As Gordon Brown prepares to become Prime Minister today, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has called on him to show his independence from Tony Blair by reopening the Serious Fraud Office inquiry into BAE’s arms deals with Saudi Arabia. The call comes the day after the US Department of Justice confirmed that it was launching its own inquiry into BAE.
CAAT spokesperson Symon Hill said:
Gordon Brown today has a chance to draw a line under the Blair years by reopening the BAE-Saudi corruption inquiry. This would tell the world that the UK Government would no longer be bullied by arms companies. Robin Cook wrote that, under Blair, BAE’s boss had “the key to the garden door at Number Ten’. Gordon Brown needs to get the locks changed.
ENDS
Notes
- 1. Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) works for the reduction and ultimate abolition of the international arms trade.
- 2. On 14th December 2006, the Serious Fraud Office and the Government announced that they were suspending an investigation into alleged corruption by BAE Systems in its arms deals with Saudi Arabia. CAAT and the Corner House, an anti-corruption NGO, have lodged grounds for a judicial review of this decision.
- 3. CAAT spokespeople are available for interview on this issue.
Media Contact
Symon Hill
020 7281 0297 or 07990 673232
