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?”

The Times has a detailed round up today of how Thales, one of the arms firms set to benefit from the dropping of the Al Yamamah corruption probe, rented flats owned by the Blairs via a family trust.

Whilst the SFO inquiry into Al Yamamah was axed in Britain, The Times goes on to point out that the SFO is helping further corruption investigations in South Africa:

Thales faces allegations that it paid Jacob Zuma, former vice-president of South Africa, to stop an investigation into another multi-billion-pound arms deal.

South African prosecutors suspect that a £69,000 bribe allegedly paid to Zuma was channelled through a bank account belonging to Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), a London legal firm. Coincidentally, Martin Paisner, a BLP partner, is one of two trustees who run the Blair trust.

There is no suggestion that Paisner or his law firm has done anything improper or was aware of any wrongdoing; but sources disclosed this weekend that the SFO has sought access to BLP’s bank accounts to trace any payments possibly made through them to Zuma.

Whitehall officials said the SFO was following international protocol in helping the investigation by the South African police.

Tackled at Prime Minister’s Questions today about BAE/Al Yamamah, Tony Blair took responsiblity on behalf of his whole Government.

According to the Guardian:

After being asked at prime minister’s questions about the £43bn arms deal between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia by the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, Mr Blair said: “If you want to blame anyone for this, blame me. I am perfectly happy to take responsibility for it.”

Sir Menzies had asked which minister was responsible for withholding information from the world’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, about secret payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.

We note that Tony Blair will be Prime Minister for just two more weeks.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell has demanded a statement from the Prime Minister following an investigation by the BBC’s Panorama. The programme found evidence that BAE has secretly paid £1bn to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia in connection with Britain’s biggest ever weapons contract, known as the Al Yamamah deal. The payments were made with the full knowledge and authorisation of Ministry of Defence.

Campbell said:

“When I questioned the Prime Minister about this issue in the House of Commons, he took full responsibility for the decision to discontinue the investigation into BAE. In light of BBC’s allegations, the Prime Minister must make a full and detailed statement to the House of Commons.”

The Liberal Democrats’ Deputy Leader, Vince Cable, has called for a parliamentary inquiry. He said:

“If it is indeed true that the British Government has been complicit in enormous under the counter payments to Prince Bandar there must be a full investigation by Parliament, and the Public Accounts Committee must be reconvened to pursue the al Yamamah investigation. My colleagues and I will not rest until there is proper ministerial accountability for what appears to be totally unacceptable conduct which completely undermines anti-corruption legislation.”

The Panorama edition on Al Yamamah will be broadcast on Monday 11 June at 8.30pm on BBC One.

From today’s Sunday Times:

TONY BLAIR struck a secret deal with the king of Saudi Arabia, assuring him that there would be no criminal charges against anyone implicated in bribery in Britain’s biggest arms deal. In July 2005 Blair assured the then crown prince, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who is now king, that Britain would abandon an inquiry by the Serious Fraud Office. It concerned a £60m “slush fund” allegedly set up by BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest defence contractor, to support the lifestyle of some members of the Saudi royal family.

You can read the full story here.