British Prime Minister Teresa May in Saudi Arabia - how embarrassing!

[Yossarian]

Theresa May, the Prime Minister, is welcomed at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...und-middle-east-chartered-jet-prince-charles/


Makes one cringe looking at the way she's bending down and the expression on her face.


It's almost on a par with this:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T9c8tIAoIBk?rel=0&controls=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Markhor]

Did you see Liam Fox the other day hail our "shared values" with the Philippines whilst shaking hands with President Duterte ?

I'd like to know what those shared values are with a brutal thug with thousands of peoples' blood on his hands due to the drug wars. Must be the same shared values we have with the Saudi Royal Family who our PM is bowing down to.

I guess this is the world beyond Europe that our Brexiteers were so keen on.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Britain is no different to the US under the Donald. We will have good relations with whomsoever we please if it is in our national interest, and if Iran or PP allies don't like it....tough. We will always put Britain first.

 

[shaykh]

Hypocrisy?...yes...anything extraordinary?...absolutely not...

Anyone who thinks this evidently hasn't followed Saudi relations with this country...honestly if you think Corbyn would behave any differently then you are living in cloud cuckoo land...

I mean even everyones media darling Justin Trudeau defended an arms deal with the Saudis...

Fact is these deals with Saudi Arabia bring economic benefits to the country...6000 UK firms currently operate on projects there...from transport (building railways) to health (training and building hospitals) to various other areas...the Saudis have also heavily invested here...they provide this country with cheap oil (our biggest provider)...and are Britains biggest arms buyer by a mile...

The Saudis are also diversifying their spending...recently they allocated 100billion to technology investment...this is just one example of how money allows them to buy influence...

Anyone who knows about '73 and the energy crisis knows how dangerous an enemy the Saudis can be...and economic relations with the two nations have only become further entrenched since then...

This isn't to say there isn't hypocrisy at play...but that's politics and thats capitalism...show me a state that behaves differently...a state that puts outright morality over state interests...

 

[Yossarian]

[MENTION=133972]shaykh[/MENTION]
The thread was meant to poke fun at Theresa May as a person (ie her posture in the photo, and her pantomime laughter during PMQ's) rather than her's or UK's politics and foreign relations.

 

[Adil_94]

Tory policy is always British trade first.

Saudis as horrible as they are are a big trading partner with the U.K and they arent on the level of an Assad that is massacring their own civilians though yes they do have draconian laws.


This is just simple politics.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Saudi bashers have gone silent in this thread. How strange. Just goes to show the reach of the mighty British Empire is still potent and demands respect.

God save the Queen and her esteemed emissary, Lady Theresa May.

God save the King of Saudi Arabia too I guess, as Brits we have to reflect the good wishes of our nation's leader.