#Corruption

Of course corruption is a bad thing - we are all against it - it is illegal! That is stating the obvious.

However my trips abroad this year have really brought the issue of corruption to the fore in my mind. Trips to Tanzania (http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/sub-saharan-africa/tanzania/snapshot.aspx) and Portugal (ex PM Jose Socrates - the only Socialist Leader to get an absolute majority arrested for fraud and money laundering http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30252411) and particularly, Nepal ( http://www.nepalvista.com/features/about-real-nepal/corruptions ,) Turkey ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25637710 ) and South America (the worst of all) have served to demonstrate that corruption at government and corporate level is not just a bad thing - it is a terrible, corrosive, wicked thing.

In every South American country I visited the people I talked to are typically dispirited. The common theme - an inability to rid the country of politicians who turn out to be self serving and invariably in cahoots with the rich and powerful rather than helping ordinary people as fair and as promised.

Consequently people stop believing in their future. They feel powerless. In many instances it seems the attitude adopted is if you can't beat them join them - which is why corruption that starts at the top filters down so it becomes a national characteristic. Corruption and feathering your nest becomes endemic - affecting the police and fostering petty or even violent crime. The feeling is everyone else is on the make so I will take what I want if I cannot earn it legitimately. I will avoid tax too.

FIFA is a fantastic example of how perverted things can become. How both individuals and large corporates and even countries can be self serving - turn a blind eye to corruption, or join in the corruption. Clearly the only way to win the world cup was to be corrupt - to pay back handers - to grease palms. It also shows once corruption gets a hold how difficult it is to eradicate.

Russia is corrupt. Putin is corrupt. The oligarchs are corrupt. How will people ever be able to turn them over now they control everything. There are so many countries in the world like them.

Corruption is never far away and we have to be so vigilant. Who would believe our banks would be capable and willing to rig markets, or our supermarkets and energy companies capable of entering price fixing cartels, or our police entering into cover ups or our hospitals manipulating statistics.

I am not the biggest fan of the BBC but investigative journalism is clearly crucial - absolutely vital. Our free press whatever their political motives is something we must always protect and cherish - it is the only way to secure a free society - it defines it.

Thank goodness for magazines like Private Eye - their "Rotten Boroughs" section has done so much over the years to expose fraud in local government - particularly councillors taking back handers to look favourably on planning applications. Social media is also helping and we now have the "whistleblower" act and "duty of candour" enshrined in our law.

The UK is a beacon of hope for so many people who have to live with the wicked effects of endemic corruption. We should be proud of that - although we should have stood up to Blatter much earlier!

Brazil is an example of how it can go all wrong for a country. The current President Dilma Rouseff was formerly in charge of Petrobras - the state owned oil giant. While she was in charge $60 billion dollars was lost in fraud. She claims no knowledge! There is no sign of the money. Brazil staged the world cup. No legacy - just debt - all the money that came into Brazil has disappeared. No one wants the forthcoming Olympics there other than the rich and powerful. Ordinary people see it as a vanity project that the country cannot afford and truly believe the ordinary citizen will be ripped off again. Brazil is going backwards. The feeling is we cannot overcome corruption at the top - so we will have to look after our own interests - whatever that takes - which invariably is lower level corruption, fraud, tax evasion and of course crime.

Corruption is a terrible cancer in a society. We must be aware of it - it is never far away - we must stand up to it - because once it gets a hold it is so difficult to eradicate. Ask Italians about the Mafia!