| Pugh Demands Answers From Hague |
| Friday, 11 April 2008 | |
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In light of a recent visit to Southport by Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague, the town's Lib Dem MP John Pugh has asked the front-bencher to explain the reasoning behind the Torie's recent decision to back Government attempts to block the reopening of the corruption case against BAE Systems.
The Government is arguing that the case would put "lives at risk", after Saudi Arabia threatened to stop providing intelligence on national security should the investigation go ahead. This claim has been rejected by the High Court - who have claimed that the Government responded to Saudi threats with "suspicious ease" - adding weight to accusations that the investigation would reveal a widespread pattern of corruption at the highest levels. The Tories have now backed New Labour proposals to allow the Government to block such investigations at a much earlier stage in the future - leaving the Lib Dems as the only party in Parliament opposed to a move Dr Pugh says would "create a dangerous precedent about how our Government is expected to behave": "This proposal sends out a clear message to the rest of the world: British Government policy is now dictated by threats from countries in the Middle East" said Dr Pugh this morning. "The proposals backed by Mr Hague and the Tories would allow Government's to intervene at will in the legal process at the behest of those individuals who they are afraid to offend. They are an attempt to institutionalise the perversion of justice, and represent a tacit acceptance of what many have long feared: the rule of law in this country simply does not apply to those with a large enough bank balance." Dr Pugh called on Mr Hague to respond to the criticisms, especially in light of the High Court judgement which labelled the "lives at risk" argument as little more than a "pretext": "Lord Justice Moses has made it perfectly clear that this argument holds little water with him. It certainly does not do so with me, and I very much doubt that it does with the vast majority of the British Public. I'd be interested therefore to know why the argument has been accepted by William Hague. Obviously he cannot admit that it is a convenient way to set a precedent for a Conservative Government to continue acting in the same sleazy, corrupt manner as New Labour, but I am sure he has an equally valid justification." Last year Dr Pugh introduced a Private Members Bill which sought to ensure that arms deals such as those at the centre of the current scandal would be subjected to Parliamentary scrutiny, as opposed to being conducted behind closed doors. The Lib Dem MP called on Mr Hague to defend his party's position, whilst thanking him for his interest in Southport - even if he did sound a note of caution in this regard: "It is fantastic that Mr Hague recognises Southport as a town that is worthy of his time - I only hope he is not charging the local Conservatives at his usual rates." |