Lord Peter Hain. (Photo: Jaco Marais /Gallo Images / Die Burger) 
British Labour Lord Peter Hain has urged the British government not to award a lucrative defence contract to a consortium led by the Israeli defence company Elbit Systems UK, which potentially includes the international consultancy firm Bain & Co.
Hain has written to Defence Secretary John Healey and the Cabinet minister in charge of government procurement, Pat McFadden, telling them that Elbit Systems should not get the Army Collective Training Service contract because its parent company, Elbit Systems Limited — Israel’s largest defence company — “has openly marketed its weapons as ‘battle-tested’ in Gaza and the West Bank”.
And Bain & Co should not be part of the contract, estimated at £1.9-billion to £2.5-billion, because of its “nefarious role … during the decade of corruption presided over by former South African President Jacob Zuma”.
In August 2022, Hain, who grew up in SA and was an anti-apartheid activist in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s, persuaded the Conservative Party government of then Prime Minister Boris Johnson to blacklist Bain & Co from receiving UK government contracts for three years, but the ban was lifted in 2023 under Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss.
However, the South African government’s ban on doing business with Bain remains in place.
In his letters to Healey and McFadden, Hain wrote, “Among all the global corporates implicated in state capture and corruption during former President Zuma’s administration, Bain & Co stood out. Two separate Judicial Commissions found that it went beyond passive involvement, actively advising on how to disable South Africa’s revenue authority in order to shield wrongdoers.
“The Commission of Inquiry led by then Deputy Chief Justice — later Chief Justice — Raymond Zondo went so far as to recommend that Bain be referred for potential criminal prosecution. It is therefore wholly inappropriate for such a company to be in receipt of UK public funds.
“I am also disturbed by the inclusion of Elbit Systems UK. Its parent company, Elbit Systems Limited — Israel’s largest defence company — has openly marketed its weapons as ‘battle-tested’ in Gaza and the West Bank, a deeply troubling claim given the devastation unfolding in Gaza.
“Awarding this contract worth an estimated £1.9 billion to £2.5 billion, would entrench Elbit Systems at the core of the UK’s defence infrastructure for a full 15-year period, with serious ethical and reputational consequences for the government.
“To proceed with this contract would be to reward corruption and legitimise practices that are at odds with the UK government values and procurement standards. It would erode confidence in the integrity of our procurement system and risk significant damage to public trust,” he wrote.
Hain cited Jack Cinamon, a researcher for Shadow World Investigations and Corruption Tracker, as saying that the 15-year contract would make Elbit a “strategic partner” to the Ministry of Defence for its Army Collective Training Service (Acts), providing training, simulation and personnel development for as many as 60,000 members of the UK military.
Cinamon wrote that Elbit Systems UK was a fully owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems Limited.
“In 2023, Al Jazeera reported that Elbit Systems Limited provided up to 85% of the land-based equipment, as well as 85% of its drones, used by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], according to the Database of Israeli Military and Security Export,” he wrote.
“The IDF has been accused of war crimes and genocide in Gaza and of systematic human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.”
Cinamon wrote that in March, Elbit Systems UK had been awarded a £2-million contract to further develop its proposals for the Acts contract, and the final award of the full contract seemed imminent. He said reports indicated that Bain & Co was a partner of Elbit Systems UK. DM