Drycleanercast: Espionage, Terrorism & Geopolitics

Chris Carr sits down with author Stephen Bates to discuss The Man Who Sold Honours and the extraordinary life of Maundy Gregory—actor, fixer, conman and sometime MI5 asset at the heart of Britain’s original cash-for-honours scandal. They unpack how Gregory monetised access to power, became the only person ever prosecuted under the 1925 law aimed at stopping the sale of honours, and what his story reveals about the long, murky history of buying peerages. The conversation then jumps to today’s political funding battles—from parties’ dependence on wealthy donors to recent cash-for-honours rows and Boris Johnson’s approach to transparency—to ask what all this says about the health of British democracy. Subscribe and share to stay ahead in the world of intelligence, global issues, and current affairs. Order The Man Who Sold Honours: https://www.iconbooks.com/ib-title/the-man-who-sold-honours-2/ Find more about Stephen: https://www.stephenbateswriter.com Please share this episode using these links Audio: http