Freezing orders, marching orders and good news: reflections on Anti-Corruption Week 2024
By Stevie Wolfe
Fittingly for such a biting cold morning, we’re gazing at a frozen asset. It’s global Anti-Corruption Day on the streets of Kensington and the grand gated property we’re huddled outside is said to belong to the sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Admittedly there’s some confusion over whether it’s this particular minor palace or the one next door – therein lies one of the occupational hazards of a walking tour of opaquely owned property linked to kleptocracy. (Another is that, for the third time in as many mansions, we’re being told in no uncertain terms by a security guard to go and freeze somewhere else.)
By the time we get back across town to the office, the UK Government has made a very welcome announcement in its new campaign against dirty money. Happy Anti-Corruption Day…
Joe Powell, the new MP for Kensington and Bayswater, and Chair of the APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax, is leading this small tour of properties linked to kleptocracy in Russia, Azerbaijan and Bangladesh when we start to hear rumours that an announcement is due. Sure enough, the Government makes its move and we’re welcoming a new Anti-Corruption Champion, more anti-corruption sanctions, and a solid financial boost for law enforcement.
Situation vacant
The Anti-Corruption Champion is a post that sat vacant for a frankly bizarrely long period of time. A potted history:
John Penrose MP resigned in protest at the then-very-current Partygate scandal all the way back in June 2022.
For reasons unknown, the role remained vacant through three Prime Ministers, for over two years.
We asked nicely on the first anniversary in June 2023.
Parliament was told the government would “be filling that vacancy very shortly”.
Even John Penrose himself wrote a letter suggesting his own government ought to replace him.
A year later, in the middle of the General Election campaign, and we hit the second anniversary of the UK having no Champion.
Shortly after the General Election, with the next government decided, we asked nicely again.
The new Government has now appointed its Champion. And not just anyone, either, but the seasoned anti-corruption campaigner Baroness Margaret Hodge.
“A tireless campaigner”
Members of our coalition have welcomed the prospect of working with Lady Hodge again. Before retiring as an MP at the General Election, she was Chair of the APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax and, before that, was an assertive chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
Transparency International UK’s Director of Policy Duncan Hames described Lady Hodge as “A tireless campaigner against corruption and advocate for reforms to restore integrity in politics… (she is) uniquely positioned to drive forward the Government’s ambition to make the UK the anti-corruption capital of the world.”
Executive Director of Spotlight on Corruption Dr Sue Hawley added that it’s “brilliant to see a heavy-hitting campaigner like Baroness Hodge appointed as Anti-Corruption Champion.”
While her successor as Chair of the APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax Joe Powell MP said: “Oligarchs, kleptocrats, and those exploiting tax havens will (now) sleep less easily.”
Margaret Hodge will help develop a new Anti-Corruption Strategy; act as a Government entry point on anti-corruption issues; and engage internationally to help drive progress on UK priorities. We’re confident she’ll join up anti-corruption initiatives across government and, just in case she’s looking for any policy inspiration, naturally we have recommendations across illicit finance, political integrity, public procurement, sanctions and climate transition.
“A potential game-changer”
Next up, the government pledged to invest a further £36 million over five years in the National Crime Agency’s International Corruption Unit. A significant sum for a law enforcement body recently flagged by Spotlight on Corruption as being “on its knees.”
Dr Hawley welcomed the move, saying it’s “very encouraging indeed to see a new focus by the government on beefing up anti-corruption enforcement.”
She added that the new money is “a potential game-changer. It is essential that the Home Office now gets on with tackling the NCA’s acute recruitment and retention challenges so that the ICU can build up and keep specialist expertise.”
Ramping up sanctions
The government also continued its recent move towards implementing more anti-corruption sanctions, with three new designations of people implicated in the “Gold Mafia”. This, too, is a welcome move.
We’ve now seen 11 anti-corruption sanctions designations within the last three weeks. There have only been 52 sanctions in this category in total since April 2021, so we’re seeing a major uptick, and a real statement of intent here.
“No more turning a blind eye”
Finally, to round off a very-busy-indeed Anti-Corruption Day Week, Security Minister Dan Jarvis announced yesterday that the Home Office and City of London Police have established a new Domestic Corruption Unit.
According to the government, the new unit will enhance intelligence, lead proactive investigations and work to join up the anti-corruption landscape.
Spotlight on Corruption’s Dr Sue Hawley said this development “couldn’t be more important”, describing it as “an incredibly important and welcome tipping point”. Duncan Hames of Transparency International UK also welcomed the announcement, pointing out that “corruption is not just a phenomenon elsewhere, it is happening right here at home, but not enough is understood about the nature and scale of the problem.”
Best of all, the Foreign Secretary has made clear that this week’s announcements are “only the start” of a major new campaign.
We’re all very excited to see what follows.
More frozen assets for the next freezing walking tour, perhaps.