Elizabeth Symons

Elizabeth Symons is a 56 year old Baroness, who was created a life Peer in 1996, and is now a senior figure in the house of Lords. She began her career in the civil service, before becoming a trade union official in 1977 for the FDA union which represented civil servants including influential positions in Whitehall such as policy advisor's and diplomats. and then a labour minister. Until her resignation in 2005, Elizabeth Symons worked in the foreign and commonwealth office, ministry of defense, worked in the department of trade and industry, was minister of state sor the middle east and fianlly, deputy leader of the house of Lords.

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Her role in the foreign office was to represent the government in the house of Lords, doing so at a time when a British company, Sandyline, was being accused of supplying weapons to Sierra Lionne in return for diamonds; something which U.N legislation had made illegal. Baroness Symons was accused of having knowledge of the transaction, something that the Liberal Democrats leader in the House of Lords questioned her on record about in 1998, but she denied the suggestion claiming that there was no evidence. This was a claim she had also made in 2007 when accused of being involved in the B.A.E bribery scandal after the criminal investigation into the questioned arms deal had been dropped. (http://larouchepub.com/other/2007/3427bae_antilar_ops.html)

Symons, whilst in her position of minister for procurement for the ministry of defense in 2000 was also accused of colluding with American Deputy President Dick Chenney in the pursuit of privatisation of the military in both the U.S.A and the U.k, actually privatising the 'British government's giant Defence Evaluation and Research Agency'.(http://larouchepub.com/other/2007/3427bae_antilar_ops.html)

Baroness Symons' husband, Phil Basset, was an aide to Tony Blair and served as head of the Strategic communications unit between September 2002 and October 2003. It was within this role that Basset helped create the dossier that claimed Saddam Husain's was able to prepare and fire W.M.D's within 45 minutes. During this time, Elizabeth Symons was both Minister for trade in the Department of Trade and Industry, and also the Minister for the Middle-east in the Foreign Office. (http://larouchepub.com/other/2007/3427bae_antilar_ops.html)

In 2005 she was made both a non-executive director of British Airways and the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

"Since leaving her ministerial posts in 2005, Baroness Symons has been Tony Blair's Special Envoy to the Middle East, and to Saudi Arabia, standing as an inner-circle guard for the British-Cheney-Bandar relationship, and, by extension, the lucrative Al-Yamamah project. She is chairman of the British-Saudi Business Council, and vice president of the Middle East Association." (http://larouchepub.com/other/2007/3427bae_antilar_ops.html)