#138 – Steve Baker – The Structural Failure of Government
The Peter McCormack Show
Peter McCormack
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 5 January 2026
⏱️ 85 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Steve Baker is a former Conservative MP who spent years inside the machinery of British politics.
In this interview, he explains why Britain feels broken. We talk about falling living standards, a political system that keeps failing without consequence and why so many voters feel completely powerless to change anything. We also explore how a system can continue to function while delivering worse outcomes year after year.
We also discuss the problem of power without limits, money without restraint and what happens to democracy when nothing fundamental can be challenged and no one is ever held to account.
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TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Introduction 01:35 – Why Britain "Isn't Working" 03:17 – How the System Drifted Off the Rails 09:23 – The Real Incentive in Politics 11:10 – "You Get the Government You Deserve" 14:16 – Why Staying Home Changes Nothing 17:37 – Why MPs Fear Accountability 21:21 – The Collapse in Living Standards 23:06 – The Money Problem 26:44 – Bitcoin, Gold & Escaping the System 31:04 – Why Extremism Is Rising 34:51 – Liberty vs Control 40:22 – Britain Is Over-Governed 43:47 – There Is No Painless Way Out 47:51 – Why Politicians Kick the Can 50:08 – How Division Is Manufactured 57:00 – Why Politics Attracts the Wrong People 59:38 – Why Opting Out Fails 1:10:10 – Can the System Be Reset? 1:19:09 – Hope vs Reality 1:22:39 – Final Warnings
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CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/
CONNECT WITH STEVE BAKER › Website – https://www.stevebaker.info/ › Twitter – @SteveBakerFRSA
SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Ledger - https://www.ledger.com/ › Gemini - https://gemini.com/
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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/
EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Labor took Treasury advice to cut winter fuel payments from better off pensioners. |
| 0:06.0 | It's a right and sensible thing to do. Obviously needed to be cut, but it was announced |
| 0:10.2 | during a Tory leadership contest, yet another one. So the easy thing was done, which was to stand |
| 0:15.4 | with the pensioners against this unjust cut, and the stupidity of it. It was a great moment for the Conservative Party to say, |
| 0:22.9 | finally the Labour Party is willing to live modestly in the real world. Of course we support |
| 0:28.3 | this cut to spending. The Conservative Party and reform should support every cut to spending |
| 0:34.1 | and they should oppose every rise to taxation. And if there was an exception |
| 0:40.3 | at all to that, it would be in the fundamental functions of the state like defence and criminal |
| 0:45.1 | justice. You know, really, taking winter fuel payments from better off pensioners is only |
| 0:49.0 | the beginning of what needs to be done. And the fact that both reform and the Conservatives |
| 0:52.8 | failed to rise to that moment |
| 0:54.6 | makes me agree with you that there is not currently a political party offering a platform to the |
| 1:00.9 | public which would save the nation. This show is brought to you by my lead sponsor, Iron, |
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| 1:22.6 | powering the future of AI, check out iron.com to learn more, which is iran.com. Yeah, the first person to come on. Hang on one important thing. Does my hair look all right? Your hell is great man. We're going to leave that in. Yes, you're the first person to come on the show three times, Steve. Well, I'm honoured indeed. I mean, what an honour. Next time I'm feeling blue and undervalued, I will remember that I've been on your podcast three times. |
| 1:47.1 | Wow, we like having you here. |
| 1:49.6 | Steve, why is the country not working anymore? |
| 1:54.5 | What is going on? |
| 1:55.9 | This is the end of an enormous period of managerialism. |
| 1:59.4 | Yes. |
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