Tag: Qatar

When James Cleverly was reappointed foreign secretary last October, he tweeted he was “honoured” to be “continuing to protect UK interests overseas and support to our friends and allies around the world, defending democracy and freedom”. What he’s been doing tells a different story. Two days after tweeting of his pursuit of democracy, he was […]

Part 1 of Declassified UK’s investigation into the Manchester Bombing The Manchester bomber and his closest family were part of Islamist militia forces covertly supported by the British military and Nato in the Libyan war of 2011. The UK facilitated the flow of arms to Libyan rebel militias at the time, and helped train them, […]

Qatar cannot wait to be an international sporting venue. This weekend the tiny Gulf monarchy hosted its first Formula 1 Grand Prix. And in twelve months time, football fans will fly in for the World Cup. But already some sports stars are speaking out about Qatar’s human rights record. Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton […]

Britain’s Royal Air Force is about to establish a second fighter squadron with Qatar, an authoritarian Gulf state accused of supporting extremist groups across the Middle East which the UK itself opposes and says promote terrorism.

The public inquiry into the 2017 Manchester terrorist attack shows no sign of investigating the UK’s covert role in the Libya war of 2011 — in which the Manchester bomber had fought. He is one of four terrorists from that conflict who went on to slaughter 63 people, mainly Britons, in separate attacks — and they may even have received military training from UK-allied forces.

Five highly repressive Gulf states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — have been able to invest at least £140bn in Britain. The figure is more than five times larger than Russian investments in the UK, which have, by contrast, received sustained criticism in the media and government.

The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, has held 95 meetings with eight repressive monarchies in the Middle East since the ‘Arab Spring’ protests of 2011 threatened their power. Charles has played a key role in promoting £14.5-billion worth of UK arms exports to these regimes in the last decade.

Britain’s royal family has met members of autocratic Middle Eastern monarchies nearly once a fortnight since the crackdown on ‘Arab Spring’ protests began 10 years ago this month. Their visits have often coincided with human rights abuses in the Gulf, where pro-democracy activists are punished for criticising the Windsor ties to regimes.

The British government is continuing to approve the export of hi-tech surveillance equipment and software of the type that is being used by states abusing human rights to monitor and repress dissent, new government figures show. The government’s exports of ‘telecommunications interception equipment’ to repressive states are likely unlawful.