BRITAIN must follow the lead of the Biden administration and freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, anti-arms campaigners have urged. 

The United States is the world’s largest arms exporter, with its sales accounting for about a third of the global trade in military hardware. 

US-made equipment accounted for almost three-quarters of all sales to Saudi Arabia by volume from 2015 to 2019, according to estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 

Britain is also a major contributor to Saudi Arabia, with at least £5.4 billion worth of arms supplied to Saudi forces since the start of the the war in Yemen. 

These sales are the subject of an ongoing legal challenge by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

Andrew Smith of CAAT said: “The Saudi-led bombing of Yemen would not be possible without the arms sales and support of the White House.

“[President] Joe Biden has repeatedly promised to end that support, so, if these reports are true, it is definitely an encouraging sign. 

“We hope that this freeze will see these arms sales cancelled and ongoing licences revoked.”  

Mr Smith said that if Mr Biden “sticks to his word,” it would be a “huge step towards [ending] the brutal bombardment and blockade” of Yemen. 

“It would also set a vital precedent and could help to force action from the UK and the other arms-dealing governments that have willingly ignored the destruction and enabled the humanitarian crisis,” he said.

“If US government, the biggest arms dealer in the world, is prepared to take a stand, then it is long past time for [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson and his colleagues to do the same and to end their complicity in the crisis.”