Tories far too cosy with brutal Saudis
■ THE tentacles of Saudi Arabia’s medieval theocracy have stretched right to the heart of the British establishment. Theresa May’s parliamentary private secretary Seema Kennedy and many other MPs received hospitality from a country that buys support while imprisoning, torturing and murdering critics.
Saudi human rights abuses began years ago, supported by the West which relied on Saudi oil.
Labour’s Jon Trickett is right to say the Tories are very cosy with the Saudis and this explains why they won’t speak out against the war in Yemen too.
Eric Thorpe, Salford
■ A Saudi Arabian dissident dies in an extremely violent way and the world protests.
Almost daily thousands of Yemeni men, women and children also die a violent death at the hands of Saudi weapons and yet there is very little in the way of world outrage. The Conservative Government is doing nothing but wring its hands and yet we are still selling arms to the Saudi killers. Why?
And, of course, there is no conflict of interest in all of this when 50 British politicians have accepted hospitality from this brutal regime. Alan Baber Weston-super-Mare North Somerset
■ What a surprise that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s most vicious critics – Labour MP Mike Gapes, ex-Labour MP John Woodcock, and others such as John Spellar and Kevan Jones – who all called him a security threat, have had paid-for trips to Saudi Arabia.
These hypocrites can’t be taken seriously – they have relentlessly sought to sew division and undermine Corbyn. Steven McNamara Middlesbrough
■ British MPs, mainly Tory, are still queuing up to gorge on what’s on offer via business trips to Saudi Arabia despite the atrocities carried out by its regime. This just goes to show that they care more about money than people. Brian Scully
Wigan
■ The Tories have been very keen to highlight who Jeremy Corbyn has spoken with or shared podiums with in the past, but who are the Tories mixing with?
Our illustrious
Prime Minister, Mrs May, along with various MPs, has no qualms about shaking hands with the war-mongering, brutal Saudi leaders.
What hypocrites these people are who are running our country. Laurie Brassett Ossett, West Yorks
■ President Trump and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo cannot seriously think revoking a few visas and imposing sanctions on trade deals will seriously worry Saudi Arabia, who have other countries that are more than happy to do business with them.
Reg Barrett Southminster Essex
■ The murder of Jamal Khashoggi was cold and calculated. The West must do the decent thing and put sanctions on the Saudis like they have called for when it comes to Russia’s Novichok attack in Salisbury.
Michael Elias, Carmarthen