In 1997 voters agreed that Britain was in such a poor state that a government with new ideas was needed. The Rotten State of Britain is the first deeply-researched entirely factual account how, 12 years after the Brown-Blair government took office, their policies worked out and what became of its aims to repair Britain. The Rotten State of Britain reveals the state of our political system, the low standards in public life, the justice system, the draconian powers the police and public officials have been given, the surveillance and nanny state, public service bureaucracy and spending, the economy and how we urgently need new checks and balances to restrain our political leaders and the unelected advisors who actually control our lives. As an economist, psychologist and Westminster insider, Eamonn Butler initially thought New Labour seemed purposeful and businesslike. They promised an open kind of government and so as the Head of the Adam Smith Institute he decided to work with them. Two years later, though, he had become deeply troubled by the fact that words were not backed up by deeds. From his vantage point at the Adam Smith Institute, he started over 9 years to gather the material that is the basis of this book.
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Review
'Britain has become bureaucratic and authoritative state watched over by a quarter of the world's CCTV cameras.' Daily Telegraph --1
'Most illuminating...so much packed into it that it's hard to know where to start.' Brian Monteith Scotsman --1
'This jaw-dropping book.' Catholic Herald --1
'Suicide may be the only answer.' Austin Mitchell Labour MP, Mail on Sunday --1
'This jaw-dropping book.' Catholic Herald --1
'Suicide may be the only answer.' Austin Mitchell Labour MP, Mail on Sunday --1
'Most illuminating...so much packed into it that it's hard to know where to start.' Brian Monteith Scotsman --1
'This jaw-dropping book.' Catholic Herald --1
'Suicide may be the only answer.' Austin Mitchell Labour MP, Mail on Sunday --1
'This jaw-dropping book.' Catholic Herald --1
'Suicide may be the only answer.' Austin Mitchell Labour MP, Mail on Sunday --1
About the Author
Eamonn Butler is the head of the London-based Adam Smith think tank and the author of several books. He frequently writes for the Guardian, Times, Daily Telegraph and Independent.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 48 people found the following review helpful
By Bezza
Format:Paperback
On one level, this book wouldn't look out of place as an extended Daily Mail or Telegraph leader, albeit significantly better written than most. On another level, given the credentials of the author and his closeness to the affairs of government, it has to be taken as more than a reactionary rant or the sounding off of a golf club bore. Dr Butler has clearly thought this through and worked out his argument in fine detail, even allowing for his occasional divergences into personal diatribe.
What he expresses is what many of us sense, without access to the sources that he has to verify our instincts. It's a pretty damning condemnation of what has been a wretched and deeply wasteful regime. Not before time and not without very good reason.
I recently emigrated with my family from the UK to Germany. Aside from the personal reasons behind the move, at least a part of the final decision was made for us by the self-evidently parlous state of education, health and welfare provision in the UK. In short, it was obvious to us that (unless we were willing to take a chance on the local state schools - we weren't) a decent education for our son was going to cost us the thick end of 100K - money we neither had nor wished to invest in that way - that public health provision was a demonstrable shambles, and that any attempt we made to provide for a comfortable retirement was very less than certain to be successful. This much was blindingly obvious from personal experience, even without Dr Butler's informed analysis.
So we left, taking ten of thousands of pounds worth of UK tertiary education with us, for a country that has already achieved much of what Dr Butler puts on his wish list at the end of this intriguing book.... Read more ›
What he expresses is what many of us sense, without access to the sources that he has to verify our instincts. It's a pretty damning condemnation of what has been a wretched and deeply wasteful regime. Not before time and not without very good reason.
I recently emigrated with my family from the UK to Germany. Aside from the personal reasons behind the move, at least a part of the final decision was made for us by the self-evidently parlous state of education, health and welfare provision in the UK. In short, it was obvious to us that (unless we were willing to take a chance on the local state schools - we weren't) a decent education for our son was going to cost us the thick end of 100K - money we neither had nor wished to invest in that way - that public health provision was a demonstrable shambles, and that any attempt we made to provide for a comfortable retirement was very less than certain to be successful. This much was blindingly obvious from personal experience, even without Dr Butler's informed analysis.
So we left, taking ten of thousands of pounds worth of UK tertiary education with us, for a country that has already achieved much of what Dr Butler puts on his wish list at the end of this intriguing book.... Read more ›
47 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dr Butler has written an book whose passion does nothing to take away from its cool-headed analysis. His demolition of the Blair/Brown years embraces not merely New Labour's well-known failings: spin over substance, the nanny and surveillance state, stealth taxes and wasted money, but illustrates the emptiness of its proudest boasts: "no return to boom and bust", "education, education, education", "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime".
He makes no bones that Blair and Brown built on weaknesses already present, in particular Britain's chronic over-centralisation, but also points to New Labour's doleful record of undermining checks on executive power in the civil service, parliament and elsewhere.
He concludes with a well-judged call for central government to retreat from responsibilities which it cannot discharge. His book is far better qualified to set a pre-election agenda (and far more moral) than Will Hutton's 1996 diatribe, from which it takes its name.
