Britain must do more to tackle corruption in politics and finance -lawmaker

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has lost its moral compass and ought to act to tackle “filthy money” and shield the integrity of its democracy, a senior opposition lawmaker stated in a report released on Monday by King’s Higher education London.

Margaret Hodge, a Labour lawmaker for 28 years and former head of parliament’s Community Accounts Committee, reported a society of deregulation and light-weight-contact enforcement had permitted financial malpractice to flourish and this was seeping in to politics.

“Unacceptable behaviour is in danger of turning out to be commonplace,” Hodge, who chairs a cross-bash parliamentary group on anticorruption and responsible tax, claimed in the report for the Policy Institute.

“Lousy behaviours that are present in our financial sphere are rising with larger regularity in our politics and our community sphere.”

The governing administration has set out plans for new legislation to deal with illicit finance and lower financial criminal offense.

Hodge claimed Britain desired higher transparency to far better abide by dollars flows in the financial sector and expose community sector determination producing to extra scrutiny.

More robust regulation to punish economical criminal offense and corrupt conduct in the community area and improved enforcement are also essential, she said, as perfectly as reinforcing the institutions that act as a examine on the government’s ability.

Opposition politicians have accused the govt of operating a “chumocracy” for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, stating it awarded promotions to all those with back links to men and women in energy, which includes for what turned out to be unusable individual protecting equipment (PPE) in some conditions.

In January a court docket located the governing administration acted unlawfully by location up a fast-track “VIP lane” to allow ministers and officers to recommend suppliers of PPE.

“We have shed our ethical compass taxpayers’ dollars is currently being wasted and misused to the detriment of our general public expert services and we are in danger of forfeiting our worldwide standing as a trustworthy jurisdiction,” Hodge mentioned. “It is not way too late to change back again the tide.”

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan in London Editing by Matthew Lewis)