New law allows British spies to pay bribes ‘in national interest’

Britain's spies are to get an unprecedented right to pay bribes in the same law that threatens to jail company chiefs who treat clients to hospitality.

The Bribery Act contains a "James Bond loophole" permitting MI6, MI5 and GCHQ officers to make illicit payments in return for secrets in the British national interest.

But if a UK exporter offered free football tickets to a customer, its directors in Britain could be prosecuted for bribery, risking unlimited fines and up to 10 years in prison.

Anti-corruption campaigners have condemned the exemption for spies. The legal director of the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nicola Bonucci, said it was "the only law in the world sanctioning bribery".

In a House of Lords debate on the Bill last year, Lib-Dem spokesman Lord Goodhart said: "We say that the function of the security services should not be extended to bribery which is solely for the purpose of protecting economic well-being."

The Bribery Act, passed by Gordon Brown's government last year, comes into force in April.

Former justice minister Lord Bach said obtaining intelligence to thwart a terrorist attack was an example of the sort of circumstance where a spy would be given permission to pay a bribe. The exemption will also apply to the Army when it is operating abroad in conditions where a bribe could obtain information or improve troop safety.