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. (http://www.sierra-leone.org/slnews0698.html)

Symons, whilst in her position of minister for procurement for the ministry of defense in 2001, began the process of privatising the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, which it had just changed into a government run company, with the exception of the sensitive Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1957320.stm)

Baroness Symons' husband, Phil Basset, was an aide to Tony Blair and served as head of the Strategic communications unit in Downing Street. (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010412/ai_n14381205)

Alastair Campbell, whilst being questioned at the Hutton inquiry, claimed that when the Iraq War dossier regarding WMD was published, Phil Basset had been working under him as a 'senior special advisor'. (http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Politics/documents/2003/08/20/August19AM.pdf)

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://www.guide2womenleaders.com/United_Kingdom.htm)

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