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

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Dunt is a political journalist with a reputation for independent thinking, and he conducted more than 100 interviews for his book. They have to cope with party animosity over policy disagreements, and, increasingly, with social media attacks.

Governments and departments should also bring back the effective press offices which were once normal and kept journalists adequately informed. Most of their constituency work is stuff that should be done by councils, were these not also failing.The Chief Inspector of Probation judged that “there has been a deplorable diminution of the probation profession and a widespread move away from good probation practice” (p. Scotland, by contrast, since devolution has developed effective scrutiny at the committee stage by a committee of expert MSPs.

What follows is a series of detailed chapters each devoted to a key component of the political system. As a scene setter, Dunt chronicles the events and the points of failure of Chris Grayling’s attempted privatisation of probation services. 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. Instruments were used extensively during the pandemic to introduce controls, including lockdown rules. He discouraged questions from Ministry civil servants who, in response, leaked information about the weaknesses and risks of the scheme.

Dunt believes that its chief weaknesses are failure to recognize the need for investment outside London, which could address regional inequalities, or to authorize large investments in the present which would yield savings in future. No 10’s control of special advisors must end and they should be appointed on the basis of expertise alone. There follows an “Interlude” in which he discusses the British withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, slower and less organized than that of other countries, as a “case study in incompetence” under Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. That, at least, is what struck me when I worked in the lobby, or parliamentary press gallery, in 2022.

Unlike many other legislative chambers, it does not even control its own timetable – the government does.

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. We will have to lobby for the change that the parties have no interest in delivering if left to their own devices. The Treasury blames politicians for refusing to discuss tax policy rationally, but Dunt asks whether it has tried hard enough to do so. Promotion and pay should be determined by skill and churn minimized, controlled by accountable permanent secretaries.

Hence, they rejected the advice of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which they normally respect, for big investment in education to compensate for deprivation due to COVID-19.MPs are impossibly burdened by having to do two jobs simultaneously, first as local representatives and then as national politicians. In this seminar the author will presented some of his key arguments, before responding to questions and comments from a panel of experts and the online audience.