Is there a review of British arms export licences for Israel?

The current conflict in Gaza is resulting in grievous loss of civilian life. Three Israeli civilians have been killed and around 1,800 Palestinians. Atrocities have been committed against civilians, almost all by the Israeli Defence Forces (as follows from the above figures), including well-publicised ones condemned by the US Government and UN Secretary-General.

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Talk at Transparency International

I was pleased to give a talk at Transparency International this lunchtime. Below are some of the key points I made:

.@Nicholas_gilby was in our office today to talk about his new book ‘Deception in High Places’. Tweets that follow from the discussion.

— TI Defence&Security (@TIdefenceteam) July 31, 2014

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New document published: Saudi Arabian Air Defence Assistance Project Memorandum of Understanding

As I have explained in previous posts on this blog (see here and here) there has been no effective Parliamentary scrutiny of the Ministry of Defence’s Government-to-Government arms deals with Saudi Arabia. These deals have now been the subject of two Serious Fraud Office investigations, one still on-going.

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New documents published: How a Saudi Prince sued a British arms company for his commission

Britain’s biggest arms company, BAE Systems, has enjoyed an uninterrupted and lucrative commercial relationship with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence and Aviation for half a century. In the deal which started the relationship (agreed in 1965), BAE’s predecessor, the British Aircraft Corporation, was one of three British prime contractors, along with Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) […]

New documents published: British Government discussions about involvement in corruption in Saudi arms deals

A recent article in the Financial Times (republished by Gulf News here) states that the Serious Fraud Office has made arrests during its on-going investigation of the Airbus Group subsidiary GPT Special Project Management Limited. The company is the prime contractor on the Saudi Arabian National Guard Communications (SANGCOM) project, a Government-to-Government arms deal supervised […]

Interview in New Internationalist

New Internationalist magazine has published an interview with me by Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade.

The Ministry of Defence, the Saudi Arabian National Guard Communications project, and a Lebanese agent

In a recent article on the Exaro News website David Pallister and Frederika Whitehead write about the part of my book which describes the proposed arrangements for agency fees behind one of Britain’s arms deals with Saudi Arabia. This deal, known as the Saudi Arabian National Guard Communications project, or SANGCOM for short, has been […]

The fundamental flaw in Britain’s arms export policy

The events of the “Arab Spring” have resulted in a great deal of scrutiny of the British Government’s export licensing procedures. Parliament’s Committees on Arms Export Controls have recommended in their most recent report that:

the Government should apply significantly more cautious judgements when considering arms export licence applications for goods to authoritarian regimes “which […]

Event at Edinburgh Book Fringe 2014

I am delighted to announce I will be speaking at the Edinburgh Book Fringe on Saturday 16 August 2014, courtesy of Word Power Books. For more details click here.

Will the Arms Trade Treaty be much help in combating corruption in the international arms trade?

A great deal of effort from Governments and Non-Governmental Organisations went into negotiating the Arms Trade Treaty, concluded in New York in 2013. I am sceptical whether the Treaty, if it comes into force (for this to happen 18 states still need to ratify it) will be effective. I very much hope my scepticism will […]