PM urged to boost human rights on Gulf journey after Boris Johnson ‘dictator’ remark

Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to raise human rights issues on his first visit as PM to the Gulf on Sunday.

The Prime Minister accused Boris Johnson of “going cap in hand from dictator to dictator” when he visited the region two years ago.

Mr Starmer will travel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday morning to meet leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan before flying to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But the PM is facing pressure to challenge the countries over abuses, from “draconian repression” of human rights defenders to state-sanctioned killings.

Amnesty International said he must question the UAE holding dozens of prisoners of conscience and severely restricting the right to free speech. And it told the PM to raise with Saudi authorities their execution of more than 280 people this year alone and institutionalised discrimination against women.

Labour’s leftwing politicians also urged the PM to raise human rights issues on his trip last week, with hopes that Mr Starmer’s esteemed career as a human rights lawyer will encourage him to do so.

During his visit, Mr Starmer is set to pursue closer ties with the countries to increase future partnerships on technology, prosperity, and defence and security. Both countries are major investors in the UK, with trade between the UK and the UAE worth £23billion and £17billion with Saudi Arabia.

Mr Starmer said: “Driving long term growth at home requires us to strengthen partnerships abroad… By doing so, hardworking British people will reap the rewards for generation to come.”

Stability in the Middle East is expected to be high up the agenda during the PM’s trip, including the need for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, the release of all hostages and the urgent acceleration of aid into Gaza. The PM has previously spoken to Saudi Arabia’s leader and praised “his leadership to support regional stability” in the area.

Polly Truscott, Amnesty International UK’s foreign policy adviser, said: “The PM needs to be making it completely clear to his counterparts in the UAE and Saudi Arabia that respect for human rights and the rule of law is part and parcel of the UK doing business abroad.

“For too long these business trips have treated human rights as an optional extra, usually meriting only a terse comment to the media that ‘human rights were raised’. We need to see UK business visits completely overhauled, with human rights experts made part of trade delegations and proper impact assessments conducted into prospective agreements to ensure they don’t further undermine human rights.”

Human rights legal group Reprieve also called on the Prime Minister to raise what it described as an “execution crisis” with Saudi leaders. Reprieve’s deputy executive director Dan Dolan said: “When Boris Johnson visited Mohammed bin Salman in 2022, three days after the mass execution of 81 people, Sir Keir Starmer was rightly scathing of Johnson’s unconditional embrace of one of the world’s most prolific executioners of protesters. Now he is the Prime Minister, he has the opportunity to address the escalating execution crisis in Saudi Arabia.”

Downing Street said on Friday: “As with every meeting between the Prime Minister and world leaders, human rights are always discussed regularly. We stand ready to discuss them with any country and indeed cooperate with them. I think the Prime Minister has made his personal commitment to that very clear.”

The Prime Minister is also expected to travel to Cyprus on Monday night, where he will meet President Nikos Christodoulides in the capital Nicosia on Tuesday, before travelling to meet British troops deployed over Christmas.

The bilateral visit is the first by a British prime minister to the Commonwealth country in more than 50 years. Sir John Major visited the Mediterranean island for the 1993 Commonwealth heads of government meeting, but this was not part of a bilateral visit. The last visit of that kind to Cyprus by a prime minister was made by Edward Heath in 1971.