Now Rachel Reeves, the Labour Party’s chancellor of the exchequer in waiting, wants some of the money back and she has said that she will appoint a covid corruption commissioner to recover it.3The case for acting is strong. It will inherit the legacy of over a decade of underinvestment, with infrastructure, in the case of schools and hospitals, literally crumbling. Reeves’ proposal sends a signal that fraud and corruption will not be ignored. The proposed commissioner may struggle to recover much of the money that was wasted but they can at least challenge the complacency that has long characterised the UK’s response to corruption. Footnotes Competing interest: MM is joint lead of an upcoming Lancet Commission on corruption in the health sector funded by WHO.

Source: The Guardian October 25, 2023 07:42 UTC