BBC: Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has defended David Cameron after he was recorded calling Afghanistan and Nigeria “fantastically corrupt”, saying the PM was “merely stating a fact”.
He said the countries’ leaders acknowledged a corruption problem.
The PM was recorded in conversation with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said he was “shocked” and a senior Afghan official said the characterisation was “unfair”.
Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari
Mr Buhari’s spokesman initially responded to the story by saying Nigeria’s government was deeply “shocked and embarrassed” by Mr Cameron’s comments.
But the Nigerian president, who came to power last year on a promise to fight corruption, has said he will not be demanding an apology from the British prime minister.
Asked at an anti-corruption conference in London if Nigeria was “fantastically corrupt”, Mr Buhari replied: “Yes.”
In a speech, the Nigerian leader described corruption as a “hydra-headed monster” which threatened the security of countries and “does not differentiate between developed and developing countries”.
He said corruption in Nigeria was endemic and his government was committed to fighting it.
Archbishop defends Nigerian president
The UK government is hosting world and business leaders at the summit in London, aiming to “galvanise a global response to tackle corruption”.
Mr Cameron had been speaking at an event to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday about hosting this week’s anti-corruption summit in London
“We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain… Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world,” he was overheard saying.
After his comments, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby intervened to say: “But this particular president is not corrupt… he’s trying very hard,” before Speaker John Bercow said: “They are coming at their own expense, one assumes?”
‘A truthful gaffe’
James Landale, BBC diplomatic correspondent: On the face of it, it is perhaps one of the most undiplomatic things a prime minister could say – to describe two countries as fantastically corrupt just hours before their leaders visit Britain.
The prime minister’s remarks were outspoken and unguarded but they were not untrue. Both Afghanistan and Nigeria come high on lists of the world’s most corrupt nations.
And later in the conversation, the prime minister agreed with the Archbishop of Canterbury that President Buhari of Nigeria is not corrupt himself and is trying very hard to tackle the problem.
A Downing Street spokesman noted both men had written openly about the subject in a collection of essays being published this week.
So this was a truthful gaffe, another moment when the prime minister was caught on camera saying something ostensibly embarrassing.
Labour said Mr Cameron had egg on his face. But, as Downing Street acknowledged, the cameras were very close to the prime minister and his anti-corruption summit is now very firmly in the headlines.
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Speaking on a visit to Gibraltar, Mr Hammond said the leaders of both countries were determined to crack down on corruption.
He added: “The prime minister was merely stating a fact. These are both countries with serious corruption problems and the leaders of both those countries know they have those problems and are determined to deal with them.”
Mr Cameron was also defended by ex-London mayor Boris Johnson, who said people would “find it refreshing he was speaking his mind”.
In Transparency International’s 2015 corruption perception index, Afghanistan was ranked at 167, ahead of only Somalia and North Korea, Nigeria was at 136.
The Afghan embassy in London said tackling corruption was one of President Ghani’s top priorities and “bold” action had been taken.
“We have made important progress in fighting systematic capture in major national procurement contracts and are making progress on addressing institutional issues as well as issues related to impunity… Therefore calling Afghanistan in that way is unfair.”
Tax havens
No 10 said the presidents of Nigeria and Afghanistan had “acknowledged the scale of the corruption challenge they face in their countries”.
Speaking ahead of Thursday’s summit, Mr Cameron said: “For too long there has been a taboo about tackling this issue head-on.
“The summit will change that. Together we will push the fight against corruption to the top of the international agenda where it belongs.”
But Labour said a Tory government “hosting an anti-corruption summit is like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop”.
“The government is refusing to take meaningful action to close Britain’s constellation of tax havens, which together constitute the largest financial secrecy network in the world,” said shadow international development secretary Diane Abbott.
Transparency International said the UK’s record was mixed and concrete action was needed on tax evasion and secrecy in the wake of the Panama Papers disclosures, stopping tainted firms from bidding for public contracts and protecting whistleblowers who expose corruption.
Asked whether the PM knew his remarks to the Queen were being recorded, Downing Street said: “The cameras are very close to him, there are multiple cameras in the room.”
