UK accused of failing on anti-corruption pledges
Stephen Twigg launches scathing attack on government after it rejects select committee's recommendations
The government is falling short of its pledges to crack down on corruption, the chair of the cross-party international development select committee said.
Labour MP Stephen Twigg's scathing attack came after the government on Monday rejected a host of recommendations made by the committee following an international anti-corruption summit in London last year, hosted by David Cameron.
Among the recommendations were plans to:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- Introduce country-by-country reporting of multinationals' profits and payments;
- Force British overseas territories to create public registers to end tax secrecy, and
- Reconsider the role of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as the principle international forum for discussions and decisions on tax.
Twigg said the MPs on the committee were working hard to respond to the challenges corruption presented in places such as South Sudan, Yemen and Afghanistan
But he added: "Unfortunately, the wider government seems to be falling short of the promises it made at the anti-corruption summit last May."
Last year, the committee warned a lack of transparency in its overseas territories "will continue to damage Britain's reputation as a leader on anti-corruption".
It added that attempts to reduce corruption in developing countries were "in danger of being undermined by a lack of policy coherence and the pursuit of different policies by other sections of government", says The Guardian.
At last May's summit, Cameron, then prime minister, described corruption as "the cancer at the heart of so many of the problems we need to tackle in our world".
The month before, he had been hit by the release of the Panama Papers, which linked his father to the use of trusts in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven.
Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on responsible tax, later accused the government of "pushing back" against reforms drawn up by the OECD to tackle global tax avoidance.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Swiss bliss: Chenot Palace Weggis takes wellness to the next level
The Blend Heath retreat on Switzerland's Lake Lucerne offers a mid-winter reset
By Felix Bischof Published
-
Earth's mini-moon was the moon all along
Under the radar More lunar rocks are likely floating in space
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: February 4, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right now
Speed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?
Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?
Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday deals
Speed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
By The Week Staff Published
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from London
Speed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
By The Week Staff Published
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck again
Speed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
By The Week Staff Published
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…
Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
By The Week Staff Published
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacy
Speed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
By The Week Staff Published