Parliament's chief auditor has provoked criticism by refusing to hand over documents to police in a major corruption investigation.
Sir John Bourn is refusing to allow Ministry of Defence police and the Serious Fraud Office to see a report on Saudi arms deals, kept secret by his department, the National Audit Office, since it was drawn up 14 years ago. The SFO is investigating allegations that Britain's biggest arms company, then known as British Aerospace (BAe), made corrupt payments in the £43bn Al Yamamah sales. The NAO report was suppressed because the MoD feared it would anger the Saudis. Requests for publication have been denied.
Sir John says the Commons' top official, Roger Sands, clerk of the house, ruled that a special resolution by MPs was needed. However, Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP who chairs the public accounts committee, to which the NAO reports, said: "I see no reason why police should not see this report."
Liberal Democrat committee member John Pugh agreed: "If the SFO requires a document pertaining to a criminal investigation, I think that the NAO cannot be in a position to withhold it." Mr Leigh said the NAO had refused to allow him to inspect the report, originally made to a previous chairman of the committee.
At least 10 copies of the report exist, held by the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office. Both departments gave copies over to the ombudsman, Ann Abraham, in 2003 when she was investigating calls for it to be made public.
Sir John's stance was criticised by Labour MP Harry Cohen, who said: "This does look like a serious conflict of interest. Sir John did a lot of work at the MoD on Al Yamamah and here we now have the NAO covering up this report."
The Guardian has obtained documents on similar Saudi deals signed in the 1970s which disclose covert commissions of almost £100m paid by BAe's precursor, the British Aircraft Corporation, with government collusion.
The Al Yamamah deals were administered on a similar government-to-government basis, with the MoD paid about £45m a year by the Saudis to organise the sales, and certify to the Saudi authorities that the bills were legitimate.
The MoD said last night: "The report remains sensitive. Disclosure would harm both international relations and the UK's commercial interests."
The SFO declined to comment.