Robert Peston wrote in his book, Who Runs Britain?
“We’ve witnessed in the past decade the way that all the main political parties have been prepared to grant access and influence to those with the wherewithal to fund their operations. Even with reform of the system of funding political parties, the wealthy will find a way to buy political power – whether through the direct sponsorship of politicians and parties, or through the acquisition of media businesses, or through the financing of think tanks. To put it another way, the voices of the super-wealthy are heard by politicians well above the babble of the crowd….It means that we are more vulnerable than perhaps we have been since the nineteenth century to the advent of rule by an unelected oligarchy.”
This paper by David Beetham, Professor Emeritus at the University of Leeds seeks to look at the rise of neo-liberalism and corporate interests in British government. Well worth a read.
http://filestore.democraticaudit.com/file/de232c951e8286baa79af208ac250112-1311676243/oligarchy.pdf
