Honesty is the only policy needed

I HAVE written before on the subject of power and the corrupting tendencies of power. It was a highlighted subject in the BBC series Line of Duty and humorously laughed at in Yes, Minister.

Yet in reality corruption is almost a national pastime, from the smallest little, almost harmless, act to studied calculated planned corruption... a favour here and there, a blind eye, a nod and a wink, and ‘you scratch my back and I will...’ and if it’s cash in hand for the job it’s no VAT and no business of HMRC.

The corruption is the B&B that preferred – even insisted – on cash only, no cheque or CC. The doctor, don, lawyer or businessman who pulled a few friendly strings and got their child into medical school, or a place in Oxford or Cambridge (“my old college”) via who they know rather than what the child knew.