On Wednesday 30 November, the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee released 'Financial Crimes and Development', a report which calls on the Government of Tanzania to bring individuals to court to answer allegations that corrupt payments were made during the sale of an air traffic control system by BAE Systems in 2001.

The sale of this complex military system to one of the poorest countries in Africa prompted an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, which discovered that a third of the £28 million contract had been diverted into secret offshore bank accounts. The SFO believed that this money was used to pay bribes to Tanzanian politicians and officials.

In February 2010, BAE Systems admitted two criminal charges and said it would pay fines of £286 million to settle US and UK probes into the firm. However the company has always failed on admitting to corruption or bribery.

Transparency International UK's Director, Chandu Krishnan, said this report should be welcomed by all those who are concerned about bribes paid overseas by British companies. "Bribery is not a victimless crime and it is important that reparations are also made to the countries whose citizens suffer when bribes are paid.