NOVANEWS
BORIS JOHNSON is under fire after it emerged he took a £14,000 all-expenses paid trip to Saudi Arabia days before the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The ex-foreign secretary enjoyed flights, hotels and dinners paid for by the Saudi ministry of foreign affairs between September 19 to 21, which was declared in the Commons register of interests.
It was less than a fortnight before Mr Khashoggi’s murder in Saudia Arabia’s Istanbul consulate.
A friend of Mr Johnson said he accepted the invitation ‘to discuss his long-standing campaign of improving education for women and girls. He has denounced the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and continues to believe the UK must hold Saudi Arabia to account for this barbaric act’.
Saudi Arabia, which is being investigated by the UN over alleged war crimes in Yemen, has increased its public relations interests since the war began in 2015, hosting at least 34 MPs. In 2016, £35,000 of gifts and trips were registered by MPs, rising to £100,000 this year.
Andrew Smith, from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, said Mr Johnson’s trip was a lobbying exercise by the regime, which spends billions of pounds on British arms. ‘Politicians should not be taking money from regimes like the one in Saudi Arabia, which has one of the poorest human rights records in the world,’ he said.
The register fuelled speculation about Mr Johnson’s ambitions for No.10, with the revelation that he was given £50,000 towards ‘office and staffing costs’, from hedge fund boss Jon Wood.
Current foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday condemned Mr Khashoggi’s murder, but said Britain had to be ‘considered’ in its response, telling MPs: ‘There are jobs in the UK at stake.’
The ex-foreign secretary enjoyed flights, hotels and dinners paid for by the Saudi ministry of foreign affairs between September 19 to 21, which was declared in the Commons register of interests.
It was less than a fortnight before Mr Khashoggi’s murder in Saudia Arabia’s Istanbul consulate.
A friend of Mr Johnson said he accepted the invitation ‘to discuss his long-standing campaign of improving education for women and girls. He has denounced the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and continues to believe the UK must hold Saudi Arabia to account for this barbaric act’.
Saudi Arabia, which is being investigated by the UN over alleged war crimes in Yemen, has increased its public relations interests since the war began in 2015, hosting at least 34 MPs. In 2016, £35,000 of gifts and trips were registered by MPs, rising to £100,000 this year.
Andrew Smith, from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, said Mr Johnson’s trip was a lobbying exercise by the regime, which spends billions of pounds on British arms. ‘Politicians should not be taking money from regimes like the one in Saudi Arabia, which has one of the poorest human rights records in the world,’ he said.
The register fuelled speculation about Mr Johnson’s ambitions for No.10, with the revelation that he was given £50,000 towards ‘office and staffing costs’, from hedge fund boss Jon Wood.
Current foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday condemned Mr Khashoggi’s murder, but said Britain had to be ‘considered’ in its response, telling MPs: ‘There are jobs in the UK at stake.’
