UK government ignored advice to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia
Senior British officials ignored legal advice urging the UK government to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia during its war on Yemen, Middle East Eye reported on February 10th.
Former Foreign Official Mark Smith told the Guardian that it was “acknowledged that the UK had exceeded the threshold for halting arms sales,” among senior Foreign Office officials, including legal advisers.
“Yet instead of advising ministers to suspend exports, the focus shifted to finding ways to ‘get back on the right side of the law,” Smith wrote in the Guardian.
Smith said the UK was “fully aware that Saudi air strikes were causing massive civilian casualties.”
Under the UK’s legal framework, arms sales must be stopped if there is a clear risk that the weapons could be used commit a serious breach of international law.
Mark Smith, who was lead adviser on arms sales policy was tasked with gathering information on whether sales were lawful, said that his advice was being overruled. Smith added that another colleague resigned over the issue. “I soon followed,” he wrote.
Smith gained attention in August 2024 when he resigned a second time in protest against UK arms sales to Israel during its war on Gaza.
“It is with sadness that I resign after a long career in the diplomatic service, however I can no longer carry out my duties in the knowledge that this Department may be complicit in war crimes,” he wrote in his resignation letter.
“I have raised this at every level in the organisation, including through an official whistle blowing investigation and received nothing more than ‘thank you we have noted your concern,” Smith added.
Smith said that his reports were constantly being returned to him with the feedback to understate signs of civilian harm.
“Reports were repeatedly returned to me with instructions to ‘rebalance’ the findings – to downplay evidence of civilian harm and emphasise diplomatic efforts, regardless of the facts,” he wrote in the Guardian.
Middle East Eye
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