Last summer the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reviewed the action rich countries had taken to implement its 1997 anti-bribery convention. It found Britain was falling behind almost everyone else. Although it had ratified the convention, it had no law which explicitly criminalised bribery of foreign officials. When New Labour came to power, it initially followed in its predecessor's footsteps in arguing that a 1906 statute on bribery at home implicitly covered bribery abroad. Yet in more than 90 years there had not been a single prosecution under this law.
British companies are among the worst offenders.
Some 37 of the 55 companies which the World Bank publicly blacklists and has disbarred from participating in its contracts because of evidence of corruption are domiciled in Britain. British companies are among the strongest players in all these sectors. Ministers made all the right noises in a discussion paper. Corruption is like a deadly virus. It has no boundaries.