The Whistleblower: The explosive thriller from Britain's top political journalist

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Richly argued and brilliantly written... a deeply thoughtful analysis that should be mandatory reading for anyone seeking to understand where we have gone wrong.' Vernon Bogdanor, Financial Times

The Whistleblower by Robert Peston | Goodreads The Whistleblower by Robert Peston | Goodreads

Giving a name to the podcast was easy in Peston’s mind. “I felt very strongly it should be The Rest is Money because money is something everyone can relate to —and it allows us to talk about anything in the broad space of finance and business. I don't usually read books by celebrities as I think there's better authors out there not getting the credit they deserve. Yet Robert Peston writes with an enjoyable and knowledgeable style. As a journalist he knows how to create a riveting story and as such I judge him on his words and not his name. This is a brilliant and exciting read that I really enjoyed. This book mirrors what actually happened within the subprime mortgage market - which I remember the fallout of quite well. It also questions the use of the media by people in power for their own ends and means. This is also something I see quite a lot these days, especially by politicians "leaking" stuff to friendlies to gauge the public interest prior to announcing in the House. If only the Speaker would really get to grips with this, but that's by the by.

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What he does do very well is explain the ins and outs of political journalism at the time the book is set, occasionally these bits do get a bit dry but they are necessary both to scene setting and plot development, and are few and far between, so not too painful. Certainly he doesn't drag it out half as long as he does his questions to Boris! AS Gil digs further and askes more questions he finds himself deeper and deeper in a rabbit hole. Most people have their doubts about politicians and journalists and this book definitely feeds the mind for the conspiracies, secrets and lies that abound Parliament and also the tabloids.

Robert Peston interview on his new book The Whistleblower Robert Peston interview on his new book The Whistleblower

The flaw in the book is the penultimate chapter where he attempts to suggest solutions to the UK’s problems. I think this is a follow on from his previous book on how we fix this mess, which was okay for that book but here, confined within one short chapter, it’s just too superficial and out of place. The preceding chapters showed Peston as a fine analyst, which he is, but as a policy wonk he is just like the man in the pub. From a slower start, this story certainly gains speed. I really liked this build-up and it fits in well with the election that is upcoming in the book. Time is of the essence and it is one that has been worked well.Although this is now slightly out of date (or, at least, tells an incomplete picture), it is still a good, clear summary of all the issues that led to the Brexit vote, Trump and UK general election results. Peston is knowledgeable and clearly passionate about the future of this country, which he has a very bleak outlook on. My twins were born in 2016 and I've a strong memory of being awake in the middle of the night, breastfeeding one and then the other, watching the news about Brexit. I'm almost certain a swathe of post-natal depression hit me at that point and a lot of what followed in the world over the following years alongside the challenging care for my babies (not to mention my two older boys!) compounded the feeling of futility and exasperation about the future. But agreement isn’t what our shaky opinions need. They need to be challenged, then it invites a battle of reason; then you decide whether you’re right or wrong, or mostly right or wrong. At least you should be more informed as a result. The story is gripping and held my attention nicely all the way through, culminating in a wholly satisfying conclusion. McDermid, who worked as a journalist in the 70s and 80s, gives a nail-biting account of the newsroom, and Allie is another character I’m looking forward to learning more about.

Robert Peston books and biography | Waterstones

Obviously, it’s been a pain to do so much remote talking. When you can’t look into people’s eyes and you can’t see their body language, you miss things. It’s been a relentless year, trying to make sense of everything.I rang a minister and it did get sorted, but there were lots of similar stories about people dying in their beds, and you can’t say, ‘Oh, it’s just a story’. These kinds of life and death situations bring different kinds of pressures.” Of course there are problems with employment policy but tax is not a solution on its own. I feel the book needed more space than a few paragraphs to explore this, and each of the other oversimplified solutions given in this chapter. So we go on with the rich getting richer, greedier and unwilling to share their benefits, unable to understand that their wealth is based on the exploitation of the many and that when this decadent society will collapse, they too will be dragged down. The provisions set forth include the creation of regional banks for different areas (I struggle to see how they could possibly work) to reduce inequality amongst regions. However, I do agree with the need to break up the Treasury which was last attempted by Harold Wilson, through the Department of Economic Affairs, which acutely failed in its task. Changing, the current system and handing over the policy-making to the cabinet would enable us, as a nation, to determine how we use and distribute wealth. In addition to this, he also outlines, quite like in Utopia for Realists, the necessity for a Universal Basic Income to help the country prosper in the New Age.