Ben Cowdock, of Transparency International, said: “Whilst the use of companies based in Britain’s Overseas Territories is not illegal, our research has shown that due to the anonymity they offer, they have been a tool of choice for those seeking to hide business arrangements. Previously, research by Transparency International UK has found 1,201 companies from six of the UK’s 14 Overseas Territories featured in 237 corruption cases amounting to hundreds of billions of pounds worth of funds allegedly diverted by rigged procurement, bribery, embezzlement and the unlawful acquisition of state assets. He added: “The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Bermuda have now committed to publishing the names of company owners.
One fifth of donations to Tories came from people with interests in housing market, report claims
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Tories have unhealthy financial reliance on property developers, says report Peter Walker Political correspondent © Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Drazen /Getty Images
The Conservatives have an “unhealthy financial reliance” on property developers, with more than a fifth of all donations to the party over the past decade coming from the residential property sector, a report by a leading anti-corruption group has said.
While it could not be conclusively proven that government decisions were shaped by this flow of money, such a reliance on housing-based donations created “a real risk of aggregative corruption”, Transparency International said.
The report also highlighted serious concerns about a lack of information on lobbying by housing groups, saying that this, coupled with a rapid turnover of ministers and civil servants, added to the undue influence exerted by the sector.
Former Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism Fergus Ewing was the key contact for steel billionaire Gupta, holding regular meetings, including an un-minuted, private dinner with the controversial banker at the heart of the Conservative lobbying scandal, Lex Greensill, and Gupta back in 2017. Ministers engagements for 2020 list three phone meetings with Gupta and Ewing not on the lobbying register. A GFG Alliance spokesperson said: “GFG is a significant employer and investor in the UK and as part of its normal course of doing business we engage with a range of stakeholders, including politicians, on a number of topics that relate to our businesses. We have strong links with the Scottish and Welsh governments because of the plants and jobs in Scotland and Wales.”
Wednesday, 07 Jul 2021 11:21 AM MYT
The latest revelation came in late June when Health Secretary Matt Hancock resigned after it emerged he was having an affair with a university friend he had appointed as an aide. Reuters pic
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LONDON, July 7 Britain’s government is facing growing criticism over how it awarded contracts for virus-related goods and services during the pandemic, its detractors alleging a “chumocracy” in which politically connected companies got priority.
“I think in comparison to Britain 10 years ago, there’s a level of corruption that we haven’t reached before,” said Emily Barritt, a lecturer in law at King’s College London.
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