Scott inquiry report

(1996)

   The inquiry conducted by Lord Justice Scott which followed a controversy over sales of British arms to Iraq in the late 1980s. Critics of the Conservative Government claimed that ministers had relaxed their own guidelines on the sale of arms to Iraq, in spite of their statements to the contrary in the House of Commons. The episode only came to light as a result of the prosecution by Customs and Excise of three busi-nessmen of the Matrix Churchill company for illegally exporting arms to Iraq.

   Prime Minister Major set up the inquiry which comprehensively examined the inner workings of the British Government and produced a thorough, exhaustive and revealing review of what had happened, one which was highly damaging to the reputation of the Government. He found that Members of Parliament had been misled by a process of deliberate deception on the part of ministers and their civil servants, that the criminal prosecution of the businessmen was wrong, and that the Government had used its powers to block the release of information that would have assisted in their defence. The Government survived a vote on the report by one vote. No minister resigned as a result of the findings.