UK and USA TI CPI Rankings Fall – UK gets Warning

January 2019 saw the UK’s Transparency International (TI), Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score fall from 8th place to 11th   this being the UK’s lowest score since it hosted the global Anti-Corruption Summit in 2016. This fall in ratings does need to be balanced however against the fact that globally 65 countries ratings fell and one of the biggest falls was the USA who fell from 16th in 2017 to its current 22nd place.    

Robert Barrington, Executive Director at Transparency International UK, said: 
“A number of themes from this year’s index will serve as an important warning to the UK against complacency in tackling corruption, not least with the prospect of post-Brexit pressure to lower standards. Scandals in this past year such as an MP being found guilty of taking undeclared holidays paid for by a foreign state, as well as serious questions over the provenance of money used in the EU referendum, should send an early warning signal to the government – but we are not sure they are listening.” 

“The UK has in the past been rightly proud of the improvement in its CPI score, but fighting corruption involves constant vigilance and not just one-off initiatives. The substantial fall in score of the US also demonstrates what can go wrong and how quickly when governments in mature democracies become complacent over corruption.”