You can, goes the old adage, tell a man from his enemies. You can tell a man from his friends too and David Cameron doesn’t seem to fussy about who his friends are. No need to raise pesky human rights. Dave would rather take despots to the pub for a pint of real ale. It’s not about human rights, after all: it’s about money.
Our old friends in that most democratic countries Saudi Arabia executed just the 47 people in one day yesterday by that most pleasant of methods: beheading. Cameron had nothing to say, so Foreign Secretary Hammond made a hard-hitting statement instead:
“The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country. The death penalty undermines human dignity and there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent.
“The foreign secretary regularly raises human rights issues with his counterparts in countries of concern, including Saudi Arabia. We seek to build strong and mature relationships so that we can be candid with each other about those areas on which we do not agree, including on human rights.
“PS. Is this all right? The new planes and weapons you bought are in the post and our tankers are ready to collect the oil from you.”
I may have made up the final part of the statement, but tell me it isn’t true! When it comes to human rights, this country does not give more than a token toss when money is involved. The fact that we are happy to deal with, and even have government led delegations to the Kingdom to encourage still more business, shows how seriously we don’t take the matter.
Hammond’s statement was so weak he didn’t even refer specifically to Saudi Arabia. Our government raises human rights issues with countries “including Saudi Arabia”. Weak, weak, weak. And we are weak for a reason. They are our friends.
Yes, a country which denies women basis rights, that regularly executes its citizens on a whim, is our friend. Well, we have so much in common.
The money involved means that, far from expressing concern about human rights abuses, we effectively condone them. How else could you suggest otherwise? If we really cared, we’d tell the Saudis to stick their oil where the sun doesn’t shine and encourage our allies to do the same, but we’re scared.
One thing our leaders aren’t in this country is principled because principles cost money and money matters more than anything else. After 47 people had their heads removed yesterday, we couldn’t even issue a proper condemnation. Don’t you feel slightly embarrassed by that?
