Labour attempts to compare Russia to Saudi Arabia are “ridiculously distasteful”, Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has said as he sought to defend Boris Johnson’s visit to the kingdom.
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Mr Johnson of “going cap in hand from dictator to dictator,” after the prime minister went to the Gulf in search of alternatives to Russian energy supplies.
The PM failed to secure commitments from the Saudis to step oil production on Wednesday on a visit overshadowed by the announcement of three further executions.
But Mr Cleverly insisted the trip was “absolutely the right thing to do” in a bid to alleviate the energy crisis – and praised the “liberalisation” in the Saudis’ treatment of women in recent years.
The minister told the BBC: “Equating any country with the behaviour of Vladimir Putin is ridiculously distasteful. We need to recognise that Saudi is an incredibly influential country in the region, it is a significant oil and gas producer.”
Grilled on the Saudis’ human rights record on Sky News, Mr Cleverly said: “We do have, regularly, very frank conversations with them about this. It is a very influential country in the region and the world. But we do not hold back when we have these conversations with the Saudis, and others.”
The Foreign Office minister told host Kay Burley: “There has been a huge liberalisation in the lives of women in Saudi Arabia. The liberalisation of the role of women has been pacey.”
Sir Keir accused the government of a “slapdash” approach to energy supply on Wednesday. The Labour leader added: “Going cap in hand from dictator to dictator is not an energy strategy”.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner accused the prime minister of going on a “begging mission”, and claimed the government was relying on “another murderous dictator to keep the lights on”.
But Mr Cleverly rejected the criticism and insisted that it was important to “recognise changes have been made” in Saudi Arabia, adding: “We’d like them to go further, we’d like them to go faster.”
He added: “But ultimately it was absolutely the right thing to do for the prime minister try to alleviate some of the pressure that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has puts on oil and gas markets.”
The prime minister said he raised human rights with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed during his meetings.
Mr Johnson also said he had obtained an “understanding” from the Saudis that instability in world markets from a spike in energy prices from the Ukraine war was not in their interests.
But asked whether he had secured assurances that the oil-rich Gulf state would turn on the taps, Mr Johnson could say only that it was a decision for them.
Mr Cleverly said only that he “hoped” the Saudis would still increase production. “I haven’t had a full debrief from the trip,” he told the BBC.
The minister added: “Obviously, the Saudis will need to go through whatever internal processes they have and probably talk to their partners in OPEC.”
Meanwhile, No 10 has refused to deny that Mr Johnson uses WhatsApp to communicate with Mohammed bin Salman.
Asked if it is correct that the PM has kept open his WhatsApp link, his spokesman claimed “security matters” prevented him from answering.
