Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
More than one person in two thinks corruption has worsened in the last two years, according to a global public opinion survey on the issue.
114,000 people in 107 countries were polled as part of the research, carried out by anti-corruption group Transparency International. Of that number, 27 per cent said they had paid a bribe in the last 12 months, showing no improvement from previous surveys.
Two-thirds of those who were asked to pay a bribe said they refused, the survey found, while nearly nine out of ten said they would act against corruption.
“Bribe paying levels remain very high worldwide, but people believe they have the power to stop corruption,” chair of the group Huguette Labelle said. “The number of those willing to combat the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery is significant”.
The Global Corruption Barometer found that in many countries, the institutions people rely on to fight corruption are themselves not trusted. 36 countries view police as the most corrupt authority, and in those countries an average of 53 per cent of people said they had been asked to pay a bribe to the police.
20 countries view the judiciary as the most corrupt, and in those countries an average of 30 per cent of people who had come in contact with the judicial system had been asked to pay a bribe.
In the UK, 65 per cent of those surveyed said corruption had increased in recent years, with 28 per cent saying it had stayed the same. Ireland was not surveyed as part of this year’s survey.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Fantastic piece of journalism
- “Brexit was Johnson’s England project. Northern Ireland an afterthought.”
Johnson reasoned as follows: ‘If I back Brexit, then if Leave wins I can be PM, but if it doesn’t I can still wriggle my way into No. 10. But if I back staying in the EU, Remain needs to win for me to be PM, and if it’s Leave I’m done for.’ In other words, backing Brexit left him with both possible worlds to be PM, instead of just one.
So in that sense he was being entirely rational, except that Northern Ireland wasn’t even an afterthought, since he simply didn’t care. He rode on a wave of what was essentially an ‘English independence’ vote, and ended up shafting all of Ireland in the process. Including even the DUP. It’s hard to feel sorry for that sorry bunch, but to my own astonishment I’ve actually ended up pitying them.
@Mick Tobin: Nice analysis, he even prepared both positions.
@Mick Tobin: Well said. Nail on head.
When Ress-Mogg becomes PM, there will be a tectonic shift.
@François Pignon: oh no !!!Ress-Mogg, worse than Boris….
@Maurice Whelan: It won’t be Moggy but it’s hard to say which way this going to go. Defence secretary Ben Wallace is a frontrunner with the bookies, apparently because he’s seen as the somewhat boring (this is a plus) mirror image of Johnson, a steady hand who’d be pragmatic when it comes to relations with the EU, and hence with Ireland.
Incidentally a name like that might get Scottish nationalists worried. But it could still be Liz Truss, who might be even worse than Johnson (and therefore better for the SNP). We’ll have to wait and see I guess.
@Mick Tobin: The Scots just need the Tories to stay in power. They are so despised in Scotland it won’t really matter who the PM is in my opinion, although someone like Truss would be good for independence.
SNP worst nightmare would be not getting a referendum in this government term and Labour winning the next general election. However, Labour cant win a general election as they can’t win without Scottish votes and the SNP have Scotland sown up. Tories don’t need a single vote in Scotland to get into number 10 and that is the difference. Tories will continue to govern the U.K. for the foreseeable.
He must have forgot that NI politics was Fecked well before Borris came along.
Great article and shows that the press have to write a lot of the pieces through gritted teeth
have your say