Product Description

New Labour surged to power eleven years ago on the promise to be 'whiter than white', but their record in office and abuse of trust have proved a bitter disappointment for millions who believed this pledge to clean up politics.Martin Bell, a journalist whose career has been made reporting from the world's unquiet corners, and one-time Independent MP elected on an anti-sleaze platform, asks - what went wrong? Wide-ranging and pulling no punches, "The Truth That Sticks" is a crushing analysis of a decade of deception, dishonesty and abuse of power, delivered with precision and great passion.It is a book that only Martin Bell could have written, and, as Martin's new postscript shows, it's a critique just as relevant now with Gordon Brown in charge.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90841 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

About the Author
Martin Bell OBE has covered assignments for the BBC in more than 80 countries and eleven wars, including Bosnia, where millions watched as he was nearly killed by shrapnel. In 1997 Martin became the first independent MP to be elected to Parliament since 1950.

Customer Reviews

Less than I expected
As a person who believes that Tony Blair was the biggest threat to democracy that this country has ever given power to, it would be nice to say that the book was an in depth expose of T. Blair; but, unfortunately, the contents of the book hardly go past what one could have read in a daily newspaper. There were some comments about politicians passionately believing one thing, but voting, in accordance with Blair's wishes, for another; but, well, we already know that politicians lack moral fibre, don't we? So, sadly, only 3 stars: to give more would make me as morally weak as those whom I criticise.

Scorching attack on Labour's sleaze and lies
Martin Bell, the BBC reporter and Independent MP from 1997 to 2001, has written a scorching book on the Labour Party's record in government. Its 1997 election manifesto promised, "We will clean up politics. ... Our mission in politics is to rebuild this bond of trust between government and the people." But, as Bell writes, "on the issue on which it was elected, public trust in public life, its record was wholly, completely and unforgivably negative."

Bell calls the House of Commons the `House of Ill Repute', describing the cash-for-peerages scandal, and the insult of state funding for parties. A government inquiry proposed an extra £23 million a year, on top of the current £5.6 million.

He notes that the Prime Minister appoints members of the national assembly, and then preaches democracy abroad. He points out that the transitions between Thatcher and Major, and then between Blair and Brown, were not democratic. Bell concludes that Parliament is a rubber stamp for an all-powerful executive, and that the only worse system is the party list system used for elections to the European Parliament.

Bell calls the illegal invasion of Iraq `the worst miscalculation by any British government in memory'. General Sir Michael Rose said, "Blair should be impeached." The war gave rise to the unprecedented Military Families Against the War. General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, said, "We should get ourselves out sometime soon, because our presence exacerbates the security problems." A British officer in Iraq said, "I'll tell you what this feels like. It feels like being a German in the Wehrmacht in France in the Second World War. We too are an occupation force."

Bell has three chapters on the Iraq war, and chapters also on Labour's other unwinnable war in Afghanistan, on the EU's disgraceful role in the break-up of Yugoslavia, on the Labour government's long campaign to keep cluster bombs, and on its mean-spirited treatment of wounded and shell-shocked veterans. Even now, it is still defending the indefensible, the five-year war on Iraq.

He notes that in May last year, Labour lost the Scottish election, which was a vote for honest politics, not a vote for the break-up of Britain. Two-thirds voted for the parties that oppose a break-up.

Bell's book focuses on what he calls the driving issues of public trust in public life - the Iraq war and the sale of peerages. (I would add the broken promises of a referendum on the EU Constitution.)

A heartfelt plea
An absorbing if sometimes depressing (due to the subject matter) read. After the first few chapters I began to realise how much I've been numbed by politicians' casual disregard for the offices they hold, to the extent that I've scarcely noticed recent flagrant breaches. One of things I think Bell does very well is to link this moral vacuity with the tragic consequences in Iraq and Afganistan. Cash for honours and sexed up documents are not victimless crimes. This is not a book about moral philosophy but about how the world is becoming a more dangerous place because politicians are becoming more insular and self serving. I don't agree with everything he says and in some chapters I'd have liked more detail (eg. Afganistan). Ultimately though it is a book that asks questions not only of our politicians but also of ourselves. What can we do ?