A blind eye to murder

The agencies employed by the government in Saudi Arabia to keep a lookout for people who might be the kingdom’s new best friends in the West will have been delighted this week to see this name popping up on their screens: Britain’s Prince Andrew, also known as the duke of York and un-affectionately as Air Miles Andy, given his taste for global air travel funded by taxpayers.

To their credit, many Western business leaders and politicians stayed away from the Davos in the Desert investment conference in Saudi Arabia last week as a mark of disgust following what we now know was the premeditated murder of a Saudi journalist in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.

The duke, however, is not inhibited by silly matters such as good taste and timing.

In nearby Abu Dhabi, where he was promoting a business initiative which he says puts entrepreneurs in touch with investors, he expressed the hope that the enterprise would be able to operate in Saudi Arabia.

With his career record — connections with Kazakhstan oligarchs and his criticism of Britain’s Serious Fraud Office and journalists probing kickbacks in a Saudi arms deal — he can be sure of a red carpet welcome in Riyadh.