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Product Description
Book Description
The inside story of the scoop which changed the face of British politics by the team that broke it
Product Description
The Daily Telegraph’s expose of MPs' expenses, which dominated the news agenda for more than six weeks, made history by leading to the resignation of the Speaker and several Cabinet ministers, as well as taking Gordon Brown to the very brink of losing his grip on power.
It is a story which began in the unlikely setting of a Chilean vineyard, when Robert Winnett, the paper’s deputy political editor, first learnt from Gordon Brown's controversial aide Damian McBride, that a disk containing details of every MP's expense claims may have been obtained by a whistleblower.
Winnett was destined to become the reporter who would secure the disc and its contents for his newspaper, landing what has been described by some commentators as "the political scoop of the century". Together with Gordon Rayner, Winnett ran a team of reporters who pored through more than a million expenses documents. Astonishing details began to emerge: Gordon Brown's peculiar cleaning arrangements; Oliver Letwin's tennis court; Sir Peter Viggers' duck house; Douglas Hogg's £2,200 bill for cleaning his moat; house flipping and tax dodging; and the suggestion of deliberate fraud.
No Expenses Spared is the riveting inside story of the biggest political scandal to hit Parliament for a generation.
It is a story which began in the unlikely setting of a Chilean vineyard, when Robert Winnett, the paper’s deputy political editor, first learnt from Gordon Brown's controversial aide Damian McBride, that a disk containing details of every MP's expense claims may have been obtained by a whistleblower.
Winnett was destined to become the reporter who would secure the disc and its contents for his newspaper, landing what has been described by some commentators as "the political scoop of the century". Together with Gordon Rayner, Winnett ran a team of reporters who pored through more than a million expenses documents. Astonishing details began to emerge: Gordon Brown's peculiar cleaning arrangements; Oliver Letwin's tennis court; Sir Peter Viggers' duck house; Douglas Hogg's £2,200 bill for cleaning his moat; house flipping and tax dodging; and the suggestion of deliberate fraud.
No Expenses Spared is the riveting inside story of the biggest political scandal to hit Parliament for a generation.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Unlike the previous reviewer I've actually just started to read this. Really exciting. Reminds me of State of Play or All the President's Men. I don't regularly read the Telegraph and probably never will be a convert to that newspaper but last summer these guys did us all a massive favour in brilliantly highlighting the total lack of respect a large number of our MP's had for the tax payer.
I'm about halfway through and this reads like a thriller - exciting and jaw dropping. You have to keep pinching yourself to remember that this actually really happened only a few short months ago.
I'm about halfway through and this reads like a thriller - exciting and jaw dropping. You have to keep pinching yourself to remember that this actually really happened only a few short months ago.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've little to add to the other five star reviews except to say that I think that far from carping about the fact that payment was made for the original CD, the whistleblower should be put up for an OBE. Ditto the Telegraph journalists. It is an unputdownable account of what happened and I hope that it serves to keep the scale and nature of the MPs' misdeeds in the public eye at election time. I suspect that it is also a book which will continue to be read by students of history and politics for many years to come. I've found myself laughing out loud in some places of the book at the MPs' cheek. In my opinion it should be filmed as well.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book arrived yesterday, I read it cover to cover, finished it today, un-putdownable
It's an excellent and entertaining read on several levels:
- the subject matter, a good reference in case we've all forgotten about how all the MPs were paid so much but so many of them were greedy and some of their activities are currently the subject of police investigation
- a reminder of how some MPs seemed to think that they were above it all (all parties) and that it was an affront for anyone to challenge them
- a reminder of how the different political parties reacted
then there's Micheal Martin...
However, the gripping tale told is one of how the Telegraph dealt with the situation, providing rich context and background detail, including the sense of excitement and fear: the fears of being hoaxed, the fears of being prosecuted, the fears of other newspapers stealing their thunder or running spoilers. The narrative concerning the lives of the reporters and editors before during and after around the publication of MPs expenses reads very authentically, with only an occasional sense of the authors having reached for the dictionary of superlative words and phrases.
