Saudi Crown Prince visit: Only 6% of UK supports arms sales to Saudi Arabia 6 March 2018

Polling from Populus shows that only 6% of UK supports arms sales to Saudi Arabia

37% of UK oppose the visit visit of the Crown Prince, with only 21% supporting it

Demonstration against Saudi Crown Prince visit to take place outside Downing Street at 5pm on 07th March

A poll of over 2000 adults, carried out by Populus for Campaign Against Arms Trade, has found that only 6% of UK adults believe it is acceptable to sell weapons to the Saudi Arabian regime.

The poll, which asked participants to identify which governments they thought it was acceptable to arm, also found that 41% of the UK opposes the sale of all military equipment.

The same poll found that a plurality of the UK opposes the upcoming visit of the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, who is due to arrive in London tomorrow.

37% believe that the Saudi Crown Prince should not have been invited to the UK

21% believe that it was right to invite him

27% neither agree nor disagree with the visit taking place

15% don’t know

UK government statistics show that since the bombardment of Yemen began in 2015, the UK has licensed £4.6 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia. These include:

£2.7 billion worth of ML10 licences (Aircraft, helicopters, drones)

£1.9 billion worth of ML4 licences (Grenades, bombs, missiles, countermeasures)

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:

The overwhelming majority of people in the UK do not share Theresa May’s political and military support for the Saudi regime. Despite the spin surrounding the Crown Prince, he is a figurehead for one of the world's most authoritarian dictatorships. The regime has carried out atrocities against Saudi people for decades, and has inflicted a terrible humanitarian catastrophe on the people of Yemen. It is time for Theresa May and her colleagues to end their shameful support for this appalling autocracy.

You can find out more about the planned protest on the Facebook page.

ENDS

For further information, or to see a breakdown of polling, please contact Andrew at media(at)caat·org·uk or call 020 7281 0297.