You can’t have it both ways on despots

I SHALL not be lining the streets to cheer when the despot of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman (matily known as ‘MBS’), rolls up here in October. Actually, I understand that Britain is so broke it cannot be choosy about such things. Saudi Arabia has lots of money and we want that money to be spent and invested here.

For decades now, our senior politicians and Royals have (literally) bent the neck to various Saudi tyrants – they had to do so while those tyrants hung medals round their necks.

Saudi Arabia is a political slum, a place of torture, censorship, prejudice, repression and injustice, whose leaders are not even ashamed of this. The CIA, which has better ways of knowing such things than most of us, concluded that MBS was personally involved in the murder and dismemberment of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, on Saudi diplomatic premises.

He was also prominent in the decision to launch the bloody and disastrous ‘intervention’ (perhaps ‘Special Military Operation’ would have been a better term) in Yemen by several Arab countries, backed by the USA. The death toll among innocent bystanders is disputed but it is large whoever you ask. OK, we need the money. But if we are prepared to host such a person (and will King Charles welcome him?), what is all our moralising bluster about Russia worth? Moscow murders its targets with polonium and novichok. Saudi Arabia cuts up dissidents with bone saws. Both invade their neighbours.

If MBS is coming here, we really will have to shut up about how wicked Russia is. If we want to carry on delivering moral sermons to the world, we have to cancel the invitation and accept our poverty. If we want the oil money, we will have to can the homilies. One or the other. Not both.