British Conservatives censor Saudi Arabia questions

This video, from election candidate Nicholas Wilson in Britain, says about itself:

Amber Rudd shuts down my speech about arms sales to Saudi Arabia

4 June 2017

At a hustings in Rye on 3 June, where I am standing as an independent anti-corruption parliamentary candidate, a question was asked about law & order. Home Secretary Amber Rudd, in answering it referred to the Manchester terrorist attack. I took up the theme and referred to UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia & HSBC business there. She spoke to and handed a note to the chairman who removed the mic from me.

By Lamiat Sabin in Britain:

Rudd ‘censors’ Mr Ethical over arms sales

Tuesday 6th June 2016

Opponent silenced for challenging Saudi deal

AMBER RUDD was caught on camera urging a chairman to censor her opponent who raised questions about the government’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia during an elections hustings.

The Home Secretary is seeking re-election in Hastings, where anti-corruption activist and whistleblower Nicholas Wilson — also known as Mr Ethical — is standing against her as an independent candidate.

In footage taken of the hustings on Saturday, Mr Wilson speaks about Tory PM Theresa May’s strong links to Saudi Arabia and to HSBC through her husband’s job at US investment firm Capital Group.

Ms Rudd looks agitated before writing something on a sheet of paper and placing it in front of the chairman sitting next to her.

Immediately he rings a bell and demands that Mr Wilson stop speaking on the grounds that the subject was irrelevant to terror attacks in Manchester and London.

This is despite the fact that the bank is advising Saudi Arabia on selling state oil company Aramco — and Ms May visited Saudi Arabia to meet with Aramco chairman Khalid al-Falih in April this year.

The independent candidate retorts: “Saudi Arabia is the country responsible for IS [Isis] and they support IS. We supply arms to Saudi Arabia…”

The chair then demands he gives him the microphone.

“Am I being censored?” Mr Wilson said, before claiming that Ms Rudd was planning to abolish the Independent Serious Fraud Office so that she could be in charge of prosecutions of financial institutions through the National Crime Agency.

Before giving up the mic, he adds: “This is censorship. I have suffered censorship for 10 years. People don’t know about these things because of censorship.”

Earlier this year Mr Wilson led a successful campaign against HSBC, forcing the bank to pay £4 million to thousands of its customers for unreasonable debt collection practices.

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade told the Star after viewing the footage: “The government has a lot of questions to answer about its role in arming and supporting the brutal Saudi regime.

“Ministers should not be allowed to hide from the consequences of its arms sales and political support for one of the most oppressive dictatorships in the world.”

Britain has licensed £3.3 billion worth of arms to the Saudi regime since 2015 when it launched its brutal bombing campaign against Yemen.