Tories: UN must put its house in order
The current oil-for-food scandal gripping the United Nations shows the organisation “needs to put its own house in order”, the Conservatives said today.
Shadow foreign secretary Liam Fox said the accusations of corruption levelled at the former head of the UN’s oil-for-food programme in Iraq were serving only to strengthen the hands of its critics.
And he insisted that the British taxpayers contributing £650 million to the UN every year deserve better value for their money.
Mr Fox’s comments come the day after an independent inquiry committee accused Benon Sevan of receiving nearly $150,000 (£84,000) in bribes between December 1998 and January 2002.
Mr Sevan, who resigned from the UN ahead of the report, is accused of taking money from a contractor that bought oil from Iraq under the $67 billion programme.
UN secretary general Kofi Annan has now agreed to strip Mr Sevan of his immunity from criminal investigation.
Today Mr Fox commented: “The oil for bribes scandal shows that the UN needs to put its own house in order. At a time when the UN claims to be the voice of moral legitimacy this will be yet more ammunition for the UN critics.
“This revelation shows that the UN oil-for-food programme was not properly audited. It is vial that all UN funds are properly accounted for and that mechanisms are put in place to ensure transparency.”
He added: “Britain’s taxpayers deserve value for the £650 million they contribute to the United Nations each year.”
