British support for the House of Saud cannot be unconditional
When Theresa May welcomed Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Downing Street earlier this year, an official statement declared that the two countries would work together to promote “universal human rights.”
At the time, this form of words jarred with the reality of life in the oil rich kingdom. Today, in the aftermath of the disappearance and alleged killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, such optimism seems even more incongruous. When the man known as MBS visited the UK in March, a choreographed PR campaign was well underway, presenting the young ruler as a moderate and a reformer.
May welcomed the regime's move to increase women's rights, allowing them to drive and to attend sporting events. A major advertising campaign, which is still running on social media, invited people to “meet the heart, the people and the values of Saudi Arabia.” It now looks as if those values could include the abduction, torture and murder of journalists critical of the kingdom's slow pace of reform.
Grim as this accusation is, we ought not to be surprised by it. Reporters Without Borders says that 15 bloggers and journalists have been arrested in Saudi Arabia in the past 12 months. The regime's reforms appear to have been largely for outward consumption, while at home the criminal justice system (branded “notoriously unfair” by Human Rights Watch) continues to behead and publicly display the corpses of dozens of convicted criminals every year. A gruesome reminder that for all the talk of modernisation, the country is far from modernity.
Yesterday, in response to the Khashoggi mystery, a joint statement from the foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany called for a “complete and detailed” response from the Saudi authorities, following Donald Trump's pledge to “punish” the kingdom if it were found responsible for the journalist's murder. Saudi Arabia said it would meet any punitive action “with a bigger one”.
The UK has perfected the art of holding its nose while holding Saudi Arabia's hand, but it seems that events are forcing more frank conversations and a timely reappraisal of British support for the House of Saud. That support, however pragmatic, cannot be unconditional.
During his March visit, May and MBS announced plans for £65bn in trade and investment deals. This economic relationship will now be scrutinised – a fact for which Saudi Arabia has only itself to blame.