It was an engrossing read explaining the workings of a system that is so badly beaten up that it makes you wonder how we manage to collect tax, get kids educated, provide medical care, support business or build motorways to mention just a few state responsibilities. So this is one where my rating for the book doesn’t necessarily reflect my enjoyment for it. Usually I’d have dropped a star for that but I truly think everyone should read this. The book covers the whole political system in the UK and why basically we’re totally f***ked at being able to get anything done long term. It’s easy to read it as a criticism to the current government (of which I am not a fan) but the book is actually neutral in covering the system itself and why no party really has a chance atm. (But it doesn’t help that some total knob heads are in charge!). But it's not all doom and gloom because Ian Dunt offers us some solutions - they're not, as he readily admits, panaceas but they're not bad places to start. At the end of this book, author Ian Dunt is asked why he wrote it. And he sums it up in one sentence, really. 'I wanted people to know how politics works in this country'.

A fascinating chapter is on the drafting of legislation - which is physically done mainly by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel in cooperation with the legislative offices at departments. While that does not provide enough scrutiny to improve legislation, it is nevertheless an intriguing process. The rest of the book is very methodical. First-past-the-post electoral system created strong majorities and discourages consensus. Parties select MPs (each in their own way, Lib Dems being the most sensible and Labour failing to the same sectarian bloodbath as they always do) not to look for the potentially best ministers or legislators, but for effective campaigners. Both whips and the experience of the House of Commons for the new members are set up so that they have basically no idea what is happening, what they are voting on or how they could potentially scrutinise the legislation. Occasionally, you read a book you find informative, sometimes you think this is well written, now and then you relate to its contents, and you discover one that disturbs you to the core. This gets five stars because to me it encompasses all those outcomes.Anyone sitting down to watch the news will get the sense that something has gone terribly wrong. We have prime ministers who detonate the economy, secretaries of state who are intellectually incapable of doing the job and MPs who seem temperamentally unsuited to the role. Expertise is denigrated. Lies are rewarded. And deep-seated, long-lasting national problems go permanently unresolved. Most of us have a sense that the system doesn't work, but we struggle to articulate exactly why. Our political and financial system is cloaked in secrecy, archaic terminology, ancient custom and impenetrable technical jargon. Lifting the lid on British politics, How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't exposes every aspect of the system in a way that can be understood and challenged, from the heights of Downing Street to the depths of the nation's newsrooms, from the hallways of the civil service to the green benches of the Commons. This book bravely charges into some complex procedures and rules and, in the circumstances, does an admirable job of explaining how they all link into the wider problems of the system of governance. Put simply, and addiction to traditionalism for the sake of it and complacency has bred a system that is Executive dominated with the pretence of genuine parliamentary democracy attached. The House of Lords is (bizarrely) one of the only places in parliament that actually produces any realgenuine scutiny and ovversight into bills that are put through parliament. The House of Commons is all a pretty hollow performance: most MPs don't even know how to read, let alone produce, legislation. And they're not trained on it either! There's a lot here that I sort of suspected was wrong - the first-past-the-post electoral system, ministers jumping from one department to another.

This book is simply the best explanation I have ever read on the workings and stallings of British Government. Eminently readable and held a ground of neutrality throughout. Here and there Dunt finds reason to be cautiously cheerful. The House of Lords has shown remarkable independence, a real ability to affect the outcome of legislation by managing its own timetable and contributing much-needed expertise (the cross-bench system, he argues, works particularly well). And select committees turn out to offer a model of how things should be done – listening to the evidence and privileging cooperation and compromise over crude partisanship. This is an in-depth, unpartisan, searing expose of how the British political system works - or, rather, how it barely limps along in a dysfunctional mess. It dismantles a lot of the myth and deliberate obfuscation around the different parts of the political machine and how they're set up in nice, plain English so it's easy to understand (and then go "what? That's really how it works?") This is a fascinating and deeply unsettling read - and the fact that it is unsettling should make it a necessary read for everyone in the UK.the House of Lords is a corrupt and antiquated relic of a bygone age. However, due to the corrupt and autocratic nature of the elective dictatorship, it actually functions as a restraint on power. It's cap, it's just that the governing party is much, much worse. In a series of deeply informed and carefully worked out examples, Ian Dunt takes us through the Westminster labyrinth to reveal an omnishambles. It is not – and he is clear here – because the people involved are corrupt or lazy. It is because the system is not fit for purpose. MPs are impossibly burdened by having to do two jobs simultaneously, first as local representatives and then as national politicians. Most of their constituency work is stuff that should be done by councils, were these not also failing. Cabinet ministers often appear poorly briefed, but they may have up to 20 meetings a day and can’t always start on their red boxes until the rest of us have already gone to bed. But what Ian Dunt does is break it down into chunks (electoral system, how MPs work, how ministers work, how law is created, etc), highlighting just how f**ked up each element of our 'democracy' truly is!! I received an ARC from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.

