International   

Move to block fraud probes in Britain

London: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has won Opposition Conservative (Tory) backing for a move that would allow the U.K. government to block future criminal investigations such as the corruption case against the arms company BAE Systems. Despite scathing criticism in the High Court in London on Thursday, the Tories have chosen to support the ruling Labour Party in facing down critics who are keen for the BAE investigation to be reopened.

Mr. Brown is said by his office to have been behind Tony Blair in pressing Robert Wardle, director of the Serious Fraud Office, to drop the investigation into secret payments by the arms company to Saudi Arabia. In Thursday’s judgment, the High Court rejected claims that the inquiry had had to be closed down for security reasons because “lives were at risk” if Britain no longer received intelligence on national security from Saudi Arabia.

Officially Downing Street said the initial response to the judgment would be a matter for the Serious Fraud Office. But a government spokesman said it would still be a “hands-on” operation, implying that Prime Minister might well block any move for a further investigation. Such a decision would reignite criticism from some Labour backbenchers and the Liberal Democrats who have been keen for the full investigation. And it would fly in the face of the stinging rebuke from Lord Justice Moses, who with Lord Justice Sullivan attacked the government’s interference as unlawful. In their ruling, the judges said: “We fear for the reputation of the administration of justice if it can be perverted by a threat ... No one, whether within this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice. The rule of law is nothing if it fails to constrain overweening power.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Voter dilemma pronounced in Italy
Hu for fillip to ties with Taiwan
Move to block fraud probes in Britain
11 killed in Iran blast
Da Vinci’s mother was a slave?
The case for co-ed schools
Thailand may discuss rice issue with India
Husain to explore Arab history through paintings
2 Indians killed in U.S.
Indian workers in Bahrain end strike

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu