UK doubles money handed to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain via secretive ‘Gulf Strategy Fund’
UK doubles money handed to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain via secretive ‘Gulf Strategy Fund’
The UK significantly increased its expenditure on investment programmes in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain via a secretive fund which has been slammed repeatedly for its lack of transparency.
2 min read
The UK investment is used to support a Saudi 'tax programme' and 'financial services sector' [Getty]
The UK more than doubled its funding to and via a secretive fund despiterepeated criticism over the Gulf states’ poor human rights record and a looming domesticcost of living crisis.
Freedom of Information requests revealed thatthe sGulf Strategy Fund (GSF)provided Saudi Arabia with afunding increase of£813,605 to £1.8 million in 2021-22. In Bahrain, funding was raised from £710,028 to £1.8 million.
The GSF has been slammed by several politicians and human rights groups for its lack of transparency, with senior MPs calling for it to be scrapped entirely.
"The UK works with partners around the world to improve their human rights record, including the Gulf,"said the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) according to Middle East Eye.
"All cooperation through the Gulf Strategy Fund is subject to rigorous risk assessments to ensure all work meets our human rights obligations and values,"they added.
It is not clear what the increase in funds will be used for, or why it was implemented.
On Friday, the FCDO published updated "transparency data"on the GSF.
For Bahrain, the UK government said Britain “supports Bahrain-led and owned reform and capacity building programmes to deliver long-term security”.
This is followed by a series of bullet points listing schemes such as "criminal justice reform" without further information.
In Saudi Arabia, the UK has used the GSF to support as well as to enhance "mutual prosperity by promoting inward investment".
One of the bullet pointlist itemssimply says "smart cities and mobility opportunities in Saudi Arabia for UK companies". Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a series of projects building megacities in the desert, including furitistic metropoliswith a budget ofUS$500 billion.
An increase to the GSF comes as Britons face surging energy bills, with an estimated monthly energy bill of £3,000 to hit this winter. The UK government has beenaccused of offering an insufficient support package to help the most vulnerable afford power.
There are also concerns and growing scrutiny over human rights abuses in the two Gulf states.
Earlier this month, Leeds University studentwas jailed for 34 years after she published a tweet that was mildly critical of a government programme.
![On 20 October 2023, nationwide protests broke out in support Gaza, commencing from Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, which witnessed the advent of the 25 January Revolution.[Getty]](/sites/default/files/styles/image_156x88/public/1734956488.jpeg?h=a5f2f23a&itok=GtuR6xnJ)
