Dame Vivienne Westwood has designed a limited edition t-shirt urging the government to suspend arm sales to Saudi Arabia amid the conflict in Yemen.
The fashion designer’s latest effort, part of charity War Child’s Stop Arming Saudi campaign, has been sported by celebrities from Simon Pegg to Melanie C.
The UK has been criticised by campaigners against the arms trade for supplying weapons to Saudi Arabia, which is leading the military effort against the Houthi rebels.
Dame Vivienne said: “Stop war, support War Child UK. 130 children are dying in Yemen every day. There are other ways to run an economy than profit from death.”
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, musicians Jack Savoretti and Frank Turner and comedian Dara O Briain also offered their support for the the charity t-shirt, which is available for £20 with proceeds going to War Child UK to help thousands of the world’s most vulnerable children.
The charity said an estimated 1.8 million children in Yemen are in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition.
Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said history could judge that starvation was used as an “instrument for the prosecution of a war” in Yemen amid concerns over a blockade by Saudi Arabia.
Following a trip to the region, he told MPs: “As for the suggestion that starvation is being used as an instrument of warfare, that is indeed what I said in terms.
“What I said to our friends in the region is that that is the risk that we are running, that the judgment of history will be that unless we sort this out, people will deem that starvation has been used as an instrument for the prosecution of a war.
“That is not, I think, something that anybody wants to see, least of all the coalition forces who have a legitimate task in hand: they are defending their own country, there is a UN resolution and a coalition that supports what they are doing.”
Rob Williams, CEO War Child UK, said: “Every day, War Child sees the impact war has on children. It blights lives, damages childhoods and leaves lifelong scars.
“We are grateful to have the support of Vivienne Westwood, and such an incredible line-up of celebrities take a stand, and help us raise vital funds.
“Thousands of Yemeni children have died, millions more are at risk and the British government is shamefully complicit in their suffering.
“We urge the UK Government to reverse its role in fuelling this devastating war and suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia.”
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