Corruption in politics - is it ever going to stop?
Discussion
Must admit that the allegations of corruption in Liverpool council had gone under my radar.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c14x5m51y62o.a...
It seems lately that councils and government are institutionally corrupt.
I used to think that the UK was a shining example, but we appear to be sinking into the cess pit.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c14x5m51y62o.a...
It seems lately that councils and government are institutionally corrupt.
I used to think that the UK was a shining example, but we appear to be sinking into the cess pit.
There's always some amount of back-scratching, corruption, looking after your mates at all levels of government.
From personal experience in the UK and overseas I've known:
1) A large city councillor awarding street cleaning contracts to a friend they went to school with, despite not being the cheapest or the best.
2) A local government organisation writing an equipment specification with the help of a supplier, so that no one else could be fully compliant, thus ensuring the preferred supplier got the work.
3) Someone within a government organisation who had a friend that owned an equipment manufacturer. He'd tell his friend everyone else's tender price so his friend could be slightly cheaper.
4) A supplier being told to submit an alternative proposal because that's what the government organisation really wanted but couldn't put in the tender specification. The supplier was awarded the job because of their "innovative solution" (which happened to be what the government staff wanted)
From personal experience in the UK and overseas I've known:
1) A large city councillor awarding street cleaning contracts to a friend they went to school with, despite not being the cheapest or the best.
2) A local government organisation writing an equipment specification with the help of a supplier, so that no one else could be fully compliant, thus ensuring the preferred supplier got the work.
3) Someone within a government organisation who had a friend that owned an equipment manufacturer. He'd tell his friend everyone else's tender price so his friend could be slightly cheaper.
4) A supplier being told to submit an alternative proposal because that's what the government organisation really wanted but couldn't put in the tender specification. The supplier was awarded the job because of their "innovative solution" (which happened to be what the government staff wanted)
Bob Walpole, the first prime minister to be called prime minister (citation required), was charged with corruption and spent months in the Tower, only to be found NG. Whether there was outright corruption or not is the subject of some argument, although he built Houghton Hall with money earned by insider dealing (they say) on the South Sea Bubble, which ruined so many others, and affected the country. It is accepted there was graft, with jobs for the boys, but this was felt normal at the time, and probably was. He manipulated parliament, with everyone saying he was very clever to do it, and his sexual habits were notorious and a little concerning.
He spent 20 years, one way or the other, as PM. He came out a very rich man.
He's regarded as the most corrupt PM in UK history, but is lauded as one of our best PMs. Go figure.
He spent 20 years, one way or the other, as PM. He came out a very rich man.
He's regarded as the most corrupt PM in UK history, but is lauded as one of our best PMs. Go figure.
Given that most Politicians start out small, as local councillors who don't receive a salary but get an 'allowance', it either requires you to be well off in the first place, or be highly susceptible to 'other sources' of income. And when you're being offered a few K here and there and the council/local government won't be any the wiser, it's no wonder it's so rife.
Then you have large companies and rich people giving political parties donations. They always want their pound of flesh. it's rampant and is unlikely to ever be stopped unless money becomes worthless and everyone is treated equally.
Then you have large companies and rich people giving political parties donations. They always want their pound of flesh. it's rampant and is unlikely to ever be stopped unless money becomes worthless and everyone is treated equally.
Compared to what's going on in plain sight in the US that all seems quite amateurish.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/16/tr...
That said, the UK has historically been quite good at legalising various forms of corruption while pretending it's setting some sort of international standard, recipients of public contracts making donations to political parties being one particularly egregious example. Over the last few decades money has got both more concentrated in fewer hands and also better at buying power and influence.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/16/tr...
That said, the UK has historically been quite good at legalising various forms of corruption while pretending it's setting some sort of international standard, recipients of public contracts making donations to political parties being one particularly egregious example. Over the last few decades money has got both more concentrated in fewer hands and also better at buying power and influence.
Slow.Patrol said:
It seems lately that councils and government are institutionally corrupt.
I used to think that the UK was a shining example, but we appear to be sinking into the cess pit.
NopeI used to think that the UK was a shining example, but we appear to be sinking into the cess pit.
What you (and others posters with personal anecdotes) are describing is specific, individual failures in obvious breach of the law.
This is not institutional to me. It is a handful of weak spots getting through a well defined governance system.
Councils procure £billions of services each year.
But of course people want to cut public sector "red tape" and cull "wasteful" layers of management.
The risk of procurement challenge is high on my organisation's risk register, and we have a lot of training and governance in place to make sure it's done properly.
Though it is like herding cats. Luckily I don't deal with that area much anymore.
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