Britain’s Corrupt Elite: How They’re Stealing Our Country and Getting Away With It

Britain is drowning in corruption. Not the petty kind, easily dismissed as a few bad apples, but a systemic rot, meticulously crafted by politicians and corporations, working hand in glove as accomplices. And it’s killing our democracy.

The Exploiters: Politicians and Corporations in Lockstep

Let’s start with the obvious: the Conservative Party’s decade-long reign has turned political corruption into an art form. COVID-19 provided a particularly grotesque window into this world. Billions of pounds in no-bid contracts were handed to companies with political connections, delivering unusable PPE while frontline workers died without proper protection. A National Audit Office report found that suppliers with political connections were ten times more likely to be awarded contracts. Investigations by openDemocracy and The Good Law Project have further exposed the extent of cronyism in the procurement process, revealing, for example, how a company linked to a Conservative peer won a £103 million contract despite having no prior experience in producing PPE. This wasn’t “government inefficiency”—it was looting in broad daylight.

The Water Industry: A Case Study in Organised Theft

Then there’s the water industry, a festering symbol of Britain’s failed experiment with privatisation. Since Thatcher sold off our water systems in 1989, companies like Thames Water and Southern Water have raked in billions in profits while pumping raw sewage into our rivers and seas. In 2022 alone, water companies dumped raw sewage into rivers and seas over 300,000 times, according to the Environment Agency. Their fines for this ecological vandalism? Pocket change. Southern Water, for example, was fined a record £90 million in 2021 for deliberately dumping billions of litres of raw sewage, but this pales in comparison to the £2.2 billion they paid in dividends between 2013 and 2022. Their CEOs? Rewarded with multimillion-pound bonuses. Thames Water’s former CEO received a £2 million salary package in 2021. And Ofwat, the regulator supposedly tasked with holding them to account, does little more than wag a finger.

Ofwat’s complicity isn’t an accident; it’s structural. Regulatory agencies have been captured by the very industries they’re meant to oversee. This is a phenomenon known as “regulatory capture,” where agencies become dominated by the interests of the industries they regulate rather than serving the public interest. A study by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations found that Ofwat’s close relationship with the water industry has led to a “culture of accommodation” where the regulator is reluctant to challenge companies’ decisions. Instead of protecting the public, they protect profits. Politicians, many with ties to these corporations, do nothing to change this. For example, a 2023 investigation by openDemocracy revealed that nine water company bosses had previously worked for Ofwat or other government departments, raising concerns about the “revolving door” between the regulator and the industry. Why would they? The system works perfectly—for them.

Public Outrage Is Managed, Not Heard

Every time the public catches on, we’re given distractions. Public inquiries are launched with great fanfare, only to drag on for years, producing reports that politicians promptly ignore. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has exposed horrifying negligence by corporations and regulators, revealing that the cladding used on the tower was known to be flammable and that regulations were inadequately enforced, yet no one in power has faced meaningful consequences. The COVID Inquiry? A sop to quiet the outrage, unlikely to deliver justice.

Meanwhile, the media—owned by the same corporate interests that benefit from this system—downplays the severity of the crises. Sewage spills are framed as “challenges,” not crimes. Corruption scandals are softened into “mistakes.” The truth is buried beneath a mountain of spin, and the public’s anger is defused by promises of reform that never come.

A Broken System Policed by Vested Interests

This two-tier system doesn’t just fail to hold the powerful accountable—it actively punishes those who challenge it. Whistleblowers are silenced. Protesters are met with draconian policing, as seen in the new Public Order Act that criminalises peaceful dissent. Meanwhile, corporations avoid taxes and fines while ordinary citizens face rising bills, stagnant wages, and an unaffordable cost of living.

The judiciary, supposedly independent, is being systematically neutered. Conservative governments have curtailed judicial review and appointed judges aligned with their ideological agenda. A report by the Institute for Government warned that government attacks on the judiciary and proposed reforms to judicial review could undermine the rule of law. Even when courts rule against them, they use public money to appeal, dragging out cases until opposition collapses under the weight of legal fees.

Enough is Enough: Reclaiming Our Future

The truth is simple: the system is working exactly as it’s designed to. It exists to protect the powerful at the expense of everyone else. While some might argue that privatisation has led to increased efficiency and investment, the evidence from the water industry suggests otherwise. Since privatisation, investment in infrastructure has lagged, while prices have risen significantly. A 2017 report by the University of Greenwich found that water bills in England and Wales increased by 40% above inflation since privatisation. Moreover, while proponents of the profit motive argue that it drives innovation, essential services like water require a long-term perspective and a commitment to the public good that may not always align with short-term profit maximisation. It is important to acknowledge that privatisation is a complex issue with varying outcomes depending on the specific context and regulatory framework. However, the case of the water industry highlights the dangers of inadequate regulation and the need for greater accountability. The problems with the water industry are not solely due to privatisation but also to inadequate regulation and a lack of accountability. There are also alternative models for delivering public services that should be considered, such as public-public partnerships or municipal ownership.

But this is not inevitable. It’s a choice—a choice we can undo. We need nothing less than a radical transformation of how this country is governed. Here’s where we start:

• Re-nationalise the Water Industry: Bring water back into public ownership. End the profit motive in vital services and reinvest in infrastructure to prevent ecological disaster.
• End Corporate Capture: Strengthen regulators, enforce anti-corruption laws, and ban the revolving door between politics and big business. This could involve increasing the independence, funding, and enforcement powers of regulatory agencies, such as giving them the power to impose larger fines and prosecute corporate wrongdoing. To address the “revolving door,” we could implement longer cooling-off periods before former government officials can work in industries they regulated, and stricter conflict of interest rules for current officials.
• Hold Power to Account: Expand whistleblower protections, restore judicial independence, and empower citizens to bring legal action against corporations and the state. This could involve creating citizen oversight boards to monitor regulatory agencies and provide input into decision-making, as well as establishing mechanisms for participatory budgeting for infrastructure projects.
• Reclaim Democracy: Ban political donations from corporations and the super-rich. Reform campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of corporate money in politics, such as stricter limits on donations or exploring the possibility of public financing of elections. Ensure media ownership is diverse and free from corporate influence.
• Transparency Measures: Require companies to disclose more information about their environmental and social performance, including their lobbying activities, political donations, and tax payments.

Act Now—or Lose Everything

This fight isn’t just about policy. It’s about survival. The climate crisis is accelerating, inequality is deepening, and our public institutions are being hollowed out. Every day we delay, the powerful entrench their position further.

But history tells us they are not invincible. From the suffragettes to the miners’ strikes, change has always come from people like us—angry, organised, and unrelenting.

So join the protests. Write to your MP. Support organisations fighting for justice, such as the Good Law Project, which uses the law to hold the government to account, or Surfers Against Sewage, which campaigns for cleaner oceans and waterways. Demand re-nationalisation. Refuse to accept the lie that “this is just how things are.”

This is our country. It belongs to us, not to the politicians and corporations who treat it as their playground. Together, we can take it back.