He makes no bones that Blair and Brown built on weaknesses already present, in particular Britain's chronic over-centralisation, but also points to New Labour's doleful record of undermining checks on executive power in the civil service, parliament and elsewhere.
He concludes with a well-judged call for central government to retreat from responsibilities which it cannot discharge. His book is far better qualified to set a pre-election agenda (and far more moral) than Will Hutton's 1996 diatribe, from which it takes its name.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Mrs. J. Fisk
Format:Paperback
I read this book with an open mind - initially thinking the author was enjoying a good "rant". But the issues covered certainly opened my eyes and I have lent the book out already to several people. - And its certainly stirred them up a bit!
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By A. B C.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As Ian Dury would say..
What a waste of a country, what a waste of opportunity, what a waste of resources. Every taxpayer ought to realise what our government and Nu-Labour is actually doing with our money and how after more than a decade of the "schools and hospitals" mantra, they have delivered almost nothing of real value to our nation whilst spending untold billions in doing so.
Before I read this book I was laid back on infringement of civil liberties - after reading it I can only support the T-Shirt slogan which reads "1984 was a warning - it shouldn't be the Nu-Labour instruction manual".
What a waste of a country, what a waste of opportunity, what a waste of resources. Every taxpayer ought to realise what our government and Nu-Labour is actually doing with our money and how after more than a decade of the "schools and hospitals" mantra, they have delivered almost nothing of real value to our nation whilst spending untold billions in doing so.
Before I read this book I was laid back on infringement of civil liberties - after reading it I can only support the T-Shirt slogan which reads "1984 was a warning - it shouldn't be the Nu-Labour instruction manual".
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is another must read from Dr Butler. His brilliant analysis of the state that New Labour has left us in gives plenty of food for thought. The final chapter "Stopping the Rot" should be required reading for all in public service.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By John Cooke
Format:Paperback
You don't have to agree with every single one of Eamonn Butler's opinions - and I didn't - to get something valuable from this book. The range of issues he addresses is broad, so most of us will find something with which to disagree: he's a sceptic when it comes to wind farms, whereas I'm not, for example. But if you are at all worried about the erosion of individual liberty in Britain today, you are likely to find much in the book that will have you nodding in agreement. It's also well-written and a thoroughly entertaining read.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By Adam S
Format:Paperback
The Rotten State of Britain successfully analyses the past 15 years of Britain's economic, political, and social history in an effort to get to the root of the country's current overriding problems. This is a book that every citizen of the UK should read, for it speaks not about policies foreign to the average taxpayer but issues that affect daily life. From the overwhelming state of surveillance to the rising absence of civil liberties, not to mention the soaring taxes, which are too often wasted on failing programs and companies, most of the topics get right to the effects on the citizen. Even more daunting are his alarming studies in healthcare, education, and the state of welfare. The Rotten State of Britain is not a book on cynicism but realism, and if the rest of the country becomes aware of these follies, the problems may become easier to correct. An excellent read from beginning to end and a work that people from every background can enjoy, it is thorough, concise, and riveting.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reminds us how we got into the mess we're in now
I couldn't finish this book it made me so angry about how the Labour years ruined this country. Recommend blood pressure pills to accompany its reading.
Published 9 months ago by Newton
1.0 out of 5 stars
Daily Mail Supplement
This book could have come straight out the pages of the Daily Mail with its philosophy of public bad privatisation good. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Dav45
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent 'State of the UK'
A really good analysis of what is wrong with the UK, and some sensible ideas about how to put it right. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2011 by R. A. Chard
4.0 out of 5 stars
I am persuaded by this assessment of New Labour
This is essentially a very readable and pacey summary of how New Labout went about destroying valuable aspects of British life with their over-regulation, incompetence, bad... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2011 by Neil Kernohan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Who left him in charge?
An excellent book really, on an important subject. We know historically that every time a Labour administration leaves office, it leaves a mess and the 'New Labour' of Blair and... Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2011 by Ian Cook
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book review -- Rotten State of Britain
Very informative, a frightening indictment of just how our politicians cannot be trusted with money and doing what is right for this country. Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2010 by Colin Tyler
3.0 out of 5 stars
Diagnosis Not Cure
This is one of a number of books heavily and, in my view, justly critical of the Blair-Brown years, others which come to mind being Fantasy Island, The Gods That Failed and, from a... Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2010 by Ian Millard
4.0 out of 5 stars
Makes some good and insightful points
I enjoyed reading this book, not because it taught me anything new particularly, but simply because it tells-it-like-it-is. Read more
Published on 21 May 2010 by Keith
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed bag
A worryingly high number of good points, diluted by a tendency towards unreasonable rants (even New Labour wasn't uniformly wrong or bad), and the whole let down by terribly sloppy... Read more
Published on 10 May 2010 by Picky reader
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as 'Squandered' or 'Fleeced'
An OK book, but didn't seem particularly original. Personally, I found 'Squandered: How Gordon Brown is wasting over one trillion pounds of our money' and 'Fleeced' by David Craig... Read more
Published on 6 April 2010 by manager
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