May says Corbyn 'never backs Britain' as pair clash over Saudi arms sales
The Labour leader calls for a ban on arms sales to the Gulf kingdom, as the prime minister defends the UK's ties with Riyadh.
Wednesday 26 June 2019 14:33, UK
Theresa May has claimed Jeremy Corbyn "never backs Britain" as the pair clashed over UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia at PMQs.
The prime minister accused the Labour leader of sympathising with Russia over the 2018 novichok attack in Salisbury, with IRA when "terrorists were killing our people" and with Iran over recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf.
Mr Corbyn called for the government to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia in order to bring peace to Yemen and help save thousands of lives.
He told the Commons there was "overwhelming evidence" of Saudi Arabian forces committing war crimes in the country.
Yemen has been in the midst of a civil war since 2015, which involves Iran-backed Houthi rebels fighting a coalition led by Saudi Arabia in support of the country's internationally recognised government.
Mr Corbyn accused Riyadh of "flouting every human rights norm" domestically and internationally and "funding extremism around the world".
He said that last week's Court of Appeal judgement, which ruled UK arms sales to the Gulf kingdom were illegal, should be a "wake-up call" and prompt a rethink of a policy that has seen more than £4.5bn of "deadly" weapons supplied to Saudi Arabia.
Mr Corbyn expressed his concerns over arms sales before adding: "But the UK has supplied them with over £4.5bn of deadly weapons - UK weapons which have been used in indiscriminate attacks on civilians in which over 200,000 people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands more stand on the brink of famine, of starvation and deaths from wholly preventable diseases.
"Surely the Court of Appeal judgement should be a wake-up call to the prime minister and the government.
"So instead of appealing the judgement, why not accept it and stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia now and bring about peace in the Yemen and save those lives."
Mrs May said the UK was committed to helping bring about peace in Yemen and defended London's relationship with Riyadh.
In reaction to the Court of Appeal ruling, the government said it would temporarily halt the granting of new licences to export arms to Saudi Arabia.
She then attacked Mr Corbyn, telling MPs: "Let's just look at some of the relationships (Mr Corbyn) supports.
"When people were killed in Salisbury, his sympathies were with Russia.
"When terrorists were killing our people, his sympathies were with the IRA.
"In the recent tanker attacks in the Gulf, his sympathies were with Iran.
"He never backs Britain and he should never be prime minister."
Earlier in the session, Mr Corbyn called on the government to follow the lead of other countries and ban arms sales.
"Germany, as an EU member state, has banned arms exports to Saudi Arabia," he said.
"So has Denmark, and both the US Senate and House of Representatives have voted to ban arms exports as well.
"The UN describes the situation as, and I quote, 'humanity's biggest preventable disaster' and the government deems it fit to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia during that situation."
Mr Corbyn then pressed the PM to answer "yes or no" to whether she believed human rights violations were taking place in Yemen.
Mrs May said these issues are considered "very carefully" when dealing with arms export licences.
She then criticised Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who had to seek the removal of a Houthi group-linked speaker invited to parliament for a discussion on Yemen following antisemitism allegations.
The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was also raised.
Mrs May said she wanted to see "accountability" for the "horrific murder" and told MPs she had raised the case with Saudi leaders multiple times.
As the Tory leadership contest continues, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford criticised both candidates for the top job.
He described Boris Johnson as the "most incompetent foreign secretary in a century" and someone who has "made a career out of lying".
Mr Hunt, Mr Blackford continued, was "the most incompetent health secretary in our history, a man who writes books on privatising our NHS".
He added: "In her last days in office, will she finally act in the best interests of these islands - not the Conservative Party - and admit that neither of the candidates for office should ever be elected prime minister?"
Mrs May responded: "Either of the candidates for this high office would do a darn sight better job than anybody sitting on any of those benches."