The Court of Appeal in London has ruled today that the UK government’s refusal to consider Saudi Arabia’s laws-of-war violations in Yemen before licensing arms sales to them was unlawful. It is a landmark decision that compels the UK government to reconsider its decision on arms sales to Saudi Arabia. It has caused the government to agree to not issue new arms sales to Saudi Arabia until a new lawful decision on arms licenses is made, or it obtains a new court order.
This ruling is a blow to the UK arms industry. Between 2008 and 2017, over 5,200 British military licenses were approved for arms exports to Saudi Arabia, worth some £10.3 billion. The largest single export amount was in 2015, worth £2.9 billion, over 40% of all of the UK’s military arms exports globally that year.
The government has responded to this news with predictable bullishness. Dr Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade, spoke in Parliament today following the announcement. He claimed that Britain had the “most robust export policy anywhere in the world” and went on to say that he took “offence” at the concept that “Saudi Arabia is an enemy of British values, including human rights.” Yet, according to information released from the UK Gulf Team Desk, the British embassy in Riyadh itself has expressed “serious concerns about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia” in internal briefings.
