Helping Saudi Arabia is in our national interest

In these uncertain times, Boris Johnson is right to maintain arms sales to our most important Arab ally

Among the many conflicts marked during this year’s Remembrance Day commemorations, the ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the First Gulf War provided a timely reminder of what can be achieved when nations work together. In an age when the very notion of military intervention has become anathema for political elites on both sides of the Atlantic, the highly successful 1991 campaign to liberate the Gulf state of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s illegal annexation marked a high point in relations between the West and its Arab allies.

Western forces, it is true, were responsible for conducting most of the operation. But the supporting role provided by Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, which actively facilitated the formation of a 500,000-strong foreign army on its soil, was invaluable.

Alas, long gone are the heady days after that brilliantly executed campaign, when former US president George HW Bush spoke of a New World Order safeguarding the principles of international law. Instead, with the rise of Islamist groups such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil), as well as Russia’s more aggressive stance under President Vladimir Putin, we see the established order in areas such as Europe and the Middle East under serious threat.

For Britain, the situation is even more perilous: last summer’s vote in favour of Brexit, together with Donald Trump’s election victory, raise difficult questions about which allies we will be able to depend upon in future years to safeguard our interests.

In this context the unprecedented joint statement issued by four senior ministers – including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – to maintain Britain’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia represents a welcome rebalancing of our national priorities. The world today might be very different to 1991, but the strength of relations between London and Riyadh are still as strong as they were when the Desert Rats helped to liberate Kuwait.

Britain relies heavily on intelligence provided by Saudi security officials to keep the streets free from attacks by Islamist terrorists. Close ties in the field of defence co-operation have seen Riyadh invest substantially in two generations of British-made warplanes, thereby helping to keep vital industries profitable at a time of swingeing cuts to our own defence budget. The bold economic reform plan set out by the country’s deputy crown prince, Mohamed bin Salman, in which the Saudis plan to undertake a wholesale restructuring of their economy as part of a plan called Saudi Vision 2030, also gives British companies a golden opportunity to deepen their trade ties with the kingdom, to the mutual benefit of all.

Yet at a time when Britain can ill afford to lose the few friends it still has, a recently published joint report from the Committee on Arms Export Control, the majority of whose members boast decidedly left-ofcentre political credentials, has the potential to cause a serious rift with Riyadh. It may well be true, as the committee alleges, that the Saudi military has been responsible for causing a number of civilian casualties in Yemen’s bitter civil war. But the Saudis have already admitted as much, conducting their own investigation into failings in their chain of command structure that led to the loss of innocent life in the first place. And the numbers involved are far smaller than those presented by a number of human rights groups.

What is surprising about the Committee’s approach, though, is that, while it is always quick to condemn Riyadh, demanding that Britain puts a ban on selling arms to the Saudis, it seems less interested in investigating war crimes committed by other parties involved in the conflict, namely the Houthi rebels and their Iranian backers, whom no less a body than the UN has condemned for overthrowing the country’s democratically elected government. The Saudis are, after all, spearheading a coalition of Sunni Arab states which, with the backing of the US and Britain, seeks to prevent Shia Iran from seizing control of Yemen. Such is the level of concern in Whitehall about the implications of such a takeover that the MoD earlier this month dispatched the powerful destroyer HMS Daring to protect the Gulf of Aden’s vital shipping lanes.

In such circumstances we should seek closer cooperation with the Saudis, not lambast them. This is why Mr Johnson and his colleagues should be applauded for reaffirming their commitment to Saudi arms sales. It is a rare and welcome example of ministers working together for the common good, which should hopefully form the template for the Government’s approach to other challenges in the post-Brexit world.

For as Theresa May said in her Guildhall speech earlier this week, the liberal elite needs to understand that it has had its day. The pendulum in global politics, particularly following the Brexit vote and Mr Trump’s triumph, is swinging back to a more pragmatic approach. And from now on, the national interest must take precedence over politically motivated claims concerning alleged human rights abuses.