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Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/793527
The legal action was brought by law firm Leigh Day on behalf of the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) against the Secretary of State for International Trade over its decision to continue to grant licences for the export of arms from the UK to Saudi Arabia. Lawyers for CAAT argued this decision was against UK arms export policy, which clearly states that the government must deny such licences if there is a 'clear risk' that the arms 'might' be used in 'a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The legal action follows serious allegations that Saudi forces might have used UK arms to violate IHL in their ongoing bombardment of Yemen. Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: "This is a very disappointing verdict, and we are pursuing an appeal. If this verdict is upheld then it will be seen as a green light for government to continue arming and supporting brutal dictatorships and human rights abusers like Saudi Arabia that have shown a blatant disregard for international humanitarian law. Rosa Curling of Leigh Day said: "The judgement today is very disappointing and our client has put in an immediate application to appeal which we hope will be granted. "The law is clear: where there is a clear risk UK arms might be used in the commission of serious violations of international law, arm sales cannot go ahead. "Nothing in the open evidence, presented by the UK government to the court, suggests this risk does not exist in relation to arms to Saudi Arabia. Indeed, all the evidence we have seen from Yemen suggests the opposite: the risk is very real. You need only look at the devastating reality of the situation there. ISSUE 100 / 2017 REAL MEDIA WHY DID HOME SECRETARY AMBER RUDD SHUT DOWN HER OPPONENT AT AN ELECTION DEBATE IN HASTINGS? At the hustings in Hastings, however, Wilson was seemingly shut down at the request of Amber Rudd when he discussed the relationship between terror and Saudi Arabia and the proposal to shut the Serious Fraud Office leaving prosecutions in the hands of the government. The video of the hustings has since gone viral. We caught up with Wilson, during the election as he explained what happened. 'I started answering the question about Law and Order, which Amber Rudd had previously answered and she talked about [the] Manchester [terror attack]. I picked up the theme of talking about Manchester and said you can't discuss the theme of terror attacks without reference to the situation in the middle east and in particular our selling of arms to Saudi Arabia. The more I talked about this and particularly HSBC's involvement in Saudi Arabia as well, the Chairman started ringing the bell which meant I had to stop. I asked 'whats going on? I've just started', he said 'You're going off topic.' I said okay let's get back to the topic. So I talked about Amber Rudd shutting down the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) – something I'm involved with because they deal with financial crime – so the plan is to shut down the SFO so that all fraud prosecutions will go through the National Crime Agency isn't independent. Which means that Amber Rudd effectively will decide who is prosecuted. Watch the full interview with Nicholas Wilson On realmedia. press During the election campaign, HSBC whistleblower Nicholas Wilson stood for Parliament against Tory MP Amber Rudd. Campaigners have said they will appeal a High Court decision which allows the UK Government to continue exporting arms to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen. CAMPAIGNER WILL APPEAL 'VERY DISAPPOINTING' VERDICT ON ARMS SALES TO SAUDI ARABIA