Website review: BBC NEWS | Business | SFO unlawful ...
harrystottle discovered this in Politics
•4 reviews since Apr 10, 2008
politics, corruption, bribes
•news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7339231.stm
People who like this website
- kahman95
Georgia
- memith1
Palm Bay
- Captain-Murphy
Durham
- lowflyingturd
Sligo
- harrystottle
Bristol
- joeturnerfr
England
- ericthehamster
Manchester
- penman2
London
- akali83
London
- Flarn
Cambridge
StumbleUpon is the best way to discover great web sites, videos, photos, blogs and more - based on your interests.
Everything is submitted and rated by the community. Discover, share and review the best of the web!
Reviews of this website
harrystottle discovered 3 months ago- an even more high profile example of the Abuse of Power I was rabbiting on about last night. This one is a major embarrassment. If Blair hadn't already gone, this might have been big enough to force his resignation. When a high court judge says things like:
"No one, whether within this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice. It is the failure of government and the defendant to bear that essential principle in mind that justifies the intervention of this court."
...you know that the abusers have been caught with their fingers in the till...- an even more high profile example of the Abuse of Power I was rabbiting on about last night. This one is a major embarrassment. If Blair hadn't already gone, this might have been big enough to force his resignation. When a high court judge says things like:
- ericthehamster rated 3 months ago
- Absolutely marvellous news, and renews my faith in the English legal system (if not certain custodians of it, such as the SFO). An appeal court has held that the decision of the SFO to drop corruption charges against BAE was illegal. They have gone as far as to describe it as an "outrage" and it makes me feel quite smug to be of a mind with them. I was astounded and depressed when the charges were dropped; how could Britain hope to hold the moral high-ground in the fight against corruption (both nationally and internationally), when its Government gives in to bullying tactics from another country? What is even more outrageous is the political pressure which was brought to bear against a supposedly independent prosecuting body. From the page: "The SFO's inquiry was into the al-Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia, which was first signed in 1985 but ran into the 1990s. Under the agreement, BAE sold Saudi Arabia Tornado and Hawk jets and other assorted weapons. The deal also included long-running maintenance and training contracts. In December 2006, the then Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, announced that the SFO was suspending its inquiry. Lord Goldsmith said its continuation would have caused "serious damage" to UK-Saudi relations and, in turn, threatened national security. Saudi Arabia is also reported to have threatened to cancel last year's deal to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from BAE Systems. Worth an initial £4.4bn, contracts for maintenance and training are expected to take the final bill to £20bn. BAE argued that the SFO probe could "jeopardise" both this deal and "seriously affect" relations with the Saudi kingdom." I shall be interested to see how this develops, and whether the investigation is reopened.
- Fencesandwindows rated 3 months ago
- "The High Court has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) acted unlawfully by dropping a corruption inquiry into a £43bn Saudi arms deal." Glad to see our judiciary has some sense!
- penman2 rated 3 months ago
I've blogged about this before and am delighted to see this judgement. Whilst we have far less political interference in our legal system than many other countries (including those who claim to be leading democracies), any undue political interference at all is to be condemned. The independence of the judiciary is critical to the good health of any democracy. The Govt. put undue pressure on the SFO to drop this investigation. Now they have been reprimanded. Let's hope that the voters take note.
