Transparency International defines corruption as "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain".[1] Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index scored the United Kingdom at 71 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, the United Kingdom ranked 20th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.[2] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180).[3] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Western European and European Union countries [Note 1] was 90, the average score was 65 and the lowest score was 42. The United Kingdom's score has fallen six points over the last five years and is now at its lowest point in the twelve years that the current version of the Index has been published.[4]
The United Kingdom currently has numerous laws that punish civil servants for bribery and other forms of corruption, with the Bribery Act 2010 currently the most relevant.[5] There has also been criticism from newspaper columnists.[6][7] This has largely been because of the UK's fall from the top 10 in the CPI.[8][9][10]
The Bribery Act 2010 is currently the most relevant law in the United Kingdom that punishes public and private bribery. The law does not make any distinction in sentencing between those who bribe (or are bribed) in the public or private sector.[5]
- ^ "Overview: Why Corruption Matters". Transparency International UK. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ^ "The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated". Transparency.org. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2023: United Kingdom". Transparency.org. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ "CPI 2023 for Western Europe & EU: Rule of law and political integrity threats undermine action against corruption". Transparency.org. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ a b Country Review Report of the United Kingdom (PDF). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2013. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 12, 2017.
- ^ Monbiot, George (2020-09-10). "If you think the UK isn't corrupt, you haven't looked hard enough". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
- ^ "We need to talk about corruption in the UK". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
- ^ Binham, Caroline. "UK drops out of top 10 in global anti-corruption rankings". Financial Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
- ^ Millard, Rachel (2020-01-23). "UK takes one step down in global corruption rankings". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
- ^ Hope, Christopher. "Transparency International's 2009 corruption index: the full ranking of 180 countries". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
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