BRITAIN HAS ARMED JUST ABOUT EVERYONE

BRITAIN is continuing to sell military hardware to suspect regimes and countries ravaged by war, corruption and poverty, a Mirror investigation reveals.

A third of Britain's Government-approved arms exports go to nations where there is a risk of provoking or prolonging conflict in defiance of EU codes of conduct.

Other countries which receive our arms are likely to pass them on to Britain's strategic enemies, says the Campaign Against the Arms Trade.

To hide the extent of the scandal the Government shrouds the contents of arms consignments in secrecy, invokes the Official Secrets Act to stop MPs asking questions and hides behind confidentiality clauses.

It makes a mockery of New Labour's once vaunted claim to pursue an "ethical" foreign policy. Saferworld campaign group said: "The whole industry is shrouded in secrecy with manufacturers and politicians hiding behind phrases such as commercial sensitivity and classified information."