Gordon Brown urged to reopen arms inquiry
April 11th, 2008 | by admin |
Gordon Brown is coming under pressure to reopen the Serious Fraud Office inquiry into the multi-billion pound arms contract between BAE and Saudi Arabia.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the investigation, which was suspended in 2006, must be permitted to continue.
The High Court ruled that the SFO acted not according to law by dropping the corruption inquiry into the £43bn deal.
BAE was accused of illegal payments to Saudi officials, but the defence company maintains it acted within bounds of the law.
The High Court stated the decision to halt the inquiry represented an “abject surrender” to pressure from a foreign government.
Lord Justice Moses said that the SFO and the government had given into “blatant threats” that Saudi co-operation in the fight against terror would end unless the probe into corruption was stopped.
The legal challenge had been made by Corner House and the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), who stated the SFO decision was influenced by government concerns about trade and diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.
The SFO said national security would have been undermined by this inquiry.
Following the High Court ruling, Susan Hawley, who is from The Corner House, said it was a “great day for British justice”.
“If he [Gordon Brown] is serious about corruption, then he needs to show that Britain really means business and they are not going to pick and choose which cases are convenient to them and which aren’t,” she said.
“In effect, the government needs to back off and it would be a scandal if they try to intervene again and get this stopped on national security grounds.”
The SFO’s inquiry was into the al-Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia, which was first signed in 1985 but extended into the 1990s.
Under the contract, BAE sold Saudi Arabia Tornado and Hawk jets and other assorted weapons. The deal also included long-running equipment maintenance and training contracts.
Saudi Arabia is also reported to have threatened to cancel last year’s £20bn deal to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from BAE Systems.
