Not Just George's Poodle

The recently-departed Downing Street doggie, whose unerring sense of the godliness of wealth was apparent long before he joined the Catholic church, has been accused of rolling over in response to pressure by the House of Saud. Supposedly, Tony applied "irresistible pressure" upon his chum Peter Goldsmith, who was attorney general at the time, to end the BAE corruption inquiry by the Serious Fraud Office. Of course, pressure that is irresistible to Peter Goldsmith may not be a particularly serious matter in itself, since Goldsmith's adamantine determination in defence of the law is almost as well known as the wit of Kim Howells or the dignity of Boris Johnson; but Tony's actions have been called unlawful and, of all things, "based on tainted advice". The assistant director of the Serious Fraud Office was told that there was a risk to "British lives on British streets". Lord Justice Moses said today that, unless there was a threat of "imminent harm", the situation might have been used by "any villain". It is not clear whether the threat to British lives would have come into effect forty-five minutes after the continuation of the SFO's inquiry; so we must be duly grateful that high office in the British government is not open to just any villain.