MPs have made UK corrupt, says watchdog
http://www.walletpop.co.uk/2010/10/31/mps-have-made-uk-corrupt-says-watchdog/
Filed under: Fraud , Consumer Rights
Britain has never been more corrupt, and it's all the fault of the damn MPs and their duck houses – that's the conclusion of this year's Corruption Perception Index from Transparency International.The UK has plunged to number 20 out of 178 in the international rankings based on how corrupt a nation's civil servants are believed to be by experts at institutions including the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
But it could be worse – we could live in one of the winners: dull New Zealand, teeny-tiny Singapore and frosty Denmark.
Just behind them are Finland, with its extraordinary levels of heavy drinking and suicide (possibly linked) and Sweden where they are most proud of Abba, who split up decades ago. Decades.
On the other hand, you wouldn't want to emigrate to Somalia, which claims the bottom place when it is not too busy shooting; or Burma and Afghanistan which share the second-to-last spot when they ...well, pretty much the same.
Even in the West things can get pretty hairy. Venezuela, run by that charming friend of Robert Mugabe and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez, war-torn Sierra Leone and basket-case Democratic Republic of Congo.
So apparently even Mugabe can teach his South American pal about stable, democratic government. Robert Mugabe.
The Venezuelan ambassador to Britain, Dr Samuel Moncada, said the figures were "hot air and propaganda" on the part of Transparency International, which is dedicated to fighting corruption to improve living conditions for ordinary citizens.
The index demonstrates that nearly three quarters of the 178 nations have serious problems with corruption.
Transparency International's chairman, Huguette Labelle, said: "These results signal that significantly greater efforts must go into strengthening governance across the globe.
"With the livelihoods of so many at stake, governments' commitments to anti-corruption, transparency and accountability must speak through their actions.
"Good governance is an essential part of the solution to the global policy challenges governments face today."
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