Ian Dunt is a political journalist. I mention this because he emphasises in the book the need for sector expertise in government and he certainly has expertise when it comes to the structure of our political system. He forensically dissects every aspect of the system and finds it riven with serious problems but, if you live in the UK, you already know that. It is all supported by a lot of research. Pretty much every point is underscored by at least one quote from someone within the political system (from all levels, parties, and departments.) This not only gives confidence that what's being said is correct, but also underscores the need for change. that the system is actually salvageable for now, if steps are taken to slow things down, restore power to the commons, reintroduce scrutiny and accountability, but probably won't actually be salvaged because, cath 22, MPs are too busy and kept distracted by relentless and numbing workloads on the one hand, while being bullied into conformity by the Party high command on the other.The book advances from there to talk about government institutions from ministries, the civil service and through those that deal with the journey of a bill which eventually becomes legislation. I was particularly impressed with the choice by the author to choose the latter route, since it seemed to be an ideal way to highlight the main problems with the system. Dunt dissects the various components of the Westminster system, from the role of Parliament and the executive to the complex web of party politics. His attention to detail ensures that readers gain a thorough understanding of the intricate mechanisms that shape the British democratic process. Ian Dunt is a self-declared “Liberal Extremist” columnist who contributes to the I Newspaper in addition to the “Oh God What Now?” (formerly Remaniacs) podcast.

Without recounting the detail of almost every single chapter, here are the big headlines of things I've learnt (to my astonishment): Fabulously eye-opening, insightful and interesting. I feel like I've learnt tons from this. I've talked about this with family, friends, colleagues...it's one of those books. (And also there is something very oddly attractive about people who can spin all the political and legalistic detail and somehow create solutions no one else can see. I just eat that shit up.) that the drafting of new laws to replace the outdated ones after the bodged decision to leave the EU provided an opportunity for the government to give itself legal blank cheques and potentially unlimited powers without any scrutiny or or due process. The problem is not that the politicians are corrupt or lazy; it's that the system is simply not fit for purposeThis is an interesting and well put together account of how the UK's parliamentary system works and an eye-opening account of its many flaws. I follow Ian Dunt on social media and now he has strong opinions but if anyone is worried that his personal feelings on the subject will be pushed in this book or make the book partisan, they need not worry. The book is presented in a straight forward, very evidence-led way with input from inside political figures from across the political spectrum. It does not laud one party and denigrate another, instead it points out the flaws that exist in the system, no matter who is in Government, and suggest some ways in which things could be improved for the benefit of all of us voters who, ate the moment, increasingly feel powerless, unrepresented and frustrated. The book is extremely approachable for everyone, you do not have to be especially politically savvy to understand what he is saying. Nor is it dry and dull, but lively and entertaining, whilst being absolutely rage-inducing at the same time (or maybe that last part is just me!) First, there is Chris Grayling’s 2013 privatisation of the parole service purely in the interests of his own political advancement. Experts queued up to explain that his reforms wouldn’t work but Grayling just didn’t care. From his perspective, he needed to implement a policy change swiftly, showing his own right-wing credentials, to position himself for a promotion in the next reshuffle. The consequence of Grayling’s privatisation was a breakdown in the capacity of the probation service to keep tab on probationers, resulting in a spike in reoffending. Human misery on an epic scale for the sake of one unimpressive man’s ambition.