BAE Systems in middle of dogfight between Saudis and Biden over oil
theguardian.comThe UK has long had an awkward relationship with Saudi Arabia, but that unholy alliance now faces a stern test. After Joe Biden reacted angrily to the Opec+ decision to cut oil production, workers at BAE Systems’ fighter jet factory at Warton, on the banks of the Ribble in Lancashire, will have an eye on the fallout from the oil cartel’s decision.
The US president had hoped to persuade the world’s largest oil producer to ramp up production in order to lower oil prices, which have fed into surging inflation and fears over a global recession. Biden had been cultivating relations with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, illustrated by a fist bump in Jeddah in July. But despite all that, Prince Mohammed defied Biden, with Opec+ opting for a cut in output, a move that was seen as siding with fellow cartel member Russia, helping prop up its arms revenues.
Biden, who previously vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah state over the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, has threatened “consequences” and US Democrats have suggested a one-year freeze on all arms sales.
The row leaves Britain’s arms industry on increasingly fragile ground. That industry, of which jets-to-warships company BAE is the biggest business, has long looked the other way over Saudi Arabia and its human rights abuses. Despite the murder of Khashoggi, BAE has continued to operate there, with a small army of about 5,300 workers embedded in the country.
Even after criticism for supplying the Saudi military during the deadly bombing campaign in Yemen, in which Lancashire-built Eurofighter Typhoons have been involved in a campaign that has killed thousands of civilians, it remains deeply entrenched.
The country is by far the largest
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