Executions in Saudi Arabia

Brendan O'Hara Excerpts
Monday 14th March 2022

(2 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Amanda Milling Portrait Amanda Milling
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I have been clear about our opposition to the death penalty. We have raised a number of cases with the Saudi authorities, and I will happily follow up on that particular case in writing.

Brendan O'Hara Portrait Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)
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The Greek writer Aesop once said that a man is known by the company he keeps. That applies equally to states. This week, while the Prime Minister’s former friends in Moscow were committing atrocities in Ukraine, his existing friends in Riyadh were executing 81 people. It is obvious that the oft-repeated words of condemnation mean nothing. Is it not time that this country, rather than cosying up with such regimes, completely resets its relationship with regimes that do not share our values and that feel, because of their wealth, that they can continue to trample over basic human rights with impunity?

Amanda Milling Portrait Amanda Milling
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What I would say, actually, is that given our relationship with Saudi Arabia, we are able to have frank conversations about human rights.