Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, whether her Department's investigation into British American Tobacco in South Africa and Zimbabwe included investigating the allegations and interviewing the witnesses in the BBC Panorama programme on this topic; and whether the Serious Fraud Office plan investigating these allegations further.

Following a three-year investigation, the SFO determined that this case did not meet the evidential tests as defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. As with all cases that fail this first limb of the Code, it was therefore not in the public interest to continue with the investigation. The SFO does not provide detailed commentary on how it conducts its investigations.

The SFO continues to assist our international law enforcement partners with ongoing investigations related to this matter and will assess any new material it receives.