Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown
More on this hopefully later, but in the meantime here’s the initial dirt. They certainly pick their moments. And other depressingly overused epigrams.
Saudi Arabia has given Britain 10 days to halt a fraud investigation into the country’s arms trade - or lose a £10 billion Eurofighter contract.
Well, it took just a little over ten days. Here’s this:
The Serious Fraud Office is discontinuing its investigation into a multi-billion pound arms deals with Saudi Arabia, it has been announced.
Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said the decision had been made in the wider public interest, which had to be balanced against the rule of law.
‘It has been necessary to balance the need to maintain the rule of law against the wider public interest,’ apparently. Just what this wider public interest entails other than the massively subsidised (at the UK taxpayers expense) jobs in the British defence industry and the flogging of weapons to an oppressive regime, isn’t clear.
From now on, upon hearing the words ‘rule of law’ trip from the mouth of a New Labour hack, the urge to spit will be nigh on irresistible.
Posted on December 14th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
| See also • Now watch very carefully. Try not to blink • Judicial preview • The Pariah Sketch |
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“Nigh on irresistible” - good grief Justin. It is 100% irresistible.
The hyocrisy on this matter shown by our masters reeks to highe heaven!
With this and corruption, their very presence would lower the standards of decency on any prison wing in the country.
Thanks Mr Blair. Long ago, you made me ashamed of the part I belonged to for 15 years. Now you fill me with shame at my country!
There are many things I avoid doing [and plenty i dont] because of them being against the law, well I reckon its open season now so I think next time blair speaks and I get the urge to shut him up with a dig to the jaw well WTF guess ill just slap the twat
and so you should stinky. This stinking decision requires the rebalancing of the rule of law against the wider public interest in seeing Blair slapped, and while we’re at it, flobbed on by the mightiest greenest hacking catarrh.
I suspect the interest concerned could accurately be described as neither wider, nor public.
BAE Systems are a private company who have an advisory role in relation to the UK government. This gives them quite a large say in defence procurement policy, or in other words, in deciding what is in the ‘national interest’. Pick your other examples: from the NHS to energy policy (National Grid plays a similar role), there are lots of shifty buggers whispering in Prince Tony’s ear.
in the interests of progressivism and non-negativism, my chosen alternative solution to this problem would be that we should continue to investigate the massive fraud, accept the cancellation of the al-Yamamah contract in in general get out of the business of massive subsidies to corrupt and inefficient industries. gotta be constructive here.
One for the next parliament square demo, by the sound of it.
All equal under the law, and that…
here here, Mark Curtis has lots of interesting things to say about turning swords into ploughshares (among many other things) in Web Of Deceit. I thouroughly recommend if you’ve not read it yet, though imagine it’s something of a standard text in these here parts.