The High Court in London has described as a 'failure of Government' the decision by the SFO to cease its investigation into suspected corruption in the dealings between BAE and representatives of the Saudi Government. The real culprit was, of course, our then Prime Minister, Tony 'I'm such a Nice Guy' Blair, who at the time cited the public interest and security issues as the reason for stopping the investigation.
We were, as usual, sat on our old deckchairs in the warm afternoon sun outside Nosher's shed, after a few hour's gardening. The parsnip wine tasted like nectar collected especially for the gods.'There doesn't appear to be any doubt that backhanders were paid to a Saudi prince to seal the deal' said Nosher 'that's about the only thing that isn't disputed.'
'The deeper issues are far more interesting' I said 'for example, why is it that our country claims to support democracy and freedom and human rights, yet we sell enormous quantities of weaponry to a repressive police state, namely Saudi Arabia, whose population live under the constant threat of being arrested by the secret religious police and being tortured, mutilated and even publicly executed simply for not obeying religious regulations that are completely ridiculous? I mean, this is the country that publicly beheaded one of its own princesses in 1982, supposedly for adultery! And we sell these murderous thugs weapons!'
Nosher smiled wryly.
'We also treated their royal family splendidly when they visited last year' Nosher chuckled 'All these Saudi princes and their advisers were treated considerably better than us impoverished little plebs who are obliged to pay heavy taxes for the largesse displayed on our behalf to already very rich people who are torturers and murderers. And then our idiot leaders expect us to respect them. Do they think we're all morons? Yes, I guess they do.'
In the distant fields beyond the watery ditch we call the Great Piddle two horses whinnied to each other. Then, closer by, a donkey joined in with his contribution.
'Of course' I said 'the idea that BAE had to give a sweetener to a Saudi prince to seal the deal cannot be equated with the flagrant hypocrisy and mendacity of Tony Blair in citing the public interest and security issues for stopping the corruption investigation. Saudi Arabia might pass on security information to Britain about al Qaeda - but that information is almost certainly obtained by torture, and is thus tainted, morally and evidentially. And just because Osama bin Laden thinks the Saudi government is not extreme enough (in other words, he'd torture and kill even more people than they do if he were in power) doesn't make the Saudi government a suitable ally for a supposedly ethical country like ours.'
'And then Blair instantly caved in the moment the Saudis put pressure on him to stop the investigation' commented Nosher 'a clear case of craven cowardice in allowing a foreign power to interfere with the process of our justice system.'
'You'd think' I said 'that someone supposedly with such high ethical standards as Tony Blair might have brokered a deal whereby the Saudis returned the money they'd taken from BAE and stopped asking for backhanders in future, but then perhaps Tony Blair isn't as ethical as he likes to pretend. He is, after all, a lawyer by profession.'
We sat for a while watching our fledgling crops growing in the warm sunshine.
'I'm beginning to think' I continued 'that all this propaganda heaped upon us about freedom and democracy and human rights is merely a device to conceal from us little people that our political system in this country is really about the rich, the ruthless, the clever and the greedy getting their own way at the expense of those of us who don't wish to be like them.'
Nosher gave me one of his 'you're so stupid' looks.
'Well, better late than never' he said 'and no one's even mentioned oil.'
More from http://www.overthegardenfence.blogspot.com/ soon
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