Journalist cites 'deep hypocrisy at heart' of UK policy in Yemen

Press TV has conducted an interview with Tony Gosling, an investigative journalist from Bristol, about Tehran’s response to a British lawmaker’s allegation that Iran was  giving weapons to Ansarullah fighters in Yemen.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How do you feel about Britain's accusations towards Iran of course and how Iran has responded?

Gosling: Well, let’s first have a look at who's making these accusations. Remember, of course, we've got a new government here with Theresa May as the prime minister who hasn't been elected actually by the Conservative Party. Hundred fifty thousand members never got a chance to have a say in who is going to be the new leader. But Tobias Elwood MP who's made these accusations is actually an American. He's a New Yorker. This is the state where we are now in Britain - we have US Tory MPs. He's a former army captain in the British Army and he's been saying the Yemeni children are being killed and well of course he's right. He's making a fuss about that but yet at the same time he's signing off licences and supply of aircraft and bombs and munitions to kill those children. So, there's a deep hypocrisy at the heart of the British Foreign Office with Tobias Elwood in charge.

Press TV: Indeed, and certainly it is the scandal, isn't it, the supplying of arms to a regime like Saudi Arabia, whether or not we take into account even its role in Yemen just the fact that is a dictatorship.

Gosling: Well, that's true and we never get any real reference to some monarchy - and that there is no elections in Saudi Arabia - in the British press; very little. Well, there was actually on Channel 4 News last week a very good report on the Yemen conflict. Let's just take stock of that because Médecins Sans Frontières have said there's 45,000 people now being wounded, 6500 people have been killed in Yemen.

The main problem there now is that you've got something like eight million people who have been displaced and there is no actual proper healthcare system. The infrastructure including the healthcare networks and the food networks have been bombed by the Saudis with the help of the British and there's millions of displaced. So, also ISIS is thriving now in Yemen where it wasn't before. I mean you've got the US and Saudi backed-Hadi, President Hadi, who's not got the support of the Yemeni people. What really needs to happen I think is an immediate election.

So, let's just make sure that whoever is trying to rule Yemen in these terrible times actually has the backing of the people, because Hadi clearly doesn't. And there are many people including the Houthis who are just fed up with the US and British continuing attempts to influence affairs in the Middle East. I think it's time for the British to just get out along with the Americans.

Press TV: Do you think the UK is ready to live with the consequences of supporting the Saudis in their war in Yemen or and then providing arms to terrorists for example in Syria as well?

Gosling: What is part of the problem is the economy is in its death throes here in Britain. So, the government and the military's industrial complex are absolutely desperate to find people to sell arms to. There's more constitutive easing. Yesterday, 60 billion pounds has been injected in by to the economy to try to keep it alive by the Bank of England where it goes towards negative interest rates, zero growth; in fact the growth would be probably negative in Britain if it wasn't for the drugs trade and prostitution which are now being included in the figures. And they’re also now talking about abolishing cash.

So, as I say the death throes of the economy, which is hardly being talked about in the financial press and not to mention the problems with NATO internationally, Turkey’s swapping sides it seems from NATO to Russia. So, these are desperate measures by a desperate government and Tobias Elwood actually could even be an American agent in the Tory Party.

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