Britain is the most corrupt country in the world, according to Italian journalist Roberto Saviano, who dedicated 10 years of his life exposing the criminal practices of the Italian Mafia. Saviano, 36, who authored the best-selling books ‘Gomorrah’ and ‘ZeroZeroZero’ made the comments during a speech to an audience at Hay-on-Wye.

‘If you asked what is the most corrupt place on earth you might tell me well it’s Afghanistan, maybe Greece, Nigeria, the South of Italy and I will tell you it’s the UK’, he told the audience. Saviano has been under police protection since 2006, after revealing secrets of the Camorra, a powerful Neapolitan branch of the Italian mafia. ‘It’s not the bureaucracy, it’s not the police, it’s not the politics but what is corrupt is the financial capital’, said Saviano.

He said 90% of the owners of capital in London had their headquarters offshore. ‘Jersey and the Cayman’s are the access gates to criminal capital in Europe and the UK is the country that allows it’, he said