Buy UK gov't-approved torture guns on the Web

With more oppressive regimes going online every day, it seems only natural that Britain, The E-commerce Nation,(speak to Tony) will make the most of it. So if you're shopping for electric stun guns -- particularly good for torture -- then go no further than the DTI's TradeUK Web site. With machetes sent to Rhodesia and Hawk jets to East Timor, you'd think stun guns advertised on the DTI site by a Surrey arms dealer wouldn't be a problem. But apparently they are. In fact, the government spoke of deficiencies and urgency and this sort of thing not happening again. Good for them. Foreign secretary Robin Cook doesn't want to sell weapons to people likely to use them in the wrong way, even though there's loads of money to be made doing it. That's not to say he will tell us what and to who he is selling. But then, as this little incident shows, we can trust him not to do anything stupid. ®