Does Britain deserve its top 10 ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index?

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. On the one hand, the Prime Minister’s personal commitments on corruption, the introduction of a national Anti-Corruption Plan and an improved record at the Serious Fraud Office are positive steps. These have likely contributed to the fact that UK has scored a top 10 place in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for the first time in more than a decade. But there are good reasons why people are sceptical about whether Britain really merits a top-ten ranking: overseas bribery by UK companies, the laundering of corrupt money through the City, the lax regulation and lack of transparency in British-controlled tax havens, to say nothing of corruption scandals here in the UK. In today’s world corruption taking place in the UK will often have its biggest impact on people overseas.