Corruption is a Crime

Tony Blair’s role in the blocking of a criminal investigation into the Al Yamamah arms deal should be investigated by an independent inquiry, says newly elected Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

In a sign that he will continue the tough line taken by previous Liberal Democrat leaders, Mr Clegg responded to the publication of a letter from then Prime Minister Tony Blair to the Attorney General saying its contents confirmed his “very worst fears”.

As the BBC reports:

The letter from Mr Blair to Lord Goldsmith dated 8 December 2006 was released to the High Court during a case brought by two pressure groups who are challenging the legality of the decision to end investigations into BAE Systems’ dealings with Saudi Arabia.

It refers to “critical difficulties” that might have affected the major contract for new Typhoon military aircraft.

There was uproar when the Serious Fraud Office inquiry into the Al Yamamah contract from the 1980s was dropped, but Mr Blair insisted the decision was taken on security grounds.

Mr Clegg called for an independent inquiry into Mr Blair’s role and insisted that a National Audit Office report on the deal, which has never been made public, should be released.

He said: “Tony Blair must urgently explain what he thought he was up to by invoking the Typhoon contract as a reason to stop the SFO investigation.

“As his own attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, made clear to him between December 2005 and December 2006, commercial relations are an improper basis under international law to suspend a legal investigation.

“Knowing this, why did Tony Blair persist in pursuing a legally improper line of argument which could amount to an attempt to pervert the course of justice?”

A new criminal investigation into allegations of corruption in arms deals is set to interview dozens of senior staff at BAE Systems.

The investigation will cover six separate arms deals which may have involved corrupt payments to middlemen.

As the Sunday Times reports:

Whitehall officials say dozens of senior BAE executives are to be interviewed in the next two months about alleged bribery involving more than £80m in secret commissions. The money is said to have been paid to middlemen involved in lucrative government arms contracts in South Africa, Tanzania, Romania and two other countries. The new SFO interviews come only a year after Tony Blair and Lord Goldsmith, then attorney-general, controversially halted a separate corruption probe into BAE’s arms dealings with Saudi Arabia.

The government stopped that inquiry after the Saudis threatened to end intelligence cooperation in the war on terror, provoking a wave of international criticism.

Among those to be interviewed under caution in the new investigation will be Sir Dick Evans, BAE’s former chairman, who is still a consultant with the company. Mike Turner, the outgoing chief executive, is also expected to face questions. Both men adamantly deny any knowledge of wrongdoing.

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