ANTI-ARMS campaigners asked the government yesterday what it would take for Britain to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

The Saudi regime has confirmed that the Washington Post columnist was murdered on October 2 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and blamed his death on a “rogue operation.”

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir had told Fox News that the murder had been a “tremendous mistake” and denied that the crown prince had ordered it.

One member of the 15-man team suspected to have killed Mr Khashoggi was caught on CCTV dressed in the journalist’s clothes around Istanbul on the day of the murder.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said that Saudi’s shocking admission should serve as more reason for the British government, which has licensed almost £5 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since its assault on Yemen began in March 2015, to halt weapons sales.

CAAT’s Andrew Smith said: “The Saudi regime has an appalling human rights record, and has used UK arms to commit atrocities in Yemen. Now it has murdered a journalist.

“No matter how bad the situation has become, it has always been able to rely on the support of the UK government.

“What more would it take to end the arms sales and end the uncritical support that has been given to the regime?”

It comes after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab dismissed calls by Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry and shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner to ban arms sales to the nation, even though he admitted that he believed the regime’s explanation of the death is not credible.

Mr Raab said: “We are not throwing our hands in the air and terminating the relationship with Saudi Arabia, not just because of the huge number of British jobs that depend on it but also because if you exert influence over your partners you need to be able to talk to them.”

In a joint statement, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany’s Heiko Maas called for “credible facts” about what happened to Mr Khashoggi and praised the “quality and significance” of the countries’ relationship with the regime.

Mr Hunt was to make a Commons statement on the murder last night with a response expected from his counterpart Ms Thornberry after the Star went to print.