CAAT response to Boris Johnson taking £14K in hospitality from Saudi regime

This afternoon it was revealed that the former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, accepted £14K worth of hospitality from the Saudi regime.

This afternoon it was revealed that the former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, accepted £14K worth of hospitality from the Saudi regime.

According to the relevant entry in the House of Commons register of members’ interests, the purpose of the visit was a “meeting with regional figures to promote education for women and girls.”

As Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson supported billions of pounds worth of arms sales to the Saudi military.

UK government statistics show that since the bombing of Yemen began in 2015, the UK has licensed £4.7 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, including:

  • £2.7 billion worth of ML10 licences (Aircraft, helicopters, drones)
  • £1.9 billion worth of ML4 licences (Grenades, bombs, missiles, countermeasures)

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:

As Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson supported billions of pounds worth of arms sales to the Saudi regime and gave his full backing to its terrible bombardment and blockade of Yemen.

Politicians should not be taking money from authoritarian regimes or dictatorships like the one in Saudi Arabia, which has an appalling human rights record and has inflicted a humanitarian crisis on Yemen.

The Saudi regime is not spending money on hospitality for Boris Johnson because it cares about his views on education. It is doing it because it knows that he’s got ambitions for Downing Street and it wants to buy influence.

ENDS

For further information, please contact Andrew at media(at)caat·org·uk or call 020 7281 0297.

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