Labour leader Starmer rows back on 2020 promise to cancel arms sales to Saudi Arabia
Keir Starmer has rejected claims that he has backtracked on a commitment made during his 2020 leadership race to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia over concerns about their use in Yemen’s civil war.
In a BBC interview, the Labour leader said instead that he would “review” sales.
During his 2020 running to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, he also pledged to “end illegal wars” by introducing a “prevention of military intervention act” that would ensure that any military action would have to be lawful and approved by the Commons.
Starmer has rejected accusations that he abandoned this early pledge, following his backing last week’s UK-US air strikes on Yemen, which Rishi Sunak authorised without parliamentary approval.
He claimed on Sunday that there was “no inconsistency” between these two positions, saying that, “There is obviously a huge distinction between an operation, the like of which we have seen in the last few days, and military action, a sustained campaign.”
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In the BBC interview, Starmer insisted that he “stood by the principle” of consulting MPs before military action, but suggested that this should only apply to “troops on the ground”.
“National security must come first. There will always be urgent situations where parliament can’t be consulted beforehand.”
He refused to commit to introducing new legislation to enshrine the need for a parliamentary vote, arguing that it could be done “by other means”.
Backlash over Yemen
The Labour leader has doubled down in his support for the British-US raids in Yemen, defending his backing of the strikes as acting in “national interest”.
“Those who seek to damage Britain, to attack its interests and to threaten its people…[should] be in no doubt as to the seriousness of our country’s resolve in response to their aggression.”
“Through backtracking on Labour’s previous promise to halt arms to Saudi Arabia, [Starmer] has given authoritarian regimes the green light that it will be business as usual under a Labour government," Campaign Against Arms Trade’s (CAAT) Media Coordinator told MEE.
"Campaign Against Arms trade estimates that the UK has sold £27bn worth of arms to the Saudi regime since it began bombing Yemen in 2015...Starmer is clearly willing to ignore this and will continue to prioritise arms company profits over civilian lives, human rights abuses and violations of International Humanitarian Law," they added.
Starmer’s position has drawn fierce opposition from MPs, with independent Diane Abbott posting on X that the Labour leader “said he would only back war if it was legal, had a viable objective and Parliament gave consent. The current military action on Yemen has none of these yet he supports it.
“Whether your child is killed by a fighter jet or ground artillery, they are just dead,” she added.
UK opposition parties have demanded that parliament be recalled over involvement in US-led air strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Parties including the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru and some members of the main opposition Labour Party expressed concerns at the attacks.
Layla Moran, foreign affairs spokeswoman of Liberal Democrats, described bypassing the parliament as “shameful”.
“Parliament shouldn’t ever be bypassed - and certainly not when it comes to military action,” she posted on X.
The US-UK military move comes after the Houthis launched a series of non-lethal attacks on vessels that have links to Israel.
The Houthi military spokesman said in response to the attacks: "The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished."
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