There was good news this morning when the High Court ruled that the Serious Fraud Office’s decision – under pressure from the Government – to drop its investigation into the Al-Yamamah arms deal between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia was “unlawful”.

The BBC quotes BAE’s position on the ruling:

“The case was between two campaign groups and the director of the SFO. It concerned the legality of a decision made by the director of the SFO.

“BAE Systems played no part in that decision.”

The same article mentions BAE’s earlier position on the inquiry:

BAE argued that the SFO probe could “jeopardise” both this deal and “seriously affect” relations with the Saudi kingdom.

So they argued that the probe was a bad idea, but “played no part” in the decision to end it.

If I blog that the Government should do something and then they do it, I may or may not have played a part in that decision. If I were to write to the Government and ask they do something and then they do it, I may or may not have played a part in that decision – it certainly increases the likelihood that I have.

Now, given BAE’s closeness to Government, did no-one from BAE ever moan about this probe? It’s possible. But if they did, did they still “play no part” in the decision to drop the inquiry?

They may or may not have done.