PM's withdrawal from Saudi prisons deal 'widens Cabinet rift'

Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to pull out of a divisive £5.9m contract to train prison officers in Saudi Arabia is said to have widened a Cabinet rift.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove was accused by senior figures of "forcing the prime minister's hand" over the issue, with the decision seen as a "blow" to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Theresa May, reports The Times.

May and Hammond had apparently argued that the contract would help lead to reform in Saudi Arabia's justice system and that pulling out could damage relations with a key ally.

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Cameron's decision to withdraw from the controversial deal follows reports that Karl Andree, a 74-year-old British grandfather, is facing a public flogging for having several bottles of homemade wine in his car in the conservative Islamic kingdom.

"Downing Street insisted that the two issues were not related, but aides said that Mr Cameron had intervened in support of Mr Andree," said the Times.

The newspaper points out that a clash between Gove and May over how to deal with Islamist extremism in schools was "the most bitter internal division of the last parliament".

In The Independent, Jane Merrick welcomes Cameron's announcement and says she cannot understand why it was ever signed in the first place.

"It is naive, apparently, to dare to question the government of Saudi Arabia, even though it is responsible for carrying out the same atrocities that the British government rightly condemns Isis for, including beheadings and public floggings," she says.

The deal was due to provide Saudi Arabia's penal system with "training-needs analysis", which is understood to mean advising on gaps in training and knowledge of a workforce.

"It may not be quite the same as getting blood on our hands," says Merrick, "but, perhaps, we could say it is equivalent to British officials handing out towels to clean up the mess?"