UK’s Labour Party pledges to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia if elected

Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn pledged on Sunday to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia if he wins in the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for 12 December, local media reported.

Speaking in the city of York, on the sidelines of his election campaign, Corbyn said if the party won the elections it would also work to end the war in Yemen and will not support it as the Conservative government has.

For the fifth year in a row, Yemen has been at rife with war between government forces and those of Houthi rebels who have taken control of the capital and numerous vital cities.

“Labour’s new internationalism means we will create a peace and conflict-prevention fund and invest an extra £400 million [$513 million] to expand our diplomatic capacity and increase oversight of arms exports to ensure we’re not fuelling conflicts, as in Yemen and in Israel and the Palestinian territories,” he said.

The latest opinion polls showed that the Conservative Party is leading with 359 seats out of 650 seats; giving the party, headed by incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 68 more seats than the party gained in the last election.

READ: Saudi begins licensing to develop its own arms industry