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David Cameron at one time tried to portray himself as the true “heir to Blair”. When one considers the sheer raw courage that it must take to stand up against entrenched dictatorships, it takes a special ruthlessness to look at the quantity of tear gas canisters, sound grenades, rubber bullets and live ammunition rounds being used against them and simply see a commercial opportunity. In going ahead with the promotional tour of the Middle East ( Cameron takes arms firm chiefs on trade tour of Arab states , 22 February), he can take pride in having fully assumed that mantle. Qasim Salimi London • We should be proud of our prime minister. Potential customers in the Middle East have great need at present for guns, gas, personnel carriers and helicopters to maintain their lucrative positions that keep British banks well supplied with cash. Now if we could persuade demonstrators to take to the streets in Kuwait, perhaps it could be induced to increase its arms purchases from Britain – only a meagre £100m in the past eight years. Anthony Matthew Leicester • With the prime minister in Egypt to talk peace, while shepherding a team to promote arms sales, it looks like double standards. But it was ever thus. The reality may well be that he does not control what happens. Could big business be perhaps running government policy? Does it matter what colour the government is? Oliver Dowding Wincanton, Somerset • Gaddafi turns his armaments on “his own” people, and governments around the world condemn his actions. May we know which governments sold him those arms, and whether they now condemn him for using them as intended? John Merrigan East Molesey, Surrey • Faced with the inefficient procurement programme at the MoD, surely the government should follow its own policies and privatise the armed services? Lionel Burman Wirral , Merseyside • Given the glaring moral and political contradictions in David Cameron’s defence of selling arms to dictatorships, is this an opportunity for the Labour party to make a stand against the export of all arms to all dictatorships? Come on, Ed, do the right thing. Phil McNally Bolton • If only Cameron had taken a few funeral directors and coffin-makers to accompany the arms manufacturers, we would really have been able to show everyone Britain is “open for business”. Malcolm Rivers Isleworth, Middlesex Arms trade David Cameron Arab and Middle East protests Middle East Banks and building societies Egypt Kuwait guardian.co.uk