The government is facing a court case arguing that it should ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said the Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood had been “tying himself in knots trying to defend the government’s hypocritical position on Saudi Arabia and Yemen”. The Foreign Office said the incorrect statements, made by three different ministers, some as far back as six months ago, were errors and did not represent an attempt to mislead MPs over its assessment of the Saudi campaign. Related: Saudi Arabia campaign leaves 80% of Yemen population needing aidThe written answer added that it was not for the UK government to assess the Saudi bombing operation. The UK government has been forced to retract numerous written and oral statements to parliament which said ministers had assessed that Saudi Arabia was not in breach of international humanitarian law in Yemen.

Source: The Guardian July 21, 2016 17:26 UTC