Bribery is sometimes necessary, says Tebbit, when British jobs and security are at stake

Last week the Editor of ConservativeHome celebrated the Court's criticism of Tony Blair's decision to halt the SFO probe into the BAe-Saudi arms deal.  Lord Tebbit offers an alternative view in The Daily Mail.  Here are highlights from the former Party Chairman's piece:

Bribery is unfortunately necessary for British jobs and security co-operation with Saudi Arabia: "To paraphrase Rudyard Kipling's poem, Mandalay, "somewheres East of Suez, where the best is like the worst/where there ain't no Ten Commandments", they play by different rules to the ones we stand by here. I thought of this again when the High Court last week wrongly denounced the Government for abandoning the bribery investigation into the massive British Aerospace arms deal with Saudi Arabia... This is Britain's biggest-ever arms deal, signed more than 20 years ago and worth £43billion - yes, £43billion.  If we abandon it, we will put thousands of British jobs on the line and jeopardise relations with Saudi Arabia, a vital ally in the struggle against terrorism.  At the bottom line, without Saudi's cooperation, British lives could be lost to jihadist terror.  I have personal experience of this affair.  As a junior trade minister and then as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, under Margaret Thatcher, I had the job of promoting British exports - whatever they were.  The driving principle of the task was relatively simple: no one has to buy from us, but unless they do, we are unable to pay for the food, oil and raw materials we need to survive."

We should aim to eliminate corruption in the long-term: "Eliminating bribery throughout the world should of course be a priority, and it is utterly wrong to use it here in Britain or in other countries where it has been largely eradicated.  But let us remember that some British companies have to operate in places where the world is not as we would like it to be."

Our judges' double standards: ""No one, whether within this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice," they said.  Come off it. Which of them stood up and objected when the Government let out of jail IRA/Sinn Fein and Loyalist terrorists by the busload, claiming that the bombings and killings would start again if they were not released?"

Judges are increasingly behaving as lawmakers: "More and more judges are being tempted to find not according to what the law is, but according to what they think it should be.  And more and more they are using foreign law - whether from Brussels or so-called International Law - to impose their views.  As far as they are concerned, national security can take a back seat.  It seems to me that the judiciary is in danger of forgetting that policy and law are made by politicians.  And for good reason.  If politicians get it wrong, we can sack them at the next election.  They are accountable. Not so the judges."

Nick Herbert MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, will be writing for ConservativeHome on these subjects in the next few days.

Related CentreRight links: Samuel Coates wonders what Tebbit would have said to Wilberforce, Matt Sinclair on the 'judicial aristocracy' and Peter Franklin on Britain for sale

Comments

[nobody]

Corruption is always wrong. It is idiotic to argue that supporting corruption in countries where it already exists is the right way to stop it!?

[Malcolm Dunn]

I dn't always agree with everything Lord Tebbit has to say but today he's pot on both about the needs of British business and the role of judges.

[Umbrella man]

I am so disappointed in Lord Tebbit.

One day the weapons we are selling to the Saudis will fall into the hands of jihadi terrorists.

Haven't we learned anything from selling arms to Iraq when they were warring with Iran and bin Laden when he was warring with Russia?

[Letters From A Tory]

I think the lesson to be learnt is make sure you deal with the right people, because once you get yourself in deep it's very hard to let a deal slip away when so many British jobs are on the line.

[englandism.com]

I agree with Norman. Good on our guys for out maneuvering the French et al. I hardly think that Paris would be retrospectively pulling the carpet from under the deal if it was Dassault Aviation securing the salaries.

[John Strafford]

Conservativehome is right to condemn bribery. Once you start, where do you stop. How much of the bribes to the Saudis came back to individuals or organisations in the United Kingdom?

[Gege]

Corruption, like slavery requires willing buyers and sellers.

The right has correctly pointed out the fact that africans were just as gulty as europeans for slavery.

Therefore, no european country should ever take the moral high ground on corruption - They have decided to be willing participants.

[David Bodden]

“Bribery is sometimes necessary when British jobs and security are at state”. – The nuLieBore regime knows that very well, and has made a fortune out of selling British jobs. Bung them a few notes and they will allow you to dump British workers and ship in as many cheap foreigners as you want. Just look at the ‘donations’ and work permits issued to the likes of Capita etc.

The Conservatives do not oppose this behaviour as they have desires to get their hands on these bungs in the highly unlikely event of them forming a government in the future.

[George Hinton]

Well, nice of Tebbit to support the staus quo and history of dealing with the foreigners, that they all need a bung to grease the skids.
And £43bn needs to be protected. Despite all the words emanating from Washington you can bet your last dollar that they would have met advance commissions with the same aplomb as BAE. Its all sour grapes from the French and Yanks that they lost out.
I am minded though by one piece of hypocrisy in Tebbit's article.
Saudi Arabia supports and exports terrorism through its support of the extreme Wahabi sect, to which the kingdom owes religious allegiance. The Saudi's one the one hand deplore terrorism and aid our efforts to suppress it, but with the other hand throw vast sums of money at all that subscibe to Wahabism, particularly those that advocate the elimination of Israel and the other infidels.
So bah humbug.

[Mark Fulford]

When thinking about the BAe probe we should remember that the arms trading and the bribery are not a single issue.

Lord Tebbit is right that bribery, although unsavoury, remains an essential part of working in some parts of the world. Sometimes it takes more than moralising to get your million pound generator cleared through customs, your visa renewed or your dam built.

Unfortunately Lord Tebbit is completely wrong to have seen his job as "promoting British exports - whatever they were". We should only export weapons with the greatest care and to our most trusted allies. Selling weapons to countries where trust is undermined by bribery is idiotic short-termism.

[Joe James Broughton]

Not his finest hour.
He increasingly sounds like an embittered old socialist.
And before the usual suspects squeal, I have been quite a strong supporter of Tebbit.

[Matthew]

Good on Tebbit for echoing the views which are almost certainly those of the majority of people in this country, contrary to what this site would have you believe.

[Sophie Fernandes]

Of course corruption is wrong, but while we are so intertwined with such a deal we should see it out. The country should not enter into such deals in the future, however, the Saudi relationship is too important at the moment to potentially destroy it with a rash move.