Editing Arms-to-Iraq affair (section)

{{Short description|UK export of weapons to Iraq (1989–1992)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}
{{John Major sidebar}}
The '''Arms-to-Iraq affair''' concerned the uncovering of the government-endorsed sale of arms by [[United Kingdom|British]] companies to [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]], then under the rule of [[Saddam Hussein]]. The scandal contributed to the growing dissatisfaction with the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government of [[John Major]] and the atmosphere of [[List of political scandals in the United Kingdom|sleaze]] that contributed to the electoral landslide for [[Tony Blair]]'s [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] at the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]]. The whole affair also highlighted the weakness of the [[Constitutional convention (political custom)|constitutional convention]] of individual ministerial accountability, leading to its codification as the [[Ministerial Code]] by the [[First Blair ministry|Blair Government]].<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Jowell|editor1-first=Jeffrey|editor2-last=Oliver|editor2-first=Dawn|title=The Changing Constitution|date=14 July 2011|isbn=978-0-19-957905-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/changingconstitu0000unse/page/172 172]|publisher=OUP Oxford |url=https://archive.org/details/changingconstitu0000unse/page/172}}</ref>

Following the first [[Gulf War]] of 1991 there was interest in the extent to which British companies had been supplying Saddam Hussein's administration with the materials to prosecute the war. Four directors of the British machine tools manufacturer Matrix Churchill were put on trial for supplying equipment and knowledge to Iraq, but in 1992 the trial collapsed, when it was revealed that the company had been advised by the government on how to sell arms to Iraq. Several of the directors were eventually paid compensation.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1646860.stm | work=BBC News | title=Arms-to-Iraq pair welcome payout | date=9 November 2001 | access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref>