Parliament Ltd: A Journey to the Dark Heart of British Politics

by Martin Williams

'Eye-popping analysis of politicians' finances... a ground-breaking study ... a fascinating and important work.' Sunday Times

'Immaculately researched...
A powerful reminder that reporters can serve the public good...
Should make journalists proud - and may even help to make the world a better place' Peter Oborne, New Statesman

Who do our politicians work for? The public, or big business? If you want to understand why British politics isn't working, the first place to start is here.

Parliament Ltd reveals the financial interests that British politicians would rather you didn't hear about. From banks and private corporations, to lobbying and the arms trade, there are MPs making millions by moonlighting in second jobs. Where does their loyalty belong - to us or to their paymasters? Meanwhile - years after the expenses scandal - they are now claiming more than ever before. In his enthralling journey to the dark heart of British politics, Martin Williams exposes a hidden, shocking culture of greed and corruption.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Journalism, History, British Literature

409 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 26, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides the main reasons behind the 'surprising' results of Brexit and Donald Trump winning in the USA. The apathy of the parliamentarians towards the public opinion and utter disregard of following the spirit of the law of the land for which they are responsible for clearly means that the whole system is passed its sell by date. People of any country are incapable of manipulating laws without the help of corporations and established institutions. The same applies to the parliamentarians who also rely on corporations to facilitate them with 'solutions' that could work, which makes the parliamentarians partisan towards the corporations providing them with support. Therefore once elected by the public, parliamentarians stop representing their constituents and start representing corporations instead, which is why parliamentary democracy is dead.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have read in a very long time. Meticulously researched, fascinating, and infuriating, this book does a tremendous job of providing analysis and insight into the money and interests corrupting British politics.

[Theo Kokonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book. At times depressing but an eye-opener nonetheless. It reads like one of those truly engaging extended magazine articles.
I did find some of the language took a slight sensationalist turn, but I would also point out the extent of corruption in Westminster has been significantly under-reported so I can forgive this.
Worthy of 5 stars as the last 100 pages in particularly made the book un-put-downable for me.

[Maris · Rating 4 out of 5]

My love for investigative journalism grows with every book of this kind that I read. Absurd, full of odd details about the crazy lives led in the British parliament. One of the most enjoyable parts is that the author has clear views of what he thinks is right but covers different aspects of how and why the private funding of politicians should be restructured, including views from the politicians themselves.
Very neat!

[Sal Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, had this for years and really I should have read it when I first got it. Still, interesting but faces have changed.

[Katarina Janoskova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excruciating.
There's nothing I hate more than lies.

And whenever someone tells me how much money disabled people claim and what about those immigrants (who do what? Don't pay taxes?) I wonder how come smoke isn't coming out of my ears.
Unnecessary expenses, tax avoidance, lobbying for your own interests and not those of your country - I mean arms dealers? Seriously?!
Now compare those two issues and decide why Nhs has no money.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will not be surprised but you will still have an aneurysm if you read this book. Beware. It goes without saying that you could film a politician molesting a child, stealing from a charity box, drinking blood from a human and you would still vote for him anyway because you always assumed they did that anyway. It's a yet to be solved problem.

The author is a saint and is doing god's work, underappreciated.

[Pernille · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must-read for anyone affected by British politics. Meticulously researched, it's an uncomfortable and infuriating read about the reality of British politics today.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst Parliament Ltd amounts to an earnest and thorough piece of research, Williams writing style and the narrow focus of the work, hold it back from achieving the canonical status that might be bestowed on other works in the genre. He writes in the over exaggerated prose one would expect of a Guardian journalist and fails to bring his seperate lines of inquiry together into a single clear indictment of the system he spends the book prosecuting. However those individual lines of inquiry are detailed and well supported by impressive quantitative analysis and at times prescient interviews with significant parliamentarians of the past and present.

