Lib Dems up the pressure on Saudi deal

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Lib Dems up the pressure on Saudi deal

By Mark Pack | Mon 18th December 2006 - 11:15 am

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Liberal Democrat MPs are planning to up the pressure in Parliament over the Government’s controversial decision to drop corruption investigations around the Al Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

(As an aside – perhaps action in Parliament will flush out rather more comment from the Conservatives on this issue, who overall have stayed very, very quiet…).

UPDATE: Simon Hughes has called for action following this case, whilst you can read the views of Norman Lamb (a long time campaigner on this case) here

UPDATE 2: The Liberal Democrat petition calling for an inquiry into the dropping of the Al Yamamah bribery probe can be signed online.

Read more by Mark Pack or more about al yamamah, norman lamb, saudi arabia or simon hughes.
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5 Comments

garethepps 18th Dec '06 - 11:34am

This is encouraging and exactly the right sort of thing we should be taking up. What a sham the so-called ‘ethical foreign policy’ is: Robin Cook must be turning in his grave.
Rob 18th Dec '06 - 11:45am

I commented about how quiet the Tories were on this issue on my blog last week. They need to be “smoked out” on this issue. Only Iain Dale has taken the issue up with any indignation at all. The “usual” suspects from the Tories who comment on my blog have been silent.
tristan 18th Dec '06 - 12:31pm

I think Tim Montgomery has made a bit of a fuss about it too.

The not talked about aspect of this is the unions, who are delighted by this. One wonders if there’s been some cosying up to them on this issue to help Labour out of its financial woes and to smooth the way a bit over any party funding reform which manages to escape the clutches of Government.
Sheila 18th Dec '06 - 11:00pm

Didn’t the Act that booted the law lords out of the House of Lords and set up the “supreme court” create a new duty for the Lord Chancellor to uphold the rule of law?

So that’s another of their own laws that Noo Labour has broken…..
Mark Pack 19th Dec '06 - 9:09am

Ming’s now demanded the publication of a National Audit Office report into the arms deal that was kept secret – see today’s Daily Mirror:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/tm_headline=libdems-demand-saudi-arms-report%26method=full%26objectid=18282541%26siteid=94762-name_page.html