BORIS Johnson has been accused of neglecting his prime ministerial responsibilities to “rub shoulders with merchants of death” at an international arms show where he was filmed pretending to fly a fighter jet.
He was “missing in action” while an unprecedented heatwave swept across much of the UK to attend the Farnborough International Airshow.
The event aims to connect governments with arms dealers and the defence industry but has been slammed as providing deadly weapons to authoritarian regimes.
Johnson, who is in the final weeks of his premiership, missed an emergency Cobra meeting convened to discuss the effects of the climate-change-fuelled heatwave gripping the country.
Services including vital transport links and the NHS in England are struggling to cope with the added pressures of the heatwave.
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The Prime Minister was filmed on Monday behind the controls of an RAF Typhoon fighter jet, which was tethered to a conventional plane.
He drew upon the experience in his speech defending his Government later that day in a confidence motion debate in the Commons, saying he had enjoyed “three dynamic and exhilarating years in the cockpit”.
Countries which attended this year’s Farnborough International Airshow include authoritarian states such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Oman.
The UK has been criticised repeatedly for providing arms to Saudi Arabia which have then been used in its bombing campaign in Yemen, a conflict the UN has described as a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
The Scottish Greens have now slammed the Prime Minister for attending the event and said his attention has been taken off the pressing issues facing the country, in favour of “helping arms dealers profit by propping up some of the most wicked regimes on Earth”.
Ross Greer (above), the party’s external affairs spokesperson, said: “This is shocking but, unfortunately, it is not at all surprising. Johnson’s craven attempts to chum around with global arms dealers is UK foreign and security policy in a nutshell and underlines the warped priorities of Westminster.
“The world is burning and we are experiencing record temperatures all over the UK, yet the Prime Minister was missing emergency meetings in order to fly jets, rub shoulders with merchants of death and shed what little dignity he had left in order to impress the despots, dictatorships and human rights abusers who go to Farnborough.
“British arms sales have a devastating impact around the world, particularly in Saudi Arabia’s bombing campaign in Yemen where UK-made fighter jets, bombs and missiles have played a central role in creating the worst humanitarian emergency in the world.
“The climate crisis is the defining issue of our age, but the Prime Minister seems to think it is less important than helping arms dealers profit by propping up some of the most wicked regimes on Earth.”
A spokesman for the event said: “The Airshow is hosting national and international delegations from over 72 countries and global leaders of industry have gathered to tackle crucial issues such as sustainability, environmental impacts of flying, net-zero aviation, future workforce, advanced air mobility, and many others.
“It is a great opportunity for British businesses to show case their latest innovation and technology. The British exhibitors at the Airshow, including many from Scotland, represent sectors that provide over 415,000 direct jobs across all of the UK.
“It is also a great opportunity to push the British space industry which has an exciting year ahead, including the UK’s first vertical rocket launch from the Shetlands.”
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