The price of doing business with Saudi Arabia

The government is eager to do deals with Saudi Arabia, but others are urging caution.

Emily Hohler
By
published
in Features

887-queen-634

MBS: welcomed with all the trappings of a state visit
(Image credit: 2018 Getty Images)

Mohammed bin Salman was officially welcomed to London last week with "all the trappings of a state visit", says the Financial Times. The government's message to the 32-year-old crown prince, known as MBS, was "unambiguous: this is a man to do business with".

No wonder, say Margherita Stancati and Jason Douglas in The Wall Street Journal. Expanding economic links with nations post-Brexit is a "critical goal". Around £65bn of trade and investment could materialise with the UK, says Andy Critchlow in The Daily Telegraph. There's also the potential prize of Aramco, the world's biggest oil firm, being floated on the London Stock Exchange.

But at what cost, asks The Guardian. Saudi is currently playing a leading role in a war in Yemen, fighting Houthi rebels aligned with its chief regional rival, Iran. More than 10,000 people have died, and eight million are said to be at risk of starvation.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

Prime Minister Theresa May reportedly raised "deep concerns" about the war with MBS, yet for all the UK's "boasts of providing humanitarian aid", it is also supplying weapons that are "fuelling" the crisis. The end of MBS's visit was marked by a £100m aid deal, and news of a provisional deal for BAE Systems to supply Saudi with 48 Typhoon fighter jets.

The likes of Boris Johnson love MBS because he "buys stuff" and is modernising Saudi, says Christopher de Bellaigue in The Spectator. But MBS needs the West, too. With the population and unemployment rising, the kingdom needs foreign investment to avoid burning its reserves on welfare spending. We should be wary, says the Financial Times. MBS shows no sign of wanting "to allow greater participation in political life". This is a concern that the "kingdom's allies... should be voicing. MBS, the strongman in the making, would be wise to listen."

Emily Hohler
Emily Hohler
Politics editor

Emily has worked as a journalist for more than thirty years and was formerly Assistant Editor of MoneyWeek, which she helped launch in 2000. Prior to this, she was Deputy Features Editor of The Times and a Commissioning Editor for The Independent on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph. She has written for most of the national newspapers including The Times, the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Evening Standard and The Daily Mail, She interviewed celebrities weekly for The Sunday Telegraph and wrote a regular column for The Evening Standard. As Political Editor of MoneyWeek, Emily has covered subjects from Brexit to the Gaza war.

Aside from her writing, Emily trained as Nutritional Therapist following her son's diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes in 2011 and now works as a practitioner for Nature Doc, offering one-to-one consultations and running workshops in Oxfordshire.

Latest