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

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Dunt provides much valuable information about the extreme weaknesses of Westminster, which are not all widely known, and ideas for reform, but the book fails to express them with a clarity and resonance likely to arouse the popular response he seeks. Dunt notes that when the House of Commons was prevented from meeting in person by the COVID-19 lockdown rules, it met, and voted, on-line. As Dunt describes, Harold Wilson in his 1964–1970 government was anxious to improve government expertise to match and advance the technical and technological skills of the modern world, to assist his aim to develop the “white heat of technology” through his new Ministry of Technology, and to revive the flagging British economy.

Ian Dunt - Wikipedia Ian Dunt - Wikipedia

He is right that public agitation has achieved change, including laws against race and sex discrimination.The Commons, as Clegg reflects and Dunt details, falls some way short of its famous moniker as the mother of all parliaments. This combined with a slow “drip-feed” of crossbench experts has ensured that no party has since held overall control, despite Boris Johnson’s best efforts.

Ian Dunt’s How Westminster Works … and Why It Doesn’t Ian Dunt’s How Westminster Works … and Why It Doesn’t

He made it in a speech in Bristol in 1774, as he outlined what constituents should expect of their local MP. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification, as its only attribution is to self-published sources; articles should not be based solely on such sources. But, contrary to widespread belief, ministers are rarely held to account for failed policies, such as the probation reform, but rather for failing to observe government policies. The problem, he points out, is that, “Once a policy has been passed, it effectively ceases to exist for the lobby. If an issue does not fit into one of these boxes – the disastrous rise in homelessness over the 2010s, for instance – politicians can usually get away without being scrutinised.When he advocates change, it is because his book has shown how an existing set of incentives is ensuring failure. Dunt describes how exhausting ministerial work can be, intensified by the controls and by hard parliamentary work. The focus is on what is happening now in parliament, this week – the consequences beyond Westminster are ignored. From 1999 to 2005, it defeated the government 283 times, shocks Blair did not expect, but the government accepted a significant number of amendments and rejections, including of compulsory ID cards.

How Westminster Works … and Why It Doesn’t by Ian Dunt review

Dunt is a political journalist with a reputation for independent thinking, and he conducted more than 100 interviews for his book. 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. As with Grayling, a feckless minister was ultimately responsible (the then foreign secretary Dominic Raab), but the civil service – the supposed Rolls-Royce of British government – failed spectacularly to prepare for or carry out the evacuation, unlike the French, who withdrew their people months in advance. He decided to drive through the change from an ideological conviction, shared by the leaders of his party, in the superiority of the private over the public sector. He describes how they were created in 1979 by an independent-minded Conservative, Norman St John-Stevas—soon sacked by Thatcher because too independent—precisely to challenge prime ministerial control of the House of Commons.Ministers should go before a Select Committee in their field at least every 2 years to account for their actions. The civil servants dealing with evacuation requests had no knowledge of Afghanistan, and the leader of the team referred to Afghans as “Afghanis”, the name of the currency. This has continued and even recent governments have accepted expert criticism from the House of Lords as from nowhere else.

Westminster – and make MPs How the whips actually control Westminster – and make MPs

His judgments are based upon over 100 conversations with politicians, including Neil Kinnock, Theresa May, Tony Blair, Andy Burnham, Liz Truss, and Boris Johnson, officials including John Bercow, peers, civil servants, journalists, and more, and scrutiny of a mass of books and official reports. He discouraged questions from Ministry civil servants who, in response, leaked information about the weaknesses and risks of the scheme.Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion. Former Special Advisers – spads – have an advantage, in that they know how Westminster works and how to navigate it.