Leo Docherty was appointed Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office earlier this month as part of Liz Truss’ new front bench. The department has yet to say which portfolio he will be given, but campaign spokespeople say they are “extremely concerned” he may be put in charge of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) relations. They say such an appointment would be “unthinkable” given the MP’s “previous support for some of the world’s most repressive regimes” and praise for them in parliament. In the first 18 months since his election in 2017, Mr Docherty received £30,437 in paid travel from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, according to his register of interests. And in 2017 he was formally reported to the parliamentary standards commissioner after failing to properly declare a paid trip to Saudi Arabia. During a parliamentary debate on Bahrain in September 2018, in which MPs raised concerns about human rights in the country, Mr Doherty said he was “extremely proud” to be associated with the Gulf state – where Amnesty International says torture is used “with impunity”. “When we travel to Bahrain, we see a new country that has achieved remarkable growth in a very short period of time,” he said, adding that “there is a huge push for the ruling family to deliver reforms and improvements.” In an article published in October 2018, Mr Doherty defended paid travel by other Gulf governments, saying Saudi Arabia “has for many years had a hugely important strategy for the UK in many areas”. He described the UK as “a long-standing ally of our friends in Saudi Arabia and the UAE”. The Foreign Office declined to comment on activists’ concerns, but said ministerial portfolios would be made available and announced in due course. “This appointment has raised alarm among human rights groups,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. “Leo Docherty has repeatedly received gifts in the form of paid trips from Gulf states including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and then praised them in Parliament, despite their appalling human rights abuses. Conservative MP Leo Docherty has been appointed Foreign Secretary (UK Government) “We are extremely concerned that Leo Docherty has become Foreign Secretary and fear that he may be given a briefing on the Middle East, even though his previous patronage of some of the world’s most repressive regimes poses an obvious conflict of interest that should make a such an unthinkable appointment”. And Lord Scriven, a Lib Dem peer and vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on democracy and human rights in the Gulf, said it would be “frankly unacceptable” for a minister to have “direct sponsorships from the same states, receiving gifts with the form of luxury travel”. Lord Scriven added: “He took a selfie with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia while overseeing a military operation in Yemen, the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crisis, and who has overseen the execution of pro-democracy protesters in Saudi Arabia. “He defended Bahrain during a parliamentary debate that exposed the human rights atrocities of the ruling families, including peaceful dissident Dr. Abduljalil al-Singace, who has refused solid food for more than a year, and Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa. [who] faces execution after attending pro-democracy demonstrations. British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved “Despite all the government’s talk of a ‘global Britain’ and promises to defend human rights around the world, this appointment would show that the new Truss government and the Foreign Office will continue to turn a blind eye to the atrocities being committed in the area. .” In June this year, Liz Truss, who was then foreign secretary, refused to criticize Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. He said he would “describe the Gulf states as partners of the UK”. “Is every country we work with exactly in line with UK policy on everything? No, it’s not,” he added. “But they are important allies of the UK.” As commerce secretary in September 2019 he admitted to illegally authorizing controlled arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The Court of Appeal had ruled that it was illegal for the UK to approve arms exports without assessing whether there was a “historical pattern of violations of international humanitarian law” by Saudi forces operating in Yemen.
