Decision to kill off Anti-Corruption Bill an outrage say Liberal Democrats

11.24.21am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 24th Oct 2007

The decision not to give Commons time to an anti-corruption bill that has passed through all its stages in the House of Lords was described today as a 'constitutional outrage' by Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary, David Heath MP. The Corruption Bill, which was introduced by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Chidgey, has failed to win a slot for time in the Commons despite proposing key changes to British law.

This Bill would form a key part of what ought to be the British government's legal protections against corrupt practices. Not to proceed with anti-corruption legislation is part of an emerging picture which, taken with the shameful decision to discontinue investigating BAE's Al Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia, smacks of indifference at best or complicity at worst with dodgy dealing by British firms abroad.