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Transparency International defines corruption as "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain".[1] Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index scored the United Kingdom at 73 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, the United Kingdom ranked 18th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. [2] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the worst score was 12 (ranked 180), and the average score was 43.[3] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Western European and European Union countries [Note 1] was 90, the average score was 66 and the lowest score was 42. The United Kingdom's score of 73 in 2022 was its lowest ever in the eleven years that the current version of the Index has been published. [4]

The United Kingdom currently has numerous laws that punish civil servants for bribery and other forms of corruption, with the Bribery Act 2010 currently the most relevant.[5] There has also been criticism from newspaper columnists.[6][7] This has largely been because of the UK's fall from the top 10 in the CPI.[8][9][10]

The Bribery Act 2010 is currently the most relevant law in the United Kingdom that punishes public and private bribery. The law does not make any distinction in sentencing between those who bribe (or are bribed) in the public or private sector.[5]

Under Keir Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party the party has been associated with corruption.[11] This has come about due to an illegal £600,000 donation to the party and a record number of corporate gifts to the party since 1997.[11] Those within the Shadow Cabinet also have corporate lobbyists employed within their staff.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

See also

References

  1. ^ "Overview: Why Corruption Matters". Transparency International UK. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  2. ^ "The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated". Transparency.org. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2022: United Kingdom". Transparency.org. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  4. ^ "CPI 2022 for Western Europe & EU: Undue influence and fragmented anti-corruption measures hurt progress". Transparency.org. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b Country Review Report of the United Kingdom (PDF). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2013. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 12, 2017.
  6. ^ Monbiot, George (2020-09-10). "If you think the UK isn't corrupt, you haven't looked hard enough". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  7. ^ "We need to talk about corruption in the UK". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  8. ^ Binham, Caroline. "UK drops out of top 10 in global anti-corruption rankings". Financial Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  9. ^ Millard, Rachel (2020-01-23). "UK takes one step down in global corruption rankings". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  10. ^ Hope, Christopher. "Transparency International's 2009 corruption index: the full ranking of 180 countries". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  11. ^ a b c Ramsay, Adam (9 September 2023). "How big business took over the Labour Party". openDemocracy. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
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