£28m Tanzania deal goes ahead

The Government today approved the export of a £28million military air-traffic control system to cash-strapped Tanzania, after a Cabinet feud between those for and against the deal.

Chancellor Gordon Brown and International Development Secretary Clare Short are understood to have argued such an expensive system wasn't needed, and that the sale would worsen the poverty of millions of Tanzanians.

But Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon are thought to have been the leading backers of the deal, which will sustain 250 jobs on the Isle of Wight.

British Aerospace, which makes the system, announced today that it has won export approval. The Department of Trade and Industry would not confirm the report, saying that it never comments on individual export licence decisions.

Aid agencies, who claim a £7million civilian air-traffic control system would suffice, are threatening to put pressure on Barclays. The bank is financing the deal with a £40 million loan.