With regards to the substance of the work, as it is not only a work of non-fiction but one recommending real world changes, Williams fails to go far enough in exploring the problem. He's right in his description of parliament as having been "colonised," by financial interests and proposes some sound measures to reduce these interests ability to influence politicians. However, by focussing almost exclusively on the expenses scandal and not expanding his analysis to campaign finance he only ever indirectly alludes to what is in fact the greatest channel for this influence peddling. Furthermore his analysis misses the demand side of the problem and so his central argument is left resting on the unsubstantiated assumption that it's a peculiarly perverse culture at the heart of Westminster to blame, as if greed is a flaw unique to the holders of public office and not universal across humanity. The truth is as long as government continues to leverage the largesse of the commonwealth, business will find a way to influence the process of deciding how to spend that treasure. By ignoring this cause for demand by business to have influence in the legislative process, the problem will remain at best half solved.

[Stuart Dillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The establishment itself breeds such elitist pomp that even those who are not public schooled toffs, already overly represented in both the commons and lords largely end up getting swallowed up and changed by its culture of expenses claims and financial gains from entertaining corporate lobbyists. Politics is overwhelmingly driven not by the needs of the people but the greed of corporations and politicians personal interests on such a scale that the few who are trying to do right by their constituents are drowned out and powerless to effect any real change. The buildings should be turned into museums. Government should be run from a fit for purpose modern office complex to tackle the sense of entitlement and ego it feeds. The lords needs sacking in its entirety and a proper cross section of society voted in to a committee instead of leaders in finance, the majority of whom are tax dodging (however ‘legal’ their mechanisms for filtering money, its plain for anyone to see what they’re doing) millionaires looking out for themselves. This country has been sold to the highest bidders. Parliament Ltd, indeed. If only more of the public did some real research instead of listening to mainstream media and the distraction of the Punch and Judy show that is the televised commons debates, they’d quickly understand how they’re getting royally rogered at the cost of our environment, freedoms, future and taxes. This is a well researched but depressing read. It’s clear we cannot change the system the way it is, it needs rebuilding from the ground up. The absolute worst part is that so few get to see any real justice when caught out abusing the system that the rest carry on as normal once it’s very quickly swept under the carpet and its business as usual again.

[Daniel Ostrowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

In-depth and powerful exposé

I noticed in many of the footnotes something along the lines of "there is absolutely no suggestion that this MP has done anything remotely improper, despite the evidence presented of questionable behaviour."
That's in part why this book is so important, in my mind; if exposing improper behaviour on the part of our representatives is risky legal territory, then something has gone clearly very wrong.
This book goes beyond merely questions of transparency but also looks at what exactly MPs are hiding, and the result is damning. I'd be very surprised if anyone read this who wasn't convinced of the need of some degree of reform.

[Rithwik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never wanted to be an investigative journalist more. Williams does an impeccable job comprehensively covering how intertwined private interests and British politicians are.

Full of anecdotes, funny asides and footnotes, and detailed information about prominent figures and companies in Britain, Parliament Ltd. grabs the audience's attention and then feeds it a terrifying "fact file" of how little their politicians care about them.

Mandatory reading for anybody looking to go into politics or for anyone frustrated about their political system. The patterns Williams uncovers likely ring true for most democracies around the world.

[Monzenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for this quite specific book. Plus is that it did spark my interest in a topic that is far from home yet has shades of familiarity - politicians' revenues and expenses and whether they remain fair. Lots of examples from good ol' Philippines that I can think of. Unfortunately it remains to be a UK-centric book, so while some of the topics were interesting enough, they were too specific at times to the UK situation. So while I had a nice time reading, the book's specifics are probably not something that's gonna stick with me. Expenses scandal though, ooooh.

[Ed Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I'd describe this as a fascinating (if depressing) look into the mindsets at play in the Houses of Parliament as regards second jobs, the duties and skills required of an MP, outside interests, and expenses, as well as the lack of transparency and accountability around these topics.

While Williams comes off as somewhat polemical at times, it's understandable when you read of the levels of greed and self-interest he uncovers among some MPs and Lords.

[Christopher Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most depressing book I'm likely to read this year, as it exposes the enormous corruption at the heart of UK governance. The only problem with the book itself is the quality of the writing, which falls short of where I would like it to be for a topic of such seriousness. Instead, it feels like I'm reading an archive of blog posts - I get the information I want (well... I'd rather I didn't need to know this!) but I don't enjoy the reading of it.

