BRITAIN has been warned against “complacency” in the war against corruption as it prepares to crash out of the European Union.
Campaigners fear the UK will come under economic pressure to cut regulatory corners - and therefore open up opportunities for criminals - after what increasingly looks set to be a No-Deal Brexit.
The UK currently remains ranked among the cleanest states on the planet, ranking 11th out of 180 in a league table published today.
However, it has dropped three places on Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index or CPI.
Robert Barrington, Executive Director at Transparency International UK, said: “A number of themes from this year’s index will serve as an important warning to the UK against complacency in tackling corruption, not least with the prospect of post-Brexit pressure to lower standards. “Scandals in this past year such as an MP being found guilty of taking undeclared holidays paid for by a foreign state, as well as serious questions over the provenance of money used in the EU referendum, should send an early warning signal to the government – but we are not sure they are listening.”
Donald Trump’s America fell out of the top 20 in a significant blow for the nation’s global prestige. Mr Barrington added: “The substantial fall in score of the US also demonstrates what can go wrong and how quickly when governments in mature democracies become complacent over corruption.”
Western Europe was the cleanest region in the world with Denmark ranked cleanest, just ahead of New Zealand, Finland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway.
The dirty dozen of states - the most corrupt in the world - included countries like currently troubled Venezuela and North Korea and nations currently suffering internal conflict or its aftermath, such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, Burundi and Iraq.
Overall, Transparency believes the war on corruption stalled in 2018 with more states moving backwards than forward.
Mr Barrington added: “The score from Brazil, and other ‘strong-men’ countries, suggests when corruption is not properly addressed it can become a rallying call for populist voices who use the language of fighting corruption to get elected but have no serious intention to tackle it.”
“We also note the huge fall in rankings of Azerbaijan whose President was in the UK just last year meeting with the British Prime Minister and who’s ruling family own a number of UK based assets.
“Although hosting corrupt kleptocrats in London does not affect the score on this index of public sector corruption, the UK government should be aware of the detrimental impact it has on the UK’s international standby.”
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