The Labour Party in the United Kingdom and global anti-corruption group, Transparency International, on Tuesday criticised the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, for calling Nigeria and Afghanistan “fantastically corrupt” ahead of an anti-corruption summit which he is hosting in London on Thursday.
Labour accused the PM of having “egg on his face”, despite Downing Street downplaying the significance of the remarks.
It likened the episode to a previous occasion when Mr Cameron was caught by a TV microphone revealing how Queen Elizabeth “purred” with pleasure when he told her Scots had rejected independence.
“This is another gaffe from the PM – you’d hope he’d have learned his lesson when it comes to off the record comments and the Queen but sadly not,” MP Wes Streeting said.
“The fact that David Cameron has egg on his face shouldn’t deflect from the more serious issue: for all his talk about corruption he’s failing to act.
“If the PM really is serious about tackling corruption at the summit this week he needs to get his own house in order and make good on his promise to deliver public registers of beneficial ownership for the UK crown dependencies and overseas territories.”
Transparency International also accused Cameron of hypocrisy in his corruption remarks.
Managing Director, Cobus de Swardt, said the UK is “a big part of the world’s corruption problem.”
“There is no doubt that historically, Nigeria and Afghanistan have had very high levels of corruption, and that continues to this day.
“But the leaders of those countries have sent strong signals that they want things to change, and the London Anti-Corruption Summit creates an opportunity for all the countries present to sign up to a new era.
“This affects the UK as much as other countries: we should not forget that by providing a safe haven for corrupt assets, the UK and its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are a big part of the world’s corruption problem,” de Swardt said.
Booker-winning Nigerian author, Ben Okri, said he was “appalled and surprised” by Cameron’s comments, telling ITV News: “I think it sends a very wrong signal out to the world.”
Director of Policy at ActionAid, Alison Holder, said: “We desperately need action to stop tax havens fuelling tax dodging and corruption.
“Nigeria has signed up to new rules to publicly reveal who owns shell companies. David Cameron has a fantastic opportunity to demand the same transparency from British overseas tax havens at this Thursday’s anti-corruption summit.”
Transparency International ranks Afghanistan as 166th and Nigeria 136th out of 168 countries and territories in its Corruption Perceptions Index for 2015.
