Greasy Wheels

The Minister for Beer, Skittles and Justice is trying to water down the Bribery Act, which New New Labour passed on its way out as a mean little gesture towards its hated emulators. Britain had promised to bring its legislation into line with much of Europe and the US thirteen years before, but the Reverend Tony of Ecclestone and Wardle was off on a journey and hence somewhat preoccupied. The Minister for Beer, Skittles and Justice has apparently decided that companies which trade on the London stock market are not necessarily carrying on business in the UK, and that therefore companies which have fled Britain's harsh trading environment for places with less regulation and bigger corporate bonuses should be exempt from the law. This could lead to corrupt foreign companies being favoured over law-abiding British companies; or, worse yet, it could lead to people like Rupert Murdoch or the Russian mafia being able to buy legislation in Parliament as though they were Lord Ashcroft or Rupert Murdoch.