Our Saudi Friends

A lot is made of New Labour's 'ethical foreign policy' and the role of the 'left' in human rights issues. I suspect that the UK government and the bleeding hearts of solidarity campaigns everywhere are, whilst happily condemning others for violations, remaining schtum on the practises of an oil rich nation.

Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia on Monday to stay a sentence of 40 lashes against a 75-year-old woman for breaching a sex segregation law. The group said the minister of the interior, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, was reported to have ordered the flogging of the woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, along with two men who were in her company and not close relatives.

I wonder when there'll be a call for a boycott of Saudi goods for human rights abuses?