The British are increasingly failing their former parade discipline

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Photo: Tolga Akmen / DPA / PA Wire

After Britain's exit from the EU, both sides are now trying to agree on a free trade agreement.

While everything from fair competition to supposedly unsolvable fisheries issues is discussed, one issue seems to be missing from the priority list: corruption.

One of the reasons for this is the widespread awkwardness around the topic.

The EU once promised an annual anti-corruption report;

It only delivered it once, in 2014. In particular, new EU members have made little progress in the fight against corruption.

In addition, Great Britain - the state with which the EU is now negotiating - has always been seen as a champion in matters of anti-corruption.

To the authors

Prof. Dr.

Dan Hough

and

Johanna Schoenberg

work at the Center for Corruption Research at the University of Sussex, UK.

At first glance, Britain does indeed appear to be successful in the fight against corruption.

The country has recently slipped on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from Transparency International (TI), but only from eighth place in 2017 to twelfth in 2019. Great Britain is still a liberal democracy with freedom of the press and solid state institutions, ensure the rule of law.

In the face of such at least seemingly solid foundations, British politicians on corruption have often pointed the finger at other countries that they see ignore standards of integrity, undermine democratic norms and attack important institutions.

But the Boris Johnson government itself is by no means immune to such misconduct.

Formal and informal control mechanisms in the separation of powers are increasingly being ignored, the independence of the judiciary undermined and the work of the public service impaired.

This is not just a matter of incompetence or mismanagement.

Indeed, such conduct would have been considered corruption under previous British governments.

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The missteps are manifold:

• Pals from the close circle around Johnson were appointed members of the British House of Lords.

• The British government is breaking both domestic and international law in order to achieve its political goals ("Internal Market Bill").

• Time and again, ministers and advisers abuse their power to gain advantages for themselves or their friends (so-called “chumocracy” or “buddy rule”).

In addition, the recently published FinCen files make it clear that Great Britain is still considered a haven for money laundering.

London bank, legal and real estate actors are implicitly involved in moving billions of dollars in dirty money.

The good news: Fortunately, Britain is not a hopeless case.

David Cameron's time as prime minister will most likely be remembered for the Brexit referendum, but his ministers have also done good anti-corruption work.

They developed a national anti-corruption strategy and put in place strong anti-corruption legislation such as the UK Bribery Act, 2010 and a law to combat the use of criminally acquired funds (Criminal Finances Act, 2017).

However, the behavior of many members of the current administration and government is deeply worrying.

The time has come for what is happening here, inside and outside the UK, to be called what it really is: corruption on a scale that all friends of Britain should be concerned about.

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