With wall-to-wall coverage of Brexit consuming the media’s bandwidth, it would be easy to miss the report that most of Yemen is just one step away from famine. Yet entering Yemen on the roll-call of global disasters ignores the fact that famine there is an entirely man-made phenomenon, and one in which the UK, with its internally inconsistent policy, is tragically complicit. Yemen is not starving; it is being starved.

The generosity of the British public in donating £20m to last month’s Disasters Emergency Committee appeal demonstrates that we are far from immune to appalling stories and images of starvation in the 21st century. With four famines looming and the unconscionable prospect of children dying from starvation in their tens of thousands, we face an image of biblical ferocity that most of us thought lay buried in the last century. Yet we are in an intolerable bind where Britain’s development and humanitarian organisations try desperately to get aid and medicines, paid for by the British taxpayer, into Yemen while a Saudi-led coalition, of which Britain is a part, is pounding the very port facilities through which British taxpayer-funded support needs to pass.

As Yemeni children stare into the jaws of starvation, we cannot continue with business as usual. Yemen is being slowly starved by our ally, Saudi Arabia. Save the Children recently called out Saudi tactics that directly blocked shipments of medical supplies. Far from working to unblock lifesaving aid pipelines, the Saudi-led coalition is pursuing an assault that is pushing the frontlines of the conflict towards Yemen’s main port of Hoedeidah. Aid groups and senior UN figures are warning on a daily basis that this could take the entire port out of action, with devastating consequences. In normal times 80 per cent of everything Yemen imports comes through Hoedeidah, and 90 per cent of their food is imported.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

The UK is leading an admirable response in providing critical funding to address the crises in Somalia and South Sudan, and we have given £100m in humanitarian aid to Yemen. However, these efforts are undermined by our failure to use our diplomatic muscle to address the root causes of this crisis, and convince our allies to move on from a counter-productive militaristic strategy that is devastating the country. Yet so strong are our deep historic and diplomatic links with this part of the world that even now the Houthi leadership will accept Britain’s mediation in trying to secure a ceasefire and Yemeni-Saudi talks.

Surely this is an opportunity for “Global Britain” to put its mouth where its money is.

It cannot conceivably be in our interests, nor those of Saudi Arabia, for Yemen to descend into famine. Brutal collective punishment of the Yemeni population has done little to dent the Houthi rebels’ supremacy through vast swathes of the country: both sides have shown scant regard for innocent human lives. The longer this conflict continues, the more entrenched both sides become, and the greater the space that is created for radicalisation that will ultimately come back to bite us. The patience of the indigenous Yemeni forces will long outlive the military engagement of the foreign powers now engaged inside their country.

2.1 million children are facing famine in Yemen

In short: the war isn’t working, it’s compromising our standing in the world and it’s radicalising our enemies.

This report must act as a wake-up call. Demanding unfettered access to Hoedeida port and the re-opening of commercial airspace could avert even greater catastrophe. Insisting upon adherence to international humanitarian law and efforts to take the political track out of its current deep freeze isn’t just the right thing to do morally, it’s the only way to help our Saudi allies out of a mess which is rapidly becoming a quagmire. It is not too late for the UK to seize the opportunity to be on the right side of history by acting to prevent famine in Yemen.