIGNER
enjoyed trips worth £270,000 and six Labour visits cost £50,000.
Mrs May’s PPS Kennedy told Parliament that “the behaviour of Saudi has changed” three months before accepting a £3,187 “parliamentary fact-finding” visit there.
After two free trips to Saudi costing £9,466, Kwarteng told Parliament in 2016: “I do not dispute the Saudis have, at times, been overbearing and acted beyond their authority and civilians have been killed. That is greatly to be regretted and it is an appalling violation … but I do not believe that suspending the sale of arms would help this country.”
Docherty enjoyed two visits to Saudi at a cost of £16,057, meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He later praised the country’s “tremendous stability in a very turbulent region”. Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington accepted a £3,405 trip to visit political leaders in 2008. Tory Simon Hoare got a free trip worth £3,187 last year. He made a second visit costing £7,800 to meet Saudi king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
In April, five Labour MPs took a four-day trip which cost £8,762 each.
Britain is the second biggest arms supplier to Saudi Arabia after the US. We also export machinery, aircraft and cars. Saudi accounted for about 3% of oil imports here last year.
Last year, then Defence Secretary Michael Fallon met bin Salman in Jeddah to sign military cooperation agreements. Theresa May also had talks with the king in Saudi last year and a delegation headed by the crown prince visited Downing Street this year.
A Tory party spokesman said: “All visits have been declared and registered in accordance with Parliamentary rules.”