Arab ambassadors have cancelled their reception at Labour party conference after Saudi and Sudanese representatives were seemingly barred from attending.
The London office of the League of Arab States wrote to all MPs and peers on Thursday to tell them the event - due to be hosted by the Council of Arab Ambassadors at the conference in Brighton next week - was no longer happening.
In the letter, the organisation said it had taken the decision to cancel its reception and buffet dinner, which is held annually, and would not be going to the conference at all “due to the rejection of both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s and the Republic of Sudan’s applications to attend”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has publicly called for the government to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, most recently in an interview with the BBC on September 11.
He told the World At One the UK should stop supplying weapons that are being used in the war on Yemen.
“We are selling arms to Saudi Arabia... and at the same time we are sending aid in, we should not be doing both,” he said.
He added it was it was important to ensure there is “a political process to bring about a ceasefire”.
Labour’s annual conference - expected to be the biggest ever - starts next Sunday.
A party spokesperson said: “Following evidence of war crimes committed by Saudi Arabia in its bombing campaign in Yemen and other large scale human rights abuses, the NEC agreed that the embassy’s application to attend the Labour Party conference would not be accepted.”