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# BBC uncritically regurgitates report downplaying UK corruption
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/bbc-uncritically-regurgitates-report-downplaying-uk-corruption/
- Published: 2010-10-27T08:10:09.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T23:06:12.000Z
- Author: Richard Wilson
- Tags: Europe, #Migrated, Politics & activism, United Kingdom, Democracy and government, UK, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 15:45

Dear [Mark Easton](http://bbc.in/a6pNvt?ref=opendemocracy.net),

1\. Why did you decide not to reveal to your readers that [this report](http://bbc.in/a6pNvt?ref=opendemocracy.net) – which claims that the UK Financial sector has been sorely maligned and that corruption in the UK is not as bad as people think it is, and whose conclusions you appear to accept uncritically – was produced by a [front group for the Financial industry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legatum?ref=opendemocracy.net#The%5FLegatum%5FInstitute)?

2\. Did it not strike you as noteworthy that this study is being launched with great razzamatazz – fronted, of course, by [Peter Mandelson](http://www.legatum.com/eventdisplay.aspx?id=4892&site=4&type=event&keywords=&ref=opendemocracy.net) – on exactly the same day as the [annual report](http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/26/britain-corrupt-mps-expenses-scandal?ref=opendemocracy.net) by the independent (ie. not funded by an industry front group) anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International?

In contrast to today’s sunny findings from the Legatum Institute, [Transparency International has warned](http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/26/britain-corrupt-mps-expenses-scandal?ref=opendemocracy.net) us that Britain is “seriously at risk of dropping out of the top 20″ in its anti-corruption index.

[According to the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/26/britain-corrupt-mps-expenses-scandal?ref=opendemocracy.net):

*Britain’s failure to prosecute foreign bribery has been partly blamed on its outdated, fragmented and complex anti-corruption legislation.*

Interestingly:

***In its dying days, the last Labour government brought in a modernised law to stamp out bribery… Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, announced in the summer that the act will not be enforced until April next year, so further consultation on its details can be held.***

Transparency International’s Director told the Guardian that

*Britain’s worsening performance in the league table “strengthens the case for the UK’s new bribery act to be properly enforced, and *sends a warning signal to the government that there should be no dilution of the bribery act or further delay in its commencement”.**

I wonder what “signal” the Legatum Institute is hoping to send the government by launching its somewhat cosier assessment on exactly the same day…

*Cross-posted from Richard Wilson's blog,* [*Don't Get Fooled Again*](http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/bbcs-mark-easton-uncritically-regurgitates-report-downplaying-corruption-in-the-uk-but-chooses-not-to-reveal-that-the-thinktank-behind-it-is-a-finance-industry-front-group/?ref=opendemocracy.net)*.*