If you've seen the BBC six parter "State of Play" then this book describes a real life situation that could be called "State of Play 2". Actually, so "State of Play 2" (intended as a compliment) that if you hadn't been there watching the story unfold you might have thought the book were a work of fiction. It's fascinating, a great read.
The book even opens with a generous nod to the journalist (Heather Brooke) that had spent several years grinding away at this issue with repeated FOI requests only to have the story taken away from her by the newspaper getting the disc. (I heard her speak at recent event in London, she displayed admirably slight chagrin at having been scooped).
You will enjoy every page. One to join "The Triumph of the Political Class" and "Taking Liberties"
It's an excellent and entertaining read on several levels:
- the subject matter, a good reference in case we've all forgotten about how all the MPs were paid so much but so many of them were greedy and some of their activities are currently the subject of police investigation
- a reminder of how some MPs seemed to think that they were above it all (all parties) and that it was an affront for anyone to challenge them
- a reminder of how the different political parties reacted
then there's Micheal Martin...
However, the gripping tale told is one of how the Telegraph dealt with the situation, providing rich context and background detail, including the sense of excitement and fear: the fears of being hoaxed, the fears of being prosecuted, the fears of other newspapers stealing their thunder or running spoilers. The narrative concerning the lives of the reporters and editors before during and after around the publication of MPs expenses reads very authentically, with only an occasional sense of the authors having reached for the dictionary of superlative words and phrases.
If you've seen the BBC six parter "State of Play" then this book describes a real life situation that could be called "State of Play 2". Actually, so "State of Play 2" (intended as a compliment) that if you hadn't been there watching the story unfold you might have thought the book were a work of fiction. It's fascinating, a great read.
The book even opens with a generous nod to the journalist (Heather Brooke) that had spent several years grinding away at this issue with repeated FOI requests only to have the story taken away from her by the newspaper getting the disc. (I heard her speak at recent event in London, she displayed admirably slight chagrin at having been scooped).
You will enjoy every page. One to join "The Triumph of the Political Class" and "Taking Liberties"
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Smile, you're on PDF
I agree with all the previous positive comments.
Unputdownable, page-turner, thriller.
A magnificent saga of investigative journalism. Read more
Unputdownable, page-turner, thriller.
A magnificent saga of investigative journalism. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Póló
Interesting insight into the newspaper business
As all the dodgy claims have already been exposed, MP's shamed and careers terminated there's little to learn about the expense claims themselves. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Theodore Tugboat
An excellent book which outlines the events of one of the biggest...
I finally finished reading this book, and I have to say it was a fantastic read.
I remember when the scandal broke out (Although it was known years before the... Read more
I remember when the scandal broke out (Although it was known years before the... Read more
Published 16 months ago by The Establishment Fears Investigation
Disappointing and rather self-obsessed...
Like many others, I had followed the expenses scandal in the media and was interested in finding out more, and thought I would enjoy this book. Read more
Published on 30 May 2010 by Emma Goldman
No Expenses Spared.
I followed the Daily Telegraph articles which is why I bought the book. A fascinating tale and well worth reading.
Published on 9 April 2010 by Alan Crosskill
Public service corruption is a time honored tradition...
Nothing less than captivating from beginning to end. Should be required reading for all students in the educational system and parents alike. Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2010 by MREG
A+
This is an excellent read, and I will ditto the words of the other reviewers that it is an undeniably valuable account of the scandal. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2009 by John Smith
No Expenses Spared
Like many others, I was aghast at the revelations of MP expenses in the Telegraph. When I saw the book advetised I cold not resist learning more about how the scandal came to... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2009 by Brian Berry
No expenses spared
I would thoroughly recommend this book to everyone. So much more information in here than we learned from the newspapers. Please purchase this...... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2009 by G. Young
Brilliant Reading
What a great read. I had trouble putting it down. It should be included in the National Curriculum for all students to make them aware of exactly what they are about to vote for. Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2009 by Pledge
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