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Arms Exports

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) on securing this important debate and I endorse everything that the hon. Member for Kingswood (Roger Berry) has said. I will concentrate on the Tanzanian air traffic control system. Irrespective of the outcome of the investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into the deal, the granting of an export licence for this military air traffic control system is an absolute scandal. I regarded it as such at the time and I continue to be of that view. To be clear, we are talking about selling a military air traffic control system for $40 million to one of the most heavily indebted countries in the world—a country that does not have an air force worth having a name. At the time, there was no justification for the deal. The British Government and the Prime Minister knew that that was the case and yet they sanctioned granting an export licence. It is a stain on this country’s reputation that that deal was permitted. I will focus on one particular aspect of the deal, which so far has not received much attention: the financing of it. As I have said, the deal was worth $40 million. Tanzania had to obtain approval from the International Monetary Fund to borrow the money because it was a heavily indebted country. To get approval from the IMF, it had to demonstrate that it was a concessional loan. Barclays Bank provided Tanzania with a concessional loan and so, in effect, part of the loan was a grant by Barclays to a heavily indebted country. That does not make sense. Commercial banks do not make such concessional loans so why did Barclays Bank? I asked Barclays many times when I was investigating the issue back in 2001-02, but answers were not provided. The spotlight needs to be on Barclays Bank, as well as on BEA Systems and the Government’s role in the deal. I end by saying that the Tanzanians are now fighting back and want answers to these questions. I have a letter from the Consortium of Concerned Tanzanians International, in which they ask rather a basic question:"““How does a military radar that watches over one third of the nation help us defeat AIDS, improve our educational system and create more jobs for our young people?...The deal was not only wrong, it was unethical and indeed immoral””." The Minister said that he cannot answer questions about that. I do not understand that as it is not sub judice. There are no legal proceedings as it is an investigation. I hope that in this debate or in writing he will be able to provide some answers.