Christian peace charity The Fellowship of Reconciliation has welcomed today’s court of appeal ruling that the UK government should not have granted licences enabling arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The case was brought by Campaign Against the Arms Trade and focussed on evidence that the weapons sold by the UK have been used by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.
John Cooper, Director of the Fellowship, said:
“We welcome today’s judgement as a vital step in building peace and ensuring that the UK doesn’t profit from the humanitarian catastrophe happening in Yemen. It should provide a wake-up call to the government that putting profit before peace isn’t a viable principle for a trade policy”
He continued:
“The victory today is marred by the knowledge that thousands of civilians have died in Yemen in the time that this court case has been fought. We lament each life lost and urge the government to use today as a moment to re-focus its energy into supporting a peaceful solution to the conflict in Yemen”
