In June the Court of Appeal ruled that the UK’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia were unlawful on the basis that ministers had failed to assess the risk to civilians.The government had agreed that they would not issue any licences for arms exports until they had sorted out proper procedures for the protection of civilians.
Yet on 16 September,Trade Secretary Liz Truss admitted that export licences had been “inadvertently” granted for £435,450 worth of radio parts and an air cooler for an armoured vehicle for the Royal Saudi Land Forces, currently deployed in Yemen. Then, 10 days later, she again admitted that another license of equipment to Saudi had been issued, blaming communication within government departments. Further, another licence (now also revoked) had been granted in August for the sale of fuel gauges for F-16 jets to Jordan’s air force. Jordan is an ally in the Saudi-led coalition.
An estimated 18,292 civilians have been killed or injured as a result of indiscriminate bombing by the Saudi-led coalition.