Parliamentary perspectives

From Alan Hilliar, Prospective Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Aldershot and Farnborough

I've become more and more uneasy about the decision of our Conservative MP Mr Docherty,to position himself as a whole hearted supporter of the current regime in Saudi Arabia. I for one can't accept the principle that, because another government buys loads of weapons from us, they deserve our unquestioning support.

After weeks of denial, Saudi Arabia finally admitted that the western journalist Jamal Khashhoggi was murdered in their embassy in Istanbul. The relentless bombing of Yemen by the Saudis and the UAE has killed tens of thousands of children and millions of people are now at imminent risk of starvation.

And yet our MP seems happy not just to accept all expenses paid trips from the Saudis, but also to give them his unhesitating backing. This is the time for our MP to show some clear moral leadership. He should:

• Decline any more trips to Saudi at their expense
• Distance himself from Mohammed bin Salman
• Publicly declare his support for an internationally supervised cease fire in Yemen

Follow Alan at Fb.me/AlanHilliarLibDems or write to him at alanhilliar@rushmoorlibdems.org.uk