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| Britain's shameful role in the international arms trade | Britain's shameful role in the international arms trade |
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| How humiliating for British citizens that the prime minister tramps the world pimping for the UK arms manufacturers (Cameron heads to Gulf in bid to sell Typhoon fighter jets, 5 November). In September the target was Brazil, when he escorted six "defence" contractors on a sales spree. Now Saudi Arabia is the mark; one of the most repressive tyrannies on the planet which already has one of the largest stocks of armaments (at $48bn, it was the seventh largest military spender in 2011). The only potential enemy of the regime, terrified by the implications of the Arab spring, is its own population. These are the people who could eventually suffer and die from Cameron's blandishments to the dictators. Jim McCluskey Twickenham, Middlesex | How humiliating for British citizens that the prime minister tramps the world pimping for the UK arms manufacturers (Cameron heads to Gulf in bid to sell Typhoon fighter jets, 5 November). In September the target was Brazil, when he escorted six "defence" contractors on a sales spree. Now Saudi Arabia is the mark; one of the most repressive tyrannies on the planet which already has one of the largest stocks of armaments (at $48bn, it was the seventh largest military spender in 2011). The only potential enemy of the regime, terrified by the implications of the Arab spring, is its own population. These are the people who could eventually suffer and die from Cameron's blandishments to the dictators. Jim McCluskey Twickenham, Middlesex |
| • What a supremely surreal and offensive sight it was to see our PM descend the steps of his aircraft and arrive in the Gulf states – to boost British arms sales. Cameron tells us that arms sales to the Gulf are "entirely legitimate" (Report, 6 November). Well, maybe in commercial terms they are. But, as he descended those steps, his brilliant red poppy standing out against his dark suit, he clearly hadn't considered the moral legitimacy of his actions. | • What a supremely surreal and offensive sight it was to see our PM descend the steps of his aircraft and arrive in the Gulf states – to boost British arms sales. Cameron tells us that arms sales to the Gulf are "entirely legitimate" (Report, 6 November). Well, maybe in commercial terms they are. But, as he descended those steps, his brilliant red poppy standing out against his dark suit, he clearly hadn't considered the moral legitimacy of his actions. |
| To promote the selling of arms in Remembrance week suggests a man with either no scruples or very poor judgment. Are there no depths to which he and we will not sink? Osbert Sitwell's great and dreadful poetic commentary The Next War once again rings so true. But why stop in the Gulf states powder keg? Maybe our PM could nip over to Argentina and sell a few arms there then we could have another scrap. It worked for Mrs Thatcher. Tony Beale Ruddington, Nottinghamshire | To promote the selling of arms in Remembrance week suggests a man with either no scruples or very poor judgment. Are there no depths to which he and we will not sink? Osbert Sitwell's great and dreadful poetic commentary The Next War once again rings so true. But why stop in the Gulf states powder keg? Maybe our PM could nip over to Argentina and sell a few arms there then we could have another scrap. It worked for Mrs Thatcher. Tony Beale Ruddington, Nottinghamshire |
| • Countries that sell arms to states that have repeatedly violated the human rights of their people should receive universal condemnation from their own citizens for the role they play in furthering the misery and bloodshed around the globe, and Britain's sale of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and the UAE should be no exception. Human Rights Watch has reported numerous human rights abuses conducted by both states, which have included the assault and intimidation of nonviolent human rights defenders, political activists and civil society actors in an attempt to suppress freedom of expression and protect the regimes from democratic change. | • Countries that sell arms to states that have repeatedly violated the human rights of their people should receive universal condemnation from their own citizens for the role they play in furthering the misery and bloodshed around the globe, and Britain's sale of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and the UAE should be no exception. Human Rights Watch has reported numerous human rights abuses conducted by both states, which have included the assault and intimidation of nonviolent human rights defenders, political activists and civil society actors in an attempt to suppress freedom of expression and protect the regimes from democratic change. |
| Britain's long-standing international support for democracy and human rights has already been undermined by the sale of 72 Typhoons to Saudi Arabia. Should Britain prop up these oppressive states further by putting an extra £6bn worth of military hardware into their hands, its position will rightly be viewed as hypocritical by the rest of the world. Andrew Lovatt Market Drayton, Shropshire | Britain's long-standing international support for democracy and human rights has already been undermined by the sale of 72 Typhoons to Saudi Arabia. Should Britain prop up these oppressive states further by putting an extra £6bn worth of military hardware into their hands, its position will rightly be viewed as hypocritical by the rest of the world. Andrew Lovatt Market Drayton, Shropshire |
| • If David Cameron is "irritated by claims that he uses his overseas trips to sell defence equipment to countries with questionable human rights records", then surely the correct response would be to stop selling the weapons altogether rather than try to do so in secret. Or would he perhaps argue that he has to sell weapons because his prime ministerial predecessors destroyed so much of UK manufacturing that weapons are the only industry the country has left? Joseph Nicholas London | • If David Cameron is "irritated by claims that he uses his overseas trips to sell defence equipment to countries with questionable human rights records", then surely the correct response would be to stop selling the weapons altogether rather than try to do so in secret. Or would he perhaps argue that he has to sell weapons because his prime ministerial predecessors destroyed so much of UK manufacturing that weapons are the only industry the country has left? Joseph Nicholas London |
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