Tag Archives: corruption

Paul Reynolds

Britain’s role in the world… of corruption

By Paul Reynolds | Mon 26th April 2021 - 9:15 am

Corruption is in the news again in the UK.

PPE contracts during the pandemic, the Greensill Capital scandal, and eye-watering local authority finance scandals, all serve to dent the historic public perception that politics and government in the UK is in the main ‘clean’.

In the early 1990s at a private lunch with senior civil servants I attended, one of them offered the view that the public’s perception of a broadly clean governance system in the UK, has been ‘the world’s most successful long-term government propaganda operation of all time’.

In my global project work, dealing with corruption at senior levels is just something you have to find a way of handling. Many times I have had to employ ‘forensic international accountants’ to trace missing tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. It just goes with the territory. In some cases I have found corruption linked back to the UK; kickbacks for visas, a market for ‘blank’ British passports, kickbacks for projects and so on.

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Posted in Op-eds | 17 Comments
The Voice

9-10 March 2019 – the weekend’s press releases (part 2)

By The Voice | Mon 11th March 2019 - 10:12 am

And, as promised…

  • Lib Dems: Labour must stop making excuses on a People’s Vote
  • PM must back independent investigation into Qatar World Cup bid
  • Home Counties knife crime rise shows crime epidemic is sweeping the UK

Lib Dems: Labour must stop making excuses on a People’s Vote

Responding to Keir Starmer’s announcement that Labour will not force a vote in favour of a People’s Vote on Tuesday, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:

Labour’s apparent belated support for a People’s Vote needs to be put to the test very soon. If not Tuesday, when? And their commitment must go hand in hand with a three

…

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Posted in Best of the blogs and News | Also tagged , , , , and | 1 Comment
Ed Long

Conference Countdown 2016: Tackling global corruption should be a core Liberal campaign

By Ed Long | Wed 14th September 2016 - 11:20 am

On April 3 2016, just under 12 million documents were leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca containing financial details on over 200,000 offshore companies. While the bulk of our nation’s media coverage was of David Cameron’s family investment fund – Blairmore Holdings – and the former Prime Minister of Iceland’s resignation, most news outlets underplayed the real significance of the investigation: the details of shell companies used to profit from criminal activity and how the lack of transparency in opaque jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands, Seychelles or Bahamas provides cover for organisations involved in people trafficking, narcotics, selling arms to despotic regimes and terrorism.

On Saturday, Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats are moving a motion demanding that the UK calls time on the lack of progress in our overseas territories and sets a deadline for the implementation of centralised registers which make the beneficial ownership of companies available both to relevant authorities and to the public.

The UK has a strong record in this area: Vince Cable drove forward the development of legislation for Companies House to implement a register of Persons of Significant Control during the coalition and the register is now starting to be filled with statements of beneficial ownership. It is due for completion in June 2017.

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 8 Comments
The Voice

Kramer: Cameron and Osborne must stand up to despots and oligarchs

By The Voice | Thu 12th May 2016 - 12:22 pm

Lib Dem Economics Spokesperson Susan Kramer was not entirely impressed with David Cameron’s pronouncements on corruption. It’s fair to say she won’t be holding her breath. She said:

We welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement that those buying property in the UK or bidding for government contracts will be required to register, but quick action is vital for him to show sincerity, and any such register should be publicly available.

Don’t forget, we have heard similar platitudes before that have amounted to nothing. Back at the G8 conference in 2013 a new drive against tax havens was heralded, and the Panama Papers have exposed just how pathetic that action turned out to be.

When push comes to shove, Cameron and Osborne have shown they will always cater to the whims of corrupt billionaires from across the globe rather than pushing through real change. Unless they are willing to stand up to despots and oligarchs from places like China, Russia and Nigeria, any commitment will prove to be utterly shallow.

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
Simon Beard

Opinion: Corruption – We can do better than this

By Simon Beard | Mon 14th May 2012 - 3:54 pm

The UK is more corrupt than Qatar. That’s not my judgement, but that of the World Bank and their Control of Corruption Index. This places the UK 18th in the world, behind not only Qatar but Iceland, Chile and Liechtenstein.
 
It’s easy to sound jingoistic with this sort of comparison, and I really don’t mean to. So here’s an even more worrying comparison. In 2010, the latest year the World Bank has collated its figures for, the UK received a control of corruption score of +1.48 (on a …

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Posted in Op-eds | 11 Comments
Tom Smith

Opinion: Let’s talk about Corruption

By Tom Smith | Wed 11th April 2012 - 1:55 pm

The latest cash for access scandal may well have highlighted yet again the murky world of party financing and lobbying but overall the UK can pride itself on not being corrupt; Transparency International places it in the least 20 corrupt nations in the World.  How does this tally with opinion polls showing that almost three quarters of the British public think corruption is a serious problem in the UK that many consider has got worse in recent years?

Whether the public perception is wrong, there is a profound gap between public and expert definitions of corruption or if there really …

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Posted in Op-eds | 3 Comments
Baroness Ros Scott

A postcard from… Chennai

By Baroness Ros Scott | Tue 17th January 2012 - 1:53 pm

Here in the LDV office, we’ve received another postcard from Baroness Ros Scott. Typically, she’s arrived long before the postcard did…

The failure of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament is a good example of just how difficult Parliamentary business can be in India. The Lok Sabha is directly elected on a constituency basis, but with regional loyalties such a strong determinant of voting, thirty-four political parties are represented, as well as nine independents.

If you think that two party coalition is tough, consider for a moment the job of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose ruling Congress Party governs as part …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
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