THE British government kept weapons supplies flowing to Saudi Arabia last year despite an arms embargo, according to an official report on export controls. 

Saudi Arabia received 2,323 spare parts for its fleet of fighter jets in 2019, even though a court order had banned ministers from isssuing any new licences for the export of military equipment to the kingdom for use in Yemen.

The figures were published on Tuesday in the government’s annual report on strategic export controls, Declassified UK, a investigative news site focused on British foreign policy, reported yesterday.

Spare parts for Saudi Arabia’s fleet of Tornedo warplanes, which are used in combat operations in Yemen, were exempt from the arms embargo because they were covered by licences issued before the Court of Appeal’s June 2019 ruling. 

The court found that arms sales to Saudi Arabia had been unlawful because ministers had failed to properly assess the risk to civilians, forcing the government to suspend new licences. 

Although the sales of the spare parts were permitted, campaigners argue that all arms exports to the kingdom, which has been accused of war crimes in Yemen, are “immoral, illegal and must be stopped.” 

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) told the Star: “Even when the government was banned from agreeing new deals with the Saudi regime, it was doing all that it could to keep the arms flowing.

“These fighter jets have played a central role in the destruction and in creating the crisis that Yemen has endured. 

“Despite that, Boris Johnson and his colleagues have given a shameful and uncritical political and military support for the Saudi-led coalition.”

More than 233,000 Yemenis have been killed as a result of the conflict and accompanying humanitarian crisis since the start of the civil war in 2015, according to the United Nations.

Despite this, Britain has played an extensive role in arming the Saudi regime, licensing the sale of at least £4.7 billion worth of weaponry since 2015, and CAAT claims that the true figure is far higher. 

In addition, British technicians employed by arms giant BAE Systems maintain Saudi warplanes at bases in the kingdom.

According to experts, the Royal Saudi Air Force would be unable to fly its jets without British maintenance support and spare parts. 

The Department for International Trade was contacted for comment.