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How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't

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If the Houses can’t agree, the bill dies but generally the House of Commons wins; there are limits to the House of Lords’ powers. Interestingly his fundamental, but by no means his only, solution is proportional representation at general elections and indeed he makes a sensible case for this. This book dives deep behind the scenes of the political system in the UK and discovers how it actually works. As for the Treasury, it seems to have stopped reading at the bit about payment by results and simply waved the whole thing through. Their recommendations are assisted by outside experts and members gain expertise which they contribute to debates.

Electronic voting should be introduced to allow the report stage more time for debate, reducing the power of the whips and increasing the potential for rebellion against government edicts. This is a very detailed survey of the weaknesses and failures of the Westminster parliamentary system written by an experienced political journalist who worked in Westminster for several years.

Ian’s narration style is easy to listen to and, since it is his own material he is reading and he knows it inside out, I felt his narration made it very easy for the listener to follow with the emphasis in all the right places. Ian Dunt is a British political journalist, broadcaster and the author of books including How To Be A Liberal and How Westminster Works…and Why It Doesn’t. The third chapter describes how, especially since the 1980s, PMs have increased control over their parties and government institutions. To control the power of No 10 requires a new department with more staff including expert specialist units operating like the Strategy Unit and others in New Labour’s second term, planning long-term. If no one party has absolute power then all parties need to co-operate with each other, and that makes for better government.

I would not share ID's political views, far from it, but he has not really demonstrated the sort of content one will find in his twitter account.Governments can ignore their reports, but some are accepted, including the ban on smoking in public places, introduced in England in 2007.

Cleverly, the author approaches the political system layer by layer, starting with how citizens vote for candidates to be selected and how they vote them into Westminster once they have been selected. You may also find you change your mind about certain aspects of government with your new understanding.This is presumably because those interviewees are still at work in a system about which it is too risky to speak thoughtfully and honestly. Ministers should go before a Select Committee in their field at least every 2 years to account for their actions. To be fair the author is not too scathing about the backbenchers and praises their hard work and diligence; his criticism is mainly reserved for the "career politician" and their outstanding level of incompetence and their inability to understand ordinary people. The Treasury blames politicians for refusing to discuss tax policy rationally, but Dunt asks whether it has tried hard enough to do so. With typical incision, wit and flair, Ian Dunt masterfully deconstructs and skewers our corrosive political culture.

Sir Michael Caine knows a thing or two about gangs: whether that’s joining one as a kid, or playing them in movies for over 50 years.

Dunt emphasizes how the absence of long-term strategy is another weakness of the Westminster system: first-past-the-post does not encourage continuity and consensus in policy between governments of different parties. Boris Johnson told Parliament there was no military path to victory for the Taliban about a month after the French had started evacuating their people. First, there is Chris Grayling’s 2013 privatisation of the parole service purely in the interests of his own political advancement. He argues that for much of the twentieth century the press was more independent and critical of government because it was funded by advertising.

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