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Serious Fraud Office Investigation

I object to the tone of the hon. Gentleman’s comments in relation to the implication that the director of the Serious Fraud Office has somehow made a political decision. He has made a judgment based on the rule of law and the balancing test that he is required in law to use in relation to the public interest and the prosecution of a case. The hon. Gentleman asked me a number of questions and I will try to deal with each of them. It is the case that the director and, subsequently, the Attorney-General and I, had to balance the issue of national security, and the damage that might be caused to national security if we took a particular decision, against the importance of dealing with the serious allegations that were made. There is also the fact that the investigation of those allegations could take 18 months and that during that period considerable damage might be caused. At the end of the 18 months, it might well have been likely—indeed, the Attorney-General reached the view that there were obstacles to a successful prosecution—that in any event, no prosecution would have taken place. In such circumstances, weighing the importance of national security in this case against the allegations, the 18-month period and the fact that there would have been no guarantee that a prosecution would have taken place at the end of the 18 months, a proper decision had to be made by the director of the Serious Fraud Office. I would defend both the way in which he made that decision and the decision that he made. The public interest requires the director of the Serious Fraud Office to make a balanced judgment—he has done that. He is independent and he has made his decision in accordance with the rule of law and his obligations. The hon. Gentleman seems to take the view, for various reasons of principle, that no matter the consequences or the damage to national security, he would favour continuing the investigation. I have to tell him that I support the decision of the director of the Serious Fraud Office and the Attorney-General. This is a matter not of political difficulties, but of making proper decisions according to the rule of law.