Meg Hillier
Main Page: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)(9 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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Matthew Hancock
I pay tribute to the work of the BIS Committee, particularly that recommendation. My hon. Friend has made an eloquent criticism of the previous Government, but I think today is a day to bring all sides together.
Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
Many Nigerians I meet are very positive about the steps the UK is taking to tackle corruption. The James Ibori conviction was hailed both by the diaspora and by many in Nigeria. Will the Minister explain how the plan will help more such cases come to court and tackle corruption with this important partner?
Matthew Hancock
The first and most important element of the plan that will have an impact is that it will bring together the domestic resources used to tackle such issues—instead of having them splintered among different agencies and departments—and its transparency measures will make sure that we can better tackle corruption through transparency and also disincentivise it, because people will know that it will be harder to hide. I hope that those two things will help reduce corruption. If we ever manage to stamp out corruption as a society, that would be great, but this is about reducing it as much as possible.