The UK and US have sunk to new lows in a global index of corruption, amid a “worrying trend” of democratic institutions being eroded by political donations, cash for access and state targeting of campaigners and journalists.
Experts and businesspeople rated 182 countries based on their perception of corruption levels in the public sector to compile a league table that was bookended by Denmark at the top with the lowest levels of corruption and South Sudan at the bottom.
The Corruption Perceptions Index, organised by the campaign group Transparency International, identified an overall global deterioration, as 31 countries improved their score, while 50 declined.
In particular, the report identified backsliding in established democracies, warning that events during Donald Trump’s presidency and the revelations contained in the Epstein files could fuel further deterioration.
Why does not accepting a salary to be a political leader make someone spineless?
Cause and effect are reversed here. Spineless people do things regardless of payment.
Silly example, I see you're a spineless person in the playground. I walk up to you and demand your lunch. You, being spineless, give it to me, no payment necessary. Not taking payment isn't, in and of itself, a noble act.
Apply that to a position of leadership, apply that to politics. Apply that to his policies I listed. Do you now understand why I believe him being spineless to be a bad thing?
For example there's a big bully in the playground called Trump, Trump took something from Venezuela, what was Starmer's response? It was spineless is what it was.