Rehman Chishti is a former Foreign Office Minister and Member of Parliament. He’s currently Executive Director Diplomacy & International Relations at Alfaisal University in Riyadh.
The United Kingdom and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have a long historic special relationship, with numerous state visits by Heads of State in 1967 HM King Faisal visited the United Kingdom, in 1987 King Fahad visited.
In 2007 HM Queen Elizabeth when welcoming HM King Abdullah in her speech remarked ‘The relationship between our two Kingdoms is one of mutual benefit, learning, and understanding”.
HM Queen Elizabeth visited Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on a State visit in 1979, hosted by HM King Khalid.
The United Kingdom has recently signed a UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement, in which Saudi Arabia is a key member, the agreement signed in May 2026 is projected to add £3.7 billion pounds to the British economy in the long term, thereby helping create more jobs and opportunities across the United Kingdom, in these difficult economic times, prior to the signing of the agreement UK GCC trade was approximately £53 billion, with the GCC being a key trading partner for the UK. Both countries are members of the G20 bringing together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies to coordinate global policy on finance, trade, and other major economic issues.
In 2027 the two states will mark 100 years of diplomatic relations.
The first duty of any state is to protect its citizens, be that in London, Washington, Paris and Riyadh. It is absolutely vital when countries come under attack, that their long term friends and allies step up and support them. I very much welcome the decision by Prime Minister Andy Burnham that the UK will provide additional defensive military support to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, last week, after it faced renewed Houthi attacks and escalating violence in the region.
I further welcome the UK Governments remarks that escalating tensions in the Gulf, can have a serious impact at home, in the UK increasing prices, disruption to energy supplies, and extra costs to British Business. The Houthis are a dangerous threat to stability in the Middle East, and it is in the UK’s national economic and security interest that they do not succeed.
The recent UK military support to Saudi Arabia, builds on the Uks existing military contribution to Saudi Arabia’s air defence, including the deployment of air defence equipment and UK Personnel helping to protect against missile and drone attacks.
In the United Kingdom, there is consensus among policy makers that UK must do more on Defence Spending, and the 2025 Defence Industrial Strategy titled “ making Defence an Engine for Growth” positions the defence sector as a core pillar of the Government’s modern industrial strategy to drive economic growth, national security, and war fighting readiness.
The UK’s BAE systems has operated as a trusted partner in Saudi Arabia for over 60 years, delivering advanced defence, aerospace, and security solutions. This collaboration already supports the Kingdoms Saudi Vision 2030 by actively transferring technology, building local supply chains, and developing a sovereign defence industry within the Kingdom.
In my view the Government can further achieve its defence objectives, by working even more closely with key international partners like Saudia Arabia in the following ways/areas, thereby helping deliver security at home and abroad, from mutual common threats:
- Designating/Prescribing the Houthis as a Terrorist organisation
- Intelligence and Early Warning
- UK-Saudi Arabia Defence Industrial Partnership
The United Kingdom officially designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group and a national security threat on July 13, 2026. I would urge the UK Government to follow suit and Designate/Prescribe the Houthis as a terrorist group.
I am sure others may have other ideas, I found from my time in Parliament as a policy maker from 2010-2024 that everyone can do something, in sharing ideas from their unique experience, when Governments are looking at how best to address, challenges they face.
In 2020 when I shared a joint note by myself and Sir Mark Lyal Grant our former NSA National Security Advisor with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on the Foreign Policy Defence and Security review, I know it was appreciated with the kind note I received back from the Prime Minister acknowledging our thoughts and ideas.