London, UK, December 15 – When announcing the extraordinary measure of cancelling a corruption enquiry into Saudi arms deals, Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General – and government's legal advisor – said that "the wider public interest" "outweighed the need to maintain the rule of law".
Despite the fact that defence contractors had openly lobbied for the shelving of these investigations, the government has argued that commercial considerations played no part in the decision. This episode sheds further light on how far the UK government will go to protect its immoral relationship with the dictators of the Muslim world.
Dr Imran Waheed, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, "The government claims to be fighting wars abroad in order to export the “rule of law” yet it undermines the rule of law in Britain in order to protect big business interests and the reputation of the Saudi dictators.”
''This government appears to have learned nothing from co-sponsoring the illegal and disastrous war in Iraq – which has only benefited US Oil and construction companies. It also undermines its own claim that removing the dictator Saddam Hussein was for principled reasons.”
''Despite the rhetoric, Western governments continue to demonstrate their support for brutal dictators who oppress and torture, as well as cover their financial corruption provided they serve western corporate interests, justifying it all under the blanket label of 'national security' and the ‘war on terror’."
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