BY PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
THE UK has named former lawmaker Margaret Hodge as its new ‘Anti-Corruption Champion’ to help coordinate efforts between parliament, the private sector and civil society to clamp down on all forms of corruption.
Hodge was a lawmaker in the governing Labour Party who spent much of her 30-year political career campaigning against domestic and international corruption.
Hodge, formerly the MP for Barking and now a member of the House of Lords, has long advocated for transparency in tackling money laundering, particularly in British overseas territories. As chair of the public accounts committee (2010–2015) and later as co-chair of the all-party group on anti-corruption and responsible tax, she championed legal reforms requiring overseas territories to implement public registers of beneficial ownership.
“Public registers and the scrutiny they bring are the best antidote to the scourge of illicit finance,” Hodge wrote in a joint article with former minister Andrew Mitchell. She has criticized repeated delays in implementing such registers, which aim to expose money laundering and tax evasion.
During a joint visit to the National Crime Agency (NCA) with Hodge, Lammy announced up to £36 million in extended funding for the NCA’s International Corruption Unit (ICU) over five years. Since 2020, the ICU has frozen £441 million in assets linked to global corruption. Lammy described corruption as a threat to national security, enabling dictators, smugglers, and organized crime.
Hodge said she felt “privileged and delighted to be able to work as the government’s champion, combating corruption and the illicit finance that flows from it, both at home and abroad”.
“The time has now come to put an end to dither and delay. We must take determined and effective action and I look forward to playing my part in that work,” she added.
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