Labour MP Criticises “Hypocritical” Disinterest In UK Arms Sales To Saudi Arabia

3 min read27 November

Fabian Hamilton, the long-serving MP for Leeds North East, told PoliticsHome that UK arms exports to Israel are “tokenistic” and “mainly spare parts”, whereas they are making a “very real” impact for Saudi Arabia as it fights Houthi rebels in Yemen.

According to official government statistics, the UK exported £18.2m worth of arms to Israel in 2023. In September, Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended 30 arms export licenses of the 350 the UK has with Israel after a two-month review concluded that they could be used “to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law”.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade estimates UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia in the same year were valued at £509m.

The war in Yemen was responsible for 377,000 deaths by the end of 2021, according to the United Nations. Nearly 15,000 people had been killed by direct military action, with air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition responsible for the majority of those fatalities. 

Hamilton said there is now “evidence of British munitions and ordnance being found on the battlefield in Yemen” and that the UK “should be ashamed of that”.

The Labour MP said up to 40,000 children being injured or killed in Gaza is “breathtakingly appalling”.

On 7 October last year, terrorist group Hamas seized 235 hostages and killed 1,200 people in an attack on Israel. More than 44,000 Palestinians have died in the Israeli assault on Gaza that has followed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

“But then in Yemen, it’s 150,000 children injured or killed,” Hamilton said.

“When I put that figure to people, they say, ‘but what about Gaza?’ I say, ‘no, what about Yemen? What about the Houthis? What about what’s going on there?’

“I just find it hypocritical that people aren’t equally concerned about all death and destruction going on as a result of state interference in conflict and the sale of British arms.”

Hamilton has called for “consistency” in the UK’s approach to arms exports.

While shadow minister for peace and disarmament during the last parliament, he pushed for a “proper verification system” and “proper accountability” for arms export licenses and set out a policy whereby MPs could scrutinise arms sales through the Committees on Arms Export Controls (CAEC).

But while he “put the policy” to then-shadow leader of the house Thangam Debonnaire, and it was “agreed to by all the policy-making parts of the Labour Party”, he said “nothing’s happened” since. 

Last week, the Financial Times reported that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Saudi Arabia next month to seek investment from sovereign wealth funds. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, may visit the UK next year, the report said.

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