THE Tory government sold almost £700 million worth of parts for bombs to Saudi Arabia earlier this year, according to analysis of official figures by campaigners. 

Recent figures released by the Department for International Trade (DfIT) reveal that Britain issued licences to the value of £746m to the Gulf State between April and June.

The vast majority of this sum — £698m — covered “components for bombs,” according to the Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s analysis of the data, released today.

The campaign says the deal likely includes “Paveway IV” laser-guided bombs, produced by arms giant Raytheon Systems UK, which it claims have been used “extensively” by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. 

The licences were issued after a shaky truce, brokered by the UN earlier this year, brought a temporary stop to the Saudi-led military coalition’s bombardment of the war-ravaged country. 

Combatants have failed to renew the ceasefire, which expired last month, fuelling fears that fighting could flare up again. 

On Britain’s sale of bomb parts to Saudi, CAAT research co-ordinator Sam Perlo-Freeman said: “These weapons have one overriding purpose: to enable Saudi Arabia to resume its horrific bombing of Yemen should the worst happen and the country return to full-scale war. 

“Beyond this, they strengthen and uphold a brutal regime that executes minors on trumped-up charges, routinely tortures prisoners to obtain confessions, and sends women to prison for decades for Tweets critical of the government.”

Britain has exported billions of pounds’ worth of weaponry and military equipment to Saudi Arabia since it began its devastating bombing campaign of Yemen in 2015 — despite widespread evidence of Saudi human rights violations. 

The British government was forced to halt weapons sales to the Gulf State in 2019 after the Court of Appeal ruled that ministers had failed to assess whether Saudi Arabia had committed violations of international human rights law in Yemen. 

But the sales were resumed the following year. CAAT maintains that the sales are illegal, and will be challenging the government again in the courts next year over this issue. 

The figures also show that the biggest customer of Britain’s arms during the given period was Qatar, which signed off on a £2.4 billion deal for combat aircraft and parts in May. 

The DfIT was approached for comment.