Saudi Arabia

The title should read Saudi Arabia, of course. This iPad plays tricks I’m afraid.

I share your horror, maddyone. But we support this regime... sell arms to them.

Maddy I think a lot of atrocities occur in Saudi Arabia. Whatever happened to the outcry over that journalist Khashoggi ?
We have multi billion pound deals going on with this country so our government will remain quiet.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/26/victims-saudi-arabia-mass-execution-made-false-confessions-torture/

It's appalling maddyone and I'd like to think that the world would collectively condemn SA but sadly I don't think they will and, if they do, it will have little effect. The increase in homophobia globally, especially in Arabic countries, in deeply worrying but I suspect that little can, or will, be done.

SA is a terrifying country to be in if you don't fit in with what they determine as normal.

Someone who lives very well as a result of Saudi Arabia and its barbaric practices in the Yemen. Why would our PM question SA?

www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/news-comment/3017-philip-may-profiting-from-wife-s-military-policies

I am a little unclear what is said to the May’s god when they kneel in front of him/her every Sunday.

Do they continually ask for forgiveness. If I was their god I’d be inclined to send down a bolt of lightening.

Maizie and GrannyS, you are so right. As the mother of one gay son, and two other children, I feel so repulsed by this news, and equally repulsed by our media that has barely covered it. These young men (I think they were all men) were just beginning their lives. One was about to go off to university in America. I’m sitting here this morning, having just had a lovely evening out last night with one of my sons and his wife, and I actually feel like crying. I’m so lucky, we all are who live here in Britain. We have no fear that our beloved children will ever face such a threat. And you’re right Maizie, I believe we sell arms to this regime. It’s absolutely sickening.

Thanks for the link Chewbacca.

Thank you also Whitewave, I wonder why I’m not surprised about Phillip May. How anyone can live with themselves, and go to church every Sunday, knowing about all of this. It’s sickening.

What surprises and saddens me is that are people still seem surprised to hear about these atrocities.
These, it isn’t just SA, are appalling regimes.

It is their religious beliefs that lead them to do these things, just as other religions and races carry out different acts which are possibly less disturbing but nonetheless abhorrent to us.
To meddle in their 'politics' is suicide.

I’m not surprised about the regime Pamela, I’m sickened. But I am surprised that there has been so little (if any) coverage on the television. The television is where most people get their news, newspaper sales have been falling for a number of years now. As retired people (mostly) we on Gransnet have time to read news online, but I never did that when I was teaching, and probably most people don’t when they’re busy working. I relied on the television for news then, and there has been nothing on television as far as I’m aware. That’s why I think the Saudi people must think the world has forgotten them.

“Meddling in politics” is a tad different to actively supporting their barbarous activities with arms, instruments of torture etc. And to add insult to injury profiting from it.

Whitewavemark2
The reason we sell arms was for a very altruistic reason. Their reasons for killing these men were nothing to do with us selling them arms.
We still trade with other countries with whose practices we disagree.
If we withheld sales of everything we trade to countries whose morals and practices disgust us, we'd do little to no business.

And what ‘altruistic’ reason would that be GabbyG?

Altruism and arms seem very strange bedfellows.

Selling a country bread or medicine with whom we disagree politically is in my view perfectly acceptable. Selling them arms and instruments of torture to use on innocent children and individuals and then lining my pockets with this blood money is not acceptable.

I'm sure that you can Google the reasons Anja however I'm sure that someone of your intelligence already knows the answer.

They weren't sold with that in mind Whitewavemark2

We trade with other countries which sell arms to SA.
There is no difference.

Whatever happens, we mustn't interfere. How others rule their countries and its peoples has nothing to do with us.

I'm only interested in what goes on under our own noses in this country----such as slavery, exploitation, grooming of young innocents for sex or wars against religion etc etc.
Do other countries come to our aid in stopping these odious crimes ?

I suppose you use petrol...and it's derivatives.
Why buy from a country which, as you mention, kills children?

The above was to Whitewavemark2 and Anja.

I cannot understand why we continue to trade with this barbaric kingdom - and getting worse. The current young man in in charge is well on the path to being an absolutist dictator, a psychopath utterly indifferent to other people.

I know the great cry will come up about British jobs, sales of technology etc etc But surely the death of Jamal Khashoggi and these executions surely must make the government take pause for thought. How many deaths must we countenance before we say enough is enough. One death per British job, 2 deaths per British job .........10 deaths per British job?

We only import a very tiny amount of oil from SA. We can very easily switch to another country.

Just like our trade with the EU we trade most with our nearest neighbour Norway. It would only amount to a tiny bit more from them.