Saudi Arabia: Mass Execution

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Monday 14th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness asks a very important question. I do not have any detail relating to that, so I will write to her.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

My Lords, it seems to me that the Government need to look for levers to reinforce to the Saudi Administration that this sort of activity and behaviour is simply unacceptable to this country. Maybe if in future we did not allow sports-washing to make a regime sound legitimate, helpful and interested in our culture, the Saudis would learn the lessons. What is happening at Chelsea might be brought home to them, so that they understand that there are consequences for how they behave that will be played out here so that our culture is not subverted in that way.

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes some really good points as far as sport is concerned and how important it is. She might have been referring to the purchase of Newcastle United. As she is aware, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund is a significant investor there; it operates across a wide sector. We welcome the PIF’s purchase of Newcastle United, but we never had a role at any point in the club’s prospective takeover. This has been a commercial matter for the Premier League, but the noble Baroness makes some good points relating to culture.