The House of Lords Library defines corruption as follows: “Corruption can be defined as dishonest and illegal behaviour by people in positions of power.” We may think that corruption only happens in countries that don’t have a sophisticated democracy. However, in the same paragraph it says that“anti-corruption experts have pointed to a number of recent scandals which are leading to the perception that corruption in the UK is worsening.”

On the other side of the Atlantic, President Trump and his administration are accused of corruption on a massive scale. According to ethics lawyer and Professor, Kathleen Clark, “they are overwhelming the ability of ethics groups and institutions to respond.” Democrat Senator Chris Murphy says, “You pay Donald Trump money, he does favours for you. That’s old-fashioned corruption.”

Back in the UK the former minister in charge of tackling corruption, Tulip Siddiq, has allegedly acquired London properties thanks to her aunt, the ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister who is currently facing a corruption trial.

Boris Johnson was accused of illegally proroguing Parliament besides attending the now infamous lockdown parties, and receiving illegal donations for which he’s been fined.

The Angela Rayner debacle has been discussed in detail in the media but nobody seems to have asked why she was buying a luxury flat in Hove. As MP in Ashton-under-Lyne with a home there plus accommodation in London, she wasn’t just Deputy Prime Minister, she was responsible for housing, for helping people who don’t have a home to call their own. For me it’s not all about the stamp duty.

West Wales residents know that people who can afford second homes, can also afford proper legal advice. But let’s examine what’s going on in Wales. It came to my attention that some of our Senedd Members (MSs) could be accused of nepotism. Chris Haines, writing in the Cambrian News on 29 July, writes that, “25 per cent have employed family members, directly or indirectly, in the past and ten (16 per cent) currently do so.” This has been common practice since the establishment of the Senedd. The Nolan Principles state, people in public life “should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.” Haines continues, “the Senedd’s standards committee, which handles complaints against politicians, has suggested the names of family members be withheld from the public register of interests.”

That smells. However, even worse, half of the members on this committee have “family members employed by colleagues.” To top it, the press were excluded from the meetings, making the stink massive.

Those accused of such poor behaviour are both Labour and Plaid Cymru MSs. You pay your wife or husband to be your secretary. Unacceptable? Well then, you let your wife or husband be secretary for your party colleague. Besides the nepotism or cronyism, this same committee recommends how much Senedd members need to declare when they’ve received gifts. It used to be a trifling £350 but has now been lowered to a miserly £280. Gifts on top of their decent salaries, free tickets to concerts, sporting occasions, events many citizens simply dream of attending as they can’t afford the extortionate prices. Not that you’d really want to go, there’s bound to be a dreadful pong.

Fine lines exist between immoral payments, employing family members instead of impartial staff,buying a home where you clearly don’t live but claiming you do, receiving expensive gifts, and openly paying for support. Corruption is easy but we can’t allow it to become the norm. I hope that there’ll be a clean slate of MSs after next year’s elections, MSs who put their country before personal interest.