UK scandal shows need for gov’t transparency

• Source: Global Times
• [00:46 June 12 2009]
• Comments

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently reshuffled his cabinet in an effort to restore the battered credibility of the ruling Labour Party after the “expenses scandal” tainted UK Members of Parliament (MPs).

Britain has always been proud of its parliamentary system, which boasts a reputation for being the “Mother of Parliaments.” The expenses scandal exposed by the British media, however, draws attention to the flaws of this system.

The Daily Telegraph first revealed the story on May 7. Reportedly there’s an internal government dossier which contains the claims receipts of all 646 members of the UK House of Commons for the last four years. The newspaper ran a series called “The Expenses Files” and has revealed 300 MPs’ receipts, showing how they spent public money on everything from food and drink to toilet seats, tennis court repairs and moat cleaning. Around 27 MPs and cabinet members have resigned.

The scandal brought to light the expense system of the parliament. MPs enjoy up to 24,000 pounds ($39,495) a year in second home allowances, according to regulations. MPs usually own two houses, one in their constituencies and one in London. The allowance is intended to make it more convenient for them to work in London.

However, some MPs took advantage of the system and claimed in allowances all kinds of expenses, from hi-fis to pet food, from home mortgages to maintenance of their old homes, the British media reported.

What we can learn from this scandal is that the key to openness lies in the details. Corruption dies hard and we can only reduce it by strictly overseeing the details of civil servants’ work and life.

Sweden is known to be one of the best countries in preventing corruptions. I once asked an official from a counter-bribery agency why there are few corruption or bribery cases in Sweden. He said it’s because they have a system to ensure the disclosure of details. When everything is out in the open, corruption, bribery or embezzlement is naturally less likely to happen.

In Sweden, the government and public organizations have made all written documents — such as official correspondence and financial reports — open to the public and media, so long as they do not involve national security. Citizens are entitled to check the financial, property and tax status of any executive or any official, including Sweden’s king and his relatives.

Disclosure of details can be as effective as legislation. It also saves society from having to rely on complicated law-enforcement procedures. If the British parliament had made the expenses system open to the public from the outset, and the public could have checked the MPs’ expenses at anytime, the expenses scandal probably could have been avoided.
Of course, no system is perfect. But the more open the operation of power, the less corruption there will be, and the more the government and public will trust each other. This will increase fairness and justice.

The author is a senior editor of People’s Daily. This article was translated by Xuyang Jingjing