|
|
Article: Leadership battle: Clarke under pressure to quit over tobacco smuggling claims
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- August 23, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
KENNETH CLARKE is facing renewed pressure to resign his post at
British American Tobacco after the emergence of internal company
documents which imply that BAT knew that its cigarettes were being
supplied to smugglers.
Internal BAT documents, seen by The Independent, explicitly
outline the company's awareness of smuggling in Andorra - the
Pyrenean principality between France and Spain and a centre for the
illicit trade. They also imply knowledge of the contraband trade in
the Far East and Vietnam.
Mr Clarke, who visited Vietnam for a business meeting on behalf of
BAT in June, yesterday attacked "fanatic" anti-tobacco campaigners
for making political capital. But the new revelations will ...