Spotlight on Corruption

@spotlightcorruption.org

24159 Followers 831 Following

Shining a light on the UK's role in corruption at home and abroad https://linktr.ee/endcorruptionuk

Polly Toynbee is right to say Labour’s move on crypto donations and foreign money is an important step forward but can’t be where reform stops. As our new report, Credible Deterrence, points out, it’s not just about rules, it’s about enforcement of those rules. Our research shows that no one has ever spent a day in prison for breaking political finance laws, and the highest criminal fine ever imposed is just £6,000 – a derisory sum given modern campaign spending and donor wealth. The Electoral Commission needs much stronger powers and a bigger budget to be able to play its crucial role as a regulator, and we need a new stronger criminal offence, policed by a specialist police unit. It doesn’t matter how good your rules are if no one is properly empowered and resourced to enforce them. Susan Hawley, Executive director, Spotlight on Corruption
A scorecard with red-amber-green ratings for various measures to address the lack of transparency around the lobbying of government.
Participants at the Spotlight on Corruption-organised roundtable on illicit gold in Ghana
The introductory slide of the Spotlight on Corruption-organised roundtable in Accra, Ghana.
The panel for the PILNet session in Rome chaired by Spotlight on Corruption's Helen Taylor, including Kush Amin, Charles Kajoloweka, Fadel Fakih, Lucy Claridge and Alyona Vandysheva.
Quote from Spotlight on Corruption Deputy Director Dr Helen Taylor: "The latest data shows that OFSI’s investment in intelligence and enforcement capabilities is starting to bear fruit as part of a welcome cross-government push to enhance sanctions enforcement. But the reality is that investigations are still progressing far too slowly, with monetary penalties too few and far between to act as a robust deterrent against sanctions evasion. These enforcement actions remain out of step with the scale and sophistication of circumvention schemes that pose the greatest threat to the effectiveness of sanctions.”
Table of Spotlight's recommendations for the Ethics and Integrity Commission that were accepted, rejected or partially implemented.
Spotlight Associate Justin Moore in a t-shirt emblazoned with the Spotlight on Corruption logo in which he ran a half marathon through the Chiltern Hills.
An investigator wearing a stab vest marked Serious Fraud Office
An image of paragraph 110 of the High Court judgment in Grosvenor Property Developers Limited (In Liquidation) v Portner Law Limited, with a highlighted section reading: "Mr Broughton’s interactions with the Varmas show a pattern of disregard for his obligations as a solicitor, and repeated turning of a blind eye to obvious causes for concern. I have also found that in certain matters he was actively dishonest and made false representations concerning matters that were within his knowledge."