If you’re wondering what will happen after the Pandora Papers exposed – once again – the role that the UK plays in helping launder cash, assets and reputations, then join the club. While there is interest across the political spectrum in a response from the British government, the chances of real change are slim.
Vested interests present one obstacle. Senior Tories are not likely to be interested in tackling the very systems that their families and their donors use to move wealth around the world. Private equity firms have reportedly lobbied against shell company abuse. And it will take a serious political fight to challenge the impact of foreign cash on the UK housing market.
The way that kleptocracy is often framed doesn’t help, either. The liberal interpretation makes it mainly a question of national elites in the Global South, who loot state assets and hide them offshore. This makes it seem as if embezzlement is the prime reason why developing nations stay poor or fail at social protection – obscuring the role of neoliberal economic reforms, often imposed by Western-dominated institutions such as the International Monetary Fund. In reality, it is more likely a combination of corruption and neoliberalism, along with global market conditions, that has meant less and less protection for working people globally.
