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Britain is the most corrupt country in the world?

independent.co.uk

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Re: Britain is the most corrupt country in the world?

#121

Post by rorykoehler »

sonthonax wrote: post #97
rorykoehler wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore seems pretty low corruption. MPs get paid a ton here too.

Singapore is a oligarchic dictatorship and so corruption is somewhat irrelevant there. You have the most important institutions controlled by the Lee family, who's cult of personality remains unquestioned by those in outside Singapore, I mean did Lee Hsien Loong really deserve to be senior wrangler at Cambridge or is that just PR? Yes, public sector competence is very high but that's not exactly difficult in an autho…

Not that I disagree entirely however if Singapore is an oligarchic dictatorship then most democracies are. This includes UK & USA which we are discussing here.

Regardless Singapore has very low levels of corruption from what I have seen and experienced.

Re: Britain is the most corrupt country in the world?

#122

Post by rorykoehler »

TheCoelacanth wrote: post #103
rorykoehler wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore seems pretty low corruption. MPs get paid a ton here too.

Not really democratic, though.

How so? Singapore has open and free elections. Anyone can run, it's just that the PAP, for all their flaws, do such a good job that there is no reason to vote them out. This is a reflection of the low corruption environment.

Re: Britain is the most corrupt country in the world?

#123

Post by restalis »

simonh wrote: post #117
restalis wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Britain's responsibility to protect the independence of these territories" Would this mean that the independence of "these territories" is dependent on Britain somehow? Quite an independence, heh? And now, Britain, the ultimate power that backs up the laws of the said territories can at the same claim to be absolved of whatever is happening under its protected domains? Astonishing, isn't it?

> Astonishing, isn't it? Er, no. Everyone needs their independence to be protected. Just ask Tibetans, or Kuwaitis, or most of Europe. The fact is these offshore havens being nominally under British protection doesn't make one iota of difference to their tax laws or whether or not the businesses registered there do business with Britain. In fact Britain loses tax revenue just as much as anyone else, and has been work…

The state where nobody is responsible for anything and yet everyone is protected against everything is astonishing! ...at least to me.

Re: Britain is the most corrupt country in the world?

#124

Post by GordonS »

rwoodley wrote: post #83

So much hand-wringing. Anyone who thinks Britain is corrupt has never been to a corrupt country. I lived in Britain 5 years and never had to pay a bribe, ever. In some countries bribes are required to even clear customs. Then driving in from the airport, the police stop you at road-blocks and demand bribes. And so on.

Corruption occurs at different levels, and in differing degrees of visibility.

Re: Britain is the most corrupt country in the world?

#125

Post by diego_moita »

I read Saviano's book. It is enjoyable but it should be said that his intention is purely drama, not rigorous, deep and comprehensive information.

The same can be said about this accusation since he doesn't provide evidence, just moral outrage. How do you measure corruption? How do you know that there is more crime-originated money in Jersey than in Moscou, Lagos or Caracas?

Re: Britain is the most corrupt country in the world?

#127

Post by edko »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #17
felipeerias wrote: post #6

The UK is the second country with the most intermediaries (banks, accountants, lawyers…) listed in the Panama papers. The first one is Hong Kong, a former British colony. "More than half of the companies listed in the leaked Mossack Fonseca documents are registered in the U.K. or its overseas territories [...] If we want to understand modern Britain, we first need to realize that our primary economic function in the…

Tax havens, hmm? So around the world, basically, the good honest career politicians from Argentina to Zambia are going around to profitable businesses saying "hey, nice business you have there! We'd like to take, say, 50% of your profits, if you don't mind, and spend it on our friends - government contractors, public-sector unions and the like. All the donations to our campaign afterward are purely incidental, I assu…

I don't know about Zambia, but in Argentina most people don't care too much about campaign contributions. The perception is that most of the corruption there is through cronyism, and kickbacks from outrageously overpriced goods and services bought by the State. It is not politicians robbing businesses, but politicians and some businesses robbing the tax money of, mainly, the middle class.

Re: Britain is the most corrupt country in the world?

#129

Post by dmoy »

rorykoehler wrote: post #122
TheCoelacanth wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really democratic, though.

How so? Singapore has open and free elections. Anyone can run, it's just that the PAP, for all their flaws, do such a good job that there is no reason to vote them out. This is a reflection of the low corruption environment.

Or, lest we forget PRI, it is a sign of insanely high corruption. (Not saying it's the case in Singapore, just pointing out that a one party system doesn't necessarily point towards low corruption).

There's other possibilities (low press freedom, etc).

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