KSA: still a long way to go

There were jubilant scenes in Saudi on Sunday as it became the last country in the world to allow women drivers. On Woman’s Hour this morning, the presenter was talking by telephone to a Saudi woman speaking from Jeddah.

They spoke a little about the celebrations still in full swing across the nation. Then the presenter pointed out that a number of women campaigners for change had been arrested in May of this year, and are currently still in custody.Any comments on that? But the line suddenly went dead.

Was it a family member, afraid of the woman landing them in a heap of trouble, or was it the authorities, monitoring the call with a finger on the disconnect button, ready to cut the line should any potentially embarrassing topic arise?

There have been some tentative steps towards emerging from the Middle Ages in KSA, but they are small and teeetering steps. The Saudi royal family, ostensibly in charge but in reality in thrall to the fundamentalist Wahabi clerics who really call the shots, desperately seek approval from “The West” (if indeed there is such a concept anymore in Trump’s world) to keep the billions rolling in. They shouldn’t worry too much though. Donald Trump is a big fan, as he appears to be of totalitarian states elsewhere, such as North Korea, and the UK does very well selling it arms to say nothing of our need for its oil. So don’t expect any high level protests about those imprisoned women any time soon. And as for that Saudi woman on the radio this morning, I hope she’s OK...