This UK General Election Is a Choice Between Imperialism and Internationalism
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is running on a platform of peace and human rights. The Tories are running on a record of weapons sales to oppressive regimes and covert wars. The choice is clear.
Protesters demonstrate against the war in Yemen and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabian embassy on October 25, 2018 in London, England. Jack Taylor / Getty
Jeremy Corbyn announced on Tuesday that, under a Labour government, schoolchildren would be taught about the injustice and violence of the British Empire. Labour also promised to promote a “new internationalism” and a progressive foreign policy, as outlined in its recent manifesto.
In response, the Conservatives claimed it was “staggering” to hear Labour “lecture people” about foreign affairs. And yet the Conservatives have not been remotely clear about foreign policy or defense when outlining their own election pledges. Reviewing the conduct of the May–Johnson governments since the last election in June 2017, this should come as no surprise.
Gulf Relationships
The government’s own figures reveal that, over the past two years, “telecommunications interception equipment” has been exported to the law enforcement agencies of authoritarian regimes such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, and Qatar. These sales are quite possibly unlawful (violating the UK’s own export control guidelines banning sales when there is a “clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression”) given what is known about how these states use such equipment.
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