You've got to take the positives from this and that is a lot of influential westerners are starting to have a high profile in Saudi. Some of their values will filter through, as has happened elsewhere in the Middle East, where there's been an influx of westerners.
I work in a specialised job in construction and Qatar is one of the major places where my skills are in demand, so I've been working here for two years and I've seen great change in that short time. I'll fully admit I'm here for the money. I come from nothing, have hardly ever had anything and this is life changing for my family.
I first thought that the construction sites were being brought up to decent health and safety standards solely for the World Cup but it's gone beyond that. I can genuinely say that the standards on my sites at present, are much better than the two projects that I worked on in Cyprus and Portugal, EU countries, before I left Europe. I don't know of any major sites where the standards are less than reasonable.
The workers now have adequate breaks when the weather is hot, which it is throughout summer and their general welfare is taken into consideration, with excellent access to medical facilities.
I know openly gay people in Qatar, who admittedly keep a low profile and I know many Qatari women who work in highly influential positions. More Qatari women go on to higher education than Qatari men.
It's not perfect by a long way but it's making big strides, as I'm hoping will happen in Saudi. Taking the good from the bad, Gerard and Fowler going there is a positive for ordinary Saudi people.
