I was disgusted when I saw “How To Get Ahead In Africa” (Channel 4 Dispatches, Monday 29 October 2007). It was a worthy enough program, but there was absolutely nothing in it that hasn't been broadcast umpteen times before. The reason for my disgust was that back in May 2007 Dispatches refused to make a program about fraud on UK government arms procurement contracts. This would have highlighted the way civil servants, and government ministers from both parties, have protected arms companies accused of fraud. I eventually published some of this material on Indymedia (see “Thatcher gave Pergau Dam arms company “unjustifiable” £300m contract” 2 October 2007). No corporate news organisation has ever published this material.

The MOD's Procurement Budget is around £16 billion a year (see Ministry of Defence Sustainable Development Action Plan 2007-12). In addition, in 2006/7 it spent more than £3 billion over its budget on procurement. The MOD's spending on procurement therefore dwarfs the £1.25 billion the Department for International Development is aiming to give in aid to Africa for 2007/8 (see  http://www.dfid.gov.uk/countries/africa/). Obviously the potential for fraud and corruption is far greater in MOD procurement. In my experience, it seems to be as common as speeding on the motorways. It should be treated as a far more important story.

There is a great deal which Dispatches could have done to emphasise the contemporary relevance of this subject. They have the resources to carry out surveys of people working in the arms industry. Library footage and vox pop interviews would also add impact on TV.

This would've been an appropriate time to broadcast the documentary. On 20 November 1987 Sir Tim Sainsbury told the House of Commons that changes to the specification had increased the cost of the BATES project by less than 1.5%, and that the company had to deliver on time and to budget. In fact, these changes had already nearly doubled the price and it eventually tripled to £300 million. Dispatches broadcast its program about African corruption on 29 October, exactly three weeks short of the 20th anniversary of that enormous lie.

The only thing which can be said in favour of broadcasting the program about African corruption is that it won't upset anyone. It was boring, but safe. On the other hand, exposing the truth about Ministry of Defence weapons procurement would certainly have upset a lot of powerful people: politicians, the MOD, the arms industry itself, and probably big trade unions with members in the MOD and the arms industry.

In 2000 I met Antony Barnett, then working for The Observer, but now working for Dispatches, to give him information about fraud on Ministry of Defence contracts. He persuaded me to publicly reveal my identity in order make it a bigger story. This hasn't worked out well for me, and frankly, it didn't even make the front page in The Observer. It seems despicable to me that I didn't even get a response when I put my proposal to him.

News organisations often claim that they play an important role in a democratic system. They are supposed to expose corruption, incompetence, and abuse of power. This is an outstanding example of the corporate media's failure to live up to those lofty claims.