Memorandum from the Ministry of Defence
1. The Committee has requested a memorandum
from the MOD responding to allegations in a memorandum from the
Campaign Against the Arms Trade which alleged that the Committee
was "seriously misled" by a MOD Memorandum of July 2003.
2. The facts given to the Committee in that
MOD Memorandum were accurate, both as they related to the practices
of the DESO at that time and, from the records we have identified,
in relation to practices at earlier times. The MOD rejects any
suggestion that it was intended to mislead. The Memorandum addressed
specific allegations by the Guardian newspaper and answered the
Committee's questions in terms that we continue to believe are
accurate. The Department does not have any specific comment on
the reported recollections of Lord Gilmour and Lord Healey in
respect of their understanding of the way agents were employed,
and commissions were paid, at these times, nor on CAAT's interpretation
of the documents it quotes in its memorandum.
3. The Government takes the control of defence
exports, and the behaviour of British companies and individuals
involved in this area, very seriously. Staff of the Defence Export
Services Organisation are under instruction to report any action
which might be a cause for concern in relation to the law of the
UK or of the country with which business is being done.
July 2006
| 
