Depending on how you look at it, Britain is the 14th least corrupt nation and the United States the 18th (or the 166th and 162nd most corrupt if you turn the list of 180 countries compiled by German outfit Transparency International on its head)
Somalia is the most corrupt followed by Burma and Iraq while the good boys are Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand, good (mostly) white Anglo Saxon Protestants.
I’ve no idea how they work these things out (press cuttings probably) but Britain has fallen in the rankings, apparently because of Tony Blair’s decision to scrap the Serious Fraud Office’s inquiry into the £43bn deal to sell Tornado fighters and Hawk trainers to Saudi Arabia (I believe they use these when their falcons get tired).
This so-called Al Yamanah contract is with British arms manufacturer BAE Systems (sounds better than BAE Weapons) and seems to be a huge scam that allows serried ranks of middle men to line their pockets.
Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former PM Margaret Thatcher, has been linked with this juicy undertaking but this is as preposterous as suggesting he’s been involved in planning illegal coups in Africa, rather than being misled into supplying an air ambulance, as he’s stated on numerous occasions.
Blair called off the inquiry as he claimed national security (rather than bucketloads of cash) was at risk. The Saudis objected to it, presumably because it would have exposed the aforementioned middle men, and threatened to stop supplying Britain with intelligence about Al Quaida. This they should have in abundance as Osama bin Laden and many of his mates hail from there.
Politics is a dirty old game and it’s true that BAE Systems contributes many millions in tax and employs a lot of British workers.
But the decision to scrap the investigation was a poor show and this ’survey’ is a timely reminder of it.