AFRICA CONFIDENTIAL

Britain used to enjoy a reputation for relative decency in matters of bribes and commissions, in comparison to European counterparts such as France, Germany and Italy. That has changed. Recently, the outgoing Minister for Africa and the United Nations, Mark Malloch Brown, said he had to delete lengthy references to the 'fight against corruption' from a speech in Mozambique in the wake of the Westminster members of parliament's expenses scandal, as British references to the need for public probity tended to elicit polite amusement from African audiences.