rené’s Reviews > How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't > Status Update

Reading about the Treasury, scrutinising other bodies but in itself having centralised power post-Brown, was interesting. So was the sheer workload of ministers.

The reshuffling of ministers and their ability to change anything made me more in favour of codification. Something could be perfect and still change, just so a minister can say they’ve done something. Every 18 months.

Learning about spads in more detail was eye-opening, especially under Johnson. 44 spads just for himself, the number of spads doubling under him since 2010… he really was just a figurehead!

Got a bit bored by the things about Number 10, the physical rooms, and all of the subsections of Parliament.

I cannot believe that MPs have been manhandled and physically assaulted for going against the whip. That is appalling.

The role of an MP seems traumatic and inauthentic— the latter not being their fault but that of the whips and societal expectations.

The chapter on MPs so far has made me remember that this is a job. It’s something I tend to forget, personally. The effects of losing one’s seat are just like losing a job— and there’s more to it than that. You lose connections, you lose opportunities.

I was also incredibly shocked about constituencies with a marginal Conservative lead having more hospitals in 2019, so people died less of heart attacks.

Off to quite a chilling start with the introduction. People who have no idea what they are doing are allowed to absolutely cripple services and put the general public at risk because of loose legislation and face very little meaningful scrutiny. Grayling thanked the Labour Party for making this legislation because he knew this. He knew he didn’t know what he was doing, and despite this, he could do almost anything.