Labour: Liam Fox is ‘vacillating on the sidelines’ over suspected murder of Saudi journalist

Labour has hit out at international trade secretary Liam Fox for not picking sides in an escalating conflict over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner told Morning Wire the UK must show it acts ethically.

He criticised Fox, who has so far not said whether he will join business leaders pulling out of an investor conference in Riyadh.

“The UK should signal that it operates to the highest ethical standards. Sadly Liam Fox appears to be vacillating on the sidelines once again, sacrificing principles and human rights in favour of doing business with this regime,” Gardiner said.

The government said it will not allow its commercial relationship with the Saudis to get in the way of speaking “frankly and openly” about the Gulf nation’s abuses.

“We will not pursue trade to the exclusion of human rights. They can and should be complementary,” a government spokesperson said.

Yesterday, the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, added her name to a growing number of leaders to withdraw from the conference.

The chief executive of French bank Societe Generale, Frederic Oudea, also dropped out.

But Softbank, whose $93bn Vision Fund was half-funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said it was “anxiously monitoring” events and has not pulled out.

The list of speakers and attendees for the Future Investment Initiative event in Riyadh has dwindled significantly in the past few days as more details emerge surrounding the disappearance of Khashoggi.

The US resident and critic of the Saudi government has not been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

Turkish officials have since heard a recording of Khashoggi’s alleged murder inside the consulate, reports say. Saudi Arabia has denied involvement.