According to widespread news reports, the Government of one of our closest Allies has beheaded 47 people today. Asking our Government to challenge this appalling behaviour is probably unrealistic. Late in November 2015 the Government Minister, responsible for selling Arms to Saudi Arabia, Anna Soubry expressed the current Governments approach to this sort of thing  to the audience of the BBC Question Time.

According to the Independent from April 2014

Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of new laws which define atheists as terrorists, according to a report from Human Rights Watch. In a string of royal decrees and an overarching new piece of legislation to deal with terrorism generally, the Saudi King Abdullah has clamped down on all forms of political dissent and protests that could “harm public order”.

For 47 people any outrage is far too late, for the security of the world in which the rest of us live, we need a Government willing to separate their own political ideas from what is important to create real security.