Al Yamamah

1.32.50pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 11th Jun 2007

Tonight Panorama will be screening an investigation into the bribery scandal engulfing BAE, our government and the Al Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

There's advance information about the show on Panorama's website - where you'll also be able to catch the program if you miss it this evening:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/default.stm

It's a massive scandal - especially with the UK's decision to drop the criminal investigation into the bribery allegations. But corruption is a crime, wherever and whoever carries it out - and for all Labour's talk of being tough on crime, when it suits they seem happy to turn a blind eye.

The way to fight corruption in international deals is to enforce the international agreements that exist - not to ignore them, nor to (as The Guardian has reported last week) conceal evidence from international corruption probes.

You can sign our petition for a proper inquiry into why the Al Yamamah investigation was dropped - and get more information about the whole case - at:

http://www.corruptionisacrime.com

Best wishes

Lynne Featherstone

Shadow International Development Secretary, Liberal Democrats