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| Goldsmith attacks party critics | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has hit back at criticisms of his role by Labour party colleagues. | |
| He told MPs he "did not agree" with Constitutional Affairs minister Harriet Harman's call for his legal advice to be routinely published. | |
| He said the decision should be "up to the prime minister of the day". | |
| He also rejected Lord Falconer's claim that the attorney general should no longer be a Cabinet role, saying it was vital for "accountability". | |
| Lord Goldsmith has come under pressure to publish his advice on the legality of the Iraq war and the decision to drop a fraud inquiry into a BAE arms deal with Saudi Arabia. | |
| My duty is to the law, not to party politics or party loyalties Lord Goldsmith | |
| Giving evidence to the constitutional affairs committee, he agreed to publish the section of the BAE advice "that relates to the decision not to prosecute". | |
| But he rejected Ms Harman's call, in a speech last week, for all such advice to be made public, saying it should be up to "the prime minister of the day". | |
| He insisted there was no contradiction between his role as a member of the Labour government and an impartial law officer. | |
| 'Accountable' politician | |
| He said there were occasions when he had to make decisions which were not covered by "collective Cabinet responsibility". | |
| And it was important that the attorney general remained a politician and not "some civil servant" so that he or she would be "accountable" to Parliament and be able to be cross-examined by MPs. | |
| He also hit back at claims public confidence in his role had been damaged by criticism over legal advice in the run up to the Iraq war, cash-for-honours inquiry and the BAE systems row. | |
| He said he did not agree with comments by Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, who has said the role of the attorney general in government is not constitutionally sustainable. | |
| Duty | |
| He said he had taken decisions which colleagues had not agreed with and added: "My duty is to the law, not to party politics or party loyalties". | |
| On BAE Systems, he insisted the decision to drop the inquiry had been by the director of the Serious Fraud Office, who had been told it would harm national security. | |
| He said he had reached the same conclusion after carrying out a national interest test. | |
| But he also revealed a national interest test carried out a year earlier had focused on whether BAE would lose contracts if the investigation continued. | |
| It had ruled the investigation could not be dropped on those grounds without breaking the terms of an anti-corruption treaty Britain had signed up to. | |
| "Which is why the investigation went on," said Lord Goldsmith. | |
| And he confirmed International Development Secretary Hilary Benn had not been among the ministers consulted on the decision to drop the inquiry. | |
| Harman's criticism | |
| "He could have told us that we have a commitment to fight corruption, but I know that and I know there was public interest in it," Lord Goldsmith said. | |
| Ms Harman, who is also campaigning to become Labour's deputy leader, called last week in a speech for "greater transparency'' from Lord Goldsmith and future holders of the office. | |
| "It is not enough for government ministers to say, 'We are advised that it is lawful' ,'' she said. | |
| "Backbenchers, let alone the wider public, want to see for themselves what the arguments are.'' |