BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook were lambasted by the conservative British press on Wednesday for their handling of the so called “arms-to-Africa” scandal. On Tuesday a cross-party group of MPs slammed the foreign office for allowing British mercenaries to supply weapons to Sierra Leone — in breach of a United Nations embargo. Blair and Cook condemned the report as unnecessary because the affair has been scrutinised by an internal inquiry. However, the Tory-supporting newspapers were unimpressed. The Daily Express urged the senior Foreign Office civil servant involved, Sir John Kerr, to quit. The Times pointed to the “shameless efforts” of Blair and Cook to discredit the report and the Daily Telegraph said the affair prompted suspicions that ministers were covertly condoning illegal arms sales.