 This, according to "The Spectator", would have given him a "ringside seat" in the negotiations surrounding the first Al-Yamamah arms deal.15 months after becoming Comptroller and Auditor General, in April 1989, Bourn announced a National Audit Office inquiry into the Al-Yamamah deal.The report was drawn up between 1989 and 1991, and was presented to Lord Sheldon, then the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.