Editing Arms-to-Iraq affair

{{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>

==Matrix Churchill==
{|class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:25em;" cellspacing="5"
|style="text-align: left;"|Classified documents released at the trial indicate that Britain violated the embargo in an effort to keep the country's machine-tool industry, including Matrix Churchill, whose managing director Paul Henderson had been working unpaid for British intelligence for 15 years, in business.
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|—''[[The Economist]]'' (1992)<ref name="fan">{{cite news|date=1 January 1992|title=Arms for Iraq: scandal hits fan|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|volume=325|page=64|issn=0013-0613}}</ref>
|}
Matrix Churchill was an engineering company based in [[Coventry]], with expertise in both the design and manufacture of precision machine tools. Established in 1913 by Walter Tattler and his brother in law Sir Harry Harley, the company had its origins in gauge and tool manufacture, the original company being known as Walter Tattler Ltd.

In 1989, as the result of a debt settlement, it was acquired by "Iraqi interests" for nothing. New directors were appointed including two who worked for the Iraqi security services and the company began shipping components for [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|Saddam Hussein's secret weapons programme]].<ref>"Hidden assets", ''[[History Today]]''; March 1994</ref> According to the [[International Atomic Energy Authority]], its products found in Iraq were among the highest quality of their kind in the world. They were "[[Dual-use technology|dual use]]" machines that could be used to manufacture weapons including artillery shells and parts for medium range missiles.

As one of the other directors claimed to have been working for the British intelligence services, the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] advised Matrix Churchill on how to apply for [[export licence]]s of materials that could be used to make munitions in such a way that would not attract attention. When [[Alan Clark]] admitted under oath that he had been "economical with the ''actualité''" in answering questions regarding what he knew about the policy on arms exports to Iraq, the trial collapsed and triggered the [[Scott Report|Scott Inquiry]], which reported in 1996.<ref>{{Cite news|title = The difference between lying and misleading|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34912959|access-date = 2015-12-06|first = David |last = Edmonds|work = BBC News|date = December 2015}}</ref>

This case also raised the issue of [[public interest immunity]], the process by which information believed to be highly sensitive is kept outside the public domain. In order to prevent information being public the relevant government minister must issue a public interest immunity certificate.<ref name="Anderson">{{cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Paul|date=1 January 1994|title=Long trail of deceit|journal=New Statesman & Society|volume=7|pages=18–20|issn=0954-2361}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[British support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war]]
* [[Campaign Against Arms Trade]]
* [[International aid to combatants in the Iran–Iraq War]]
* [[Foreign involvement in the Yemeni Civil War]]
* [[Project Babylon]],  a project with unknown objectives commissioned by Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to build a series of "[[Supergun affair|supergun]]s"

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book | author=Cowley, Chris |author2=Blake, Robin | title=Supergun: A Political Scandal | publisher=Arrow | isbn=0-09-918781-7}}
*{{cite book | author=James, Gerald | title= In the Public Interest: A Devastating Account of the Thatcher Government's Involvement in the Covert Arms Trade, by the Man Who Turned Astra Fireworks into a £100m Arms Manufacturer| publisher=Little, Brown & Company| year=1995| isbn=978-0316877190}}
*{{cite book | author=Leigh, David | title=Betrayed: Trial of Matrix Churchill | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | year=1993 | isbn=0-7475-1552-2}}
*{{cite book | author=Miller, Davina | title=Export or Die: Britain's Defence Trade with Iran and Iraq (Global Issues) | publisher=Northeastern University Press | year=1997 | isbn=1-55553-285-3}}
*{{cite book | author=Norton-Taylor |author2=Richard Lloyd |author3=Mark Cook, Stephen | title=Knee Deep in Dishonour: Scott Report and Its Aftermath | publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson | year=1996 | isbn=0-575-06385-8}}
*{{cite book | author=Phythian, Mark | title=Arming Iraq (Northeastern Series in Transnational Crime) | publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. | year=1996 | isbn=0-304-33852-4}}

==External links==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/15/newsid_2544000/2544355.stm BBC ''On This Day'': 15 February - 1996: Arms-to-Iraq report published]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023726/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?entity=matrix_churchill_corp. Co-Operative Research - Companies selling arms to Iraq 1981 - 1993]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/ethical/article/0,,407973,00.html The Guardian: Arms to Iraq inquiry affects control on exports] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051119/http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4276.htm ICH: Congressional Record Arms Sales to Iraq]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180910005255/http://www.exportcontrols.org/matrixchurchill.html ISIS: Matrix Churchill]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW1If1K-kLE Video of Robin Cook's Commons Address in 3 parts]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140503152418/http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=02%2F08%2F27%2F0249342 ''Iraq: The Lying Game''] ([[John Pilger]], [[Daily Mirror]])
[[Category:Foreign relations during the Iran–Iraq War]]
[[Category:Weapons trade]]
[[Category:Iraq–United Kingdom military relations]]
[[Category:Superguns]]
[[Category:Aftermath of the Gulf War]]
[[Category:Premiership of John Major]]