validiarim

joined 6 hours ago
[–] validiarim@lemmy.world -1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

France had a parliament member called Francois Fillon that opened a consulting firm.

Most of his consulting clients were rich businessmen.

An investigation found he was likely selling his votes and parliamentary infuence:

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https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2020/02/19/le-tres-cher-carnet-d-adresses-de-francois-fillon_6030024_823448.html

In 2017, Macron passed a political transparency law ("* Loi organique et loi ordinaire du 15 septembre 2017 pour la confiance dans la vie politique*).

It's now much harder for members of French Parliament to have second jobs. They can no longer create a consulting firm while in office. They can no longer sit on corporate boards. They also can't be lawyers or consultants for a bank, any publically traded company, any construction company, any real estate company, or any foreign-owned company. People who break these rules face jail :

https://www.vie-publique.fr/loi/20774-loi-confiance-dans-la-vie-politique-moralisation-de-la-vie-publique

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000035586121

(This law is actually the best law Macron passed)

British ethics rules are far more lax.

I mean, you have military companies sponsoring members of Parliament :

https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/controversial-mps-group-shuts-down-israel-appg-loopholes

 
[–] validiarim@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (3 children)

The Brits really need to wake the fuck up.

1. Why are foreigners legally allowed to give money to political parties ?

In many nations such as Canada, France or Australia, only citizens can give money to political parties. In Britain, a foreigner can wire money to political parties. It doesn't matter your citizenship. Just open a company in the UK and you can do that.

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https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-how-foreign-billionaires-funding-british-politics-musk-trump

2. Why are MPs allowed to work second jobs?

Several UK MPs currently work as "lawyers" or "consultants" for major corporations like Thames Water. How the fuck is this legal? They are lavishly paid for very vague work (wink wink). Basically, they give a heads up to executives about what the government intends to do.

Many European nations decided to ban MPs from having second jobs precisely for this reason.

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China and Russia don't need to be particularly clever to spy on the United Kingdom.

The Brits made it ridiculously easy.