[Nick Harriss · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book. While you have to read it with the understanding of the position that the author takes, and which he never tries to hide, that Parliament is structurally beset with conflicts of interest and institutionalised corruption, the points made are all reasonable and the research in depth. A good book for anybody interest in the UK political system.

[David Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sickening

This book confirms all your worst suspicions about MPs. Out of touch, entitled, corrupt, and seemingly above the law (in most cases), the stories contained within of these self-serving (overwhelmingly Tory) scumbags will make you despair for our democracy at a time when we're already woefully short of any form of bold, honest, leadership. Enjoy!

[Miss Nicola Coombs · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye opener in the morality of our politicians

The book is well researched and covers all political parties. It paints many politicians as unscrupulous and provides the evidence to back it up. I will definitely be checking my MP's background,potential conflict of interest and how much they claim from the taxpayer after reading this!

[Craig Morland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant (if disgusting) read. If you still think we live in a democracy, this book obliterates that myth. It won't help your anger but it will prevent you from being disappointed in the future by erasing any notion that our elected officials (and unelected peers!) work for us and not only for themselves.

[Lord Bathcanoe of Snark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bleak and depressing portrait of the people and place that rules our lives. I must admit it's no great suprise when so many of the members of parliament are lawyers by profession and liars by inclination.
What's the difference between a lawyer and a sperm?
A sperm stands a million to one chance of becoming a human being.

[Amy Drozdowicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Integral reading for every single britbong, although it does come with the side effect of wanting to commit a bit of revolution

PS big up to the audiobook man’s noble attempt at a Ronnie Campbell impression, funniest thing I’ve heard in a while

[Jonny Brick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timely story written in an accessible manner - you can tell he's been writing for Private Eye - which came out in 2016. Little had changed since the expenses scandal, which was institutional in its working, and little will change with the embedded status quo in both Houses. Great work.

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s probably time someone writes a similar book in Australia for our corrupt gits in Canberra.

[MichaelK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it when a book adds even more layers to my disillusionment with British politics. Highly recommended.

[Leem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading

[harmony cheema · Rating 3 out of 5]

fuck the govt !

[Luke John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depressingly, this is a 'must read', although don't expect to feel very good about things when you get to the end. I left the book with an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would be improved by fairly looking at all politicians. Seems obsessed with Andrew Bridgen.

[Suswati · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were times where I literally gasped, laughed, clapped and winced listening to this.

Exposing the dark heart of politics where morality has been swept away with the brush of business, Martin Williams has done an epic job of proportions revealing how intertwined the British government is with lobbyists, expenses scandals, external business interests with many even relating to human rights abuses. I would definitely want to hear an updated version reflecting the current government in power.

Bravo to Williams - an extremely important read for this generation.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful book into the the financial interest's of MP's. The book discusses the numerous second-jobs have, often with big payouts, making one question the validity of the actions of MP's. Most, of which are completely legit under the rules. The book does not make one feel a sense of pride in British democracy, and shows how easily MP's can be hired by firms to speak on their behalf. It also points out the disperses in which MP's using public money, often paying for expensive hotels for the night, while their staff have to kip in spare rooms and with friends.

It also points out, how out of touch MP's seem with their finance. Often their excuse for a second job is that 'it provides them with experience', nothing to do with the large pay check their receive.

Williams, does not hold back with his criticism of MP's laundering all parties. While in part's he blames the system, the system is made up of MP's, and there is little appetite for change.

He does MP's a harsh report, focusing on their financial interest and not any good they might do beyond that. However, his book points why many people no longer have faith in their politicians, not matter how many good things they do - their dealings with finances put them in disrepute. Do we know why an MP is calling for military action, is it because they believe it's the right thing to do, or because they are a part of a weapons manufacturing company like BAE systems. Furthermore, many MP's claim expensive on sometime ludicrous things, and while these maybe withing the rules, morally and ethically they do not meet the standard that the public expect MP's to adhere to. Until this changes, it will still be hard for politicians to find trust within the public domain.