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Rotten State of Britain: Who is causing the Crisis and how to solve it Paperback – 13 Mar. 2009

English edition by Eamonn Butler (Autor)

4.0 75 ratings

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Under Gordon Brown's leadership, Britain has achieved that sinking feeling without knowing exactly why things are so bad and how it happened so fast. This is a coruscating attack on the government and both its failure to put things to rights and its extraordinary success with angering every subgroup of voters. It is the first sustained analysis of what went disasterously wrong and why it will continue to get worse under current policies and we will all feel the financial pain. Eamonn Butler is the head of the London-based Adam Smith think tank and a neutral observer with no party axe to grind.

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Print length

200 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Gibson Square
Publication date

13 Mar. 2009
Dimensions

14 x 2 x 22.2 cm
ISBN-10

1906142343
ISBN-13

978-1906142346
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Product description

About the Author

Eamonn Butler is the head of the London-based Adam Smith think tank and the author of several books including The Best Book on the Market: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Economy (9781906465056, 2008). He frequently writes for the Guardian and Independent.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gibson Square (13 Mar. 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 200 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1906142343
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1906142346
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14 x 2 x 22.2 cm

Customer reviews:
4.0 75 ratings

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Eamonn Butler

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4 out of 5

75 global ratings

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RB

A very informative book, should be required reading as a warning to future generations

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 July 2015

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Eamonn Butler really does lift the lid on the atrocious skullduggery undertaken routinely by the Blair / Brown partnership. This book is a very easy read, being split into short sections within each chapter. The book does describe very well the low levels to which the last Labour government dragged the country; their total abuse of position is frightening when presented coolly, as it in these pages. I had always known Britain was changing dramatically for the worst during their tenure in No.10, but I hadn't fully taken in just how low British politics had sunk. From the systematic manipulation of the media, (printed and broadcast), corruption of the civil service and general dropping of standards within the wider political establishment, they were responsible for the total collapse in basic standards of morality in political life. (Also, it should be remembered, their complete wrecking of our economy). I would definitely advise anyone who despairs of the abysmal quality of the current British political classes, to get a copy of this book, read it and pass it on to as many people as they possibly can. The only downside to the book is the feeling of total despair at the hopeless state our country now finds itself in, largely as a result of the 'criminal' 13 years of this government.

Junglies

I wish someone would write an American equivalent.

Reviewed in the United States on 31 August 2012

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Since I left Britain in 1995 to avoid haing to become a citizen of the European Union, I can testify to the validity of Eamonn Butler's book.

The Parliament of Great Britain has become subordinate to the institutions of Europe and is but a translation device and rubber stamp for the conversion of European laws and regulaions into country specific versions for the various countries which make up the United Kingdom.

The liberalism of Britain which attracted Fredrich von Hayek when he fled from Germany has been supplanted by the dirigiste culture of Europe. While there is a little rearguard action, most of the time successive governments have paid lip service to the idea of Island Britain, using the EU as a straw man to help bolster their election prospects.

Both parties have little to choose between them having generally accepted Blair's views. The Houses of Parliament are now stuffed with yes-men professional politicians who look upon their role as employees first and foremost and the more independent House of Lords has been emasculated as the voice of reason and objective examination.

This book clearly demonstrates from an individualist and market based viewpoint how the fundamental nature of British society has been changed for the worst. At a basic level, individuals can no longer deal with things themselves as the departments of government have inserted themselves into every area of life. I am reminded of the expansion of the National Socialist Bureaucracy similarly in Hitler's Germany from 1933.

Most British sunjects will freely express their frustrations at their inability to get on in their lives without bumping into some stupid rule or another along the way. From speed cameras in remote areas to police activity in persecuting traders who want to sell things in pounds and not kilogrammes, there are innumerable examples to the insanity of British life today. The disparity of taxation on beer, wine and spirits which forced UK residents to go abroad and smuggle because the government wanted to bring them into line with Europe where people drink more wine than beer whereas Britains do the reverse, is a poignant example of the crass disregard Britain's politicians have for their constituents.

All in all this is a fine little book which suggests two further courses of action.

First, Eamonn Butler should write a British sequel and;

Secondly, he should commission an American auther to write the equivalent book for the United States.

H. L. Mason

How depressing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 November 2009

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...not the book, but the state we have allowed Britain to fall into. Here it is in all its glorious putrefaction - the B & B premierships and what they have already cost the nation. It is an unremitting attack on the nerves to read just how the last two Labour administrations have managed to subvert and traduce some of the finest and most respect traditions that for so long formed part and parcel of the British way of life. Whether it be the merciless attack on civil rights, the obsession with meaningless targets in health and education, the dilapidation of the armed forces, not to mention the all consuming cult of spin and lies, Eamonn Butler lays it all out in depressing detail. By the time you're through you feel it's a lost cause, although that would be to underestimate the enduring resilience of the British people. You do not necessarily have to accept every dot and comma of this illuminating book, and there are, indeed, a few questionable elements in the mix, but I would consider it essential reading for just about anyone with a modicum of interest in the way things have been going in Britain over the last decade or so.
It is a very timely wake up call as we approach election season, and should should be borne in mind for a long time to come, so that the next government shouldn't be allowed to get away with what the last two administrations have.

4 people found this helpful

D'Hondt

Doesn't get to the root cause of all our troubles

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 September 2009

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I'm not sure what to make of this book! While I don't disagree with the facts and figures as presented in the text, Butler's concentration on attacking New Labour seems to only look narrowly at the problems we face as a nation. All of the things he complains about, from over-centralisation of power to the assault on our liberties, have come about over the last thirty years. Both the main parties have followed, more or less, the same policies, but he does not seem to recognise this. He doesn't analyse the changes to British society over the last forty or so years, and how this might affect how we see ourselves, neither does he understand the rise of consumerism, where we become consumers and customers, and not citizens. All these things are important, yet he ignores them. Then there are even deeper aspects to our consciousness, like our shared language and culture with the US and our hostility to non-English speaking Europe, where a different way of thinking has emerged, and where the ethos of the enlightenment endures.

The book simply doesn't go into these areas, and I find this frustrating, for I don't actually feel that he offers any real constructive way forward for policy- and decision-makers let alone the voting citizens. All in all, a disappointment

15 people found this helpful

Arron Tolan

Illuminating beyond description

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 June 2017

Verified Purchase

A political and social Rubicon was crossed during the New Labour years and this tome serves as a wonderfully acerbic analysis of precisely why that should concern the average Briton so much, and why those concerns should be kept in mind at the ballot-box in future elections.

For it can seem too often that, in the minds of the public, the battle between Left and Right in politics is brought down solely to Economics - people seemingly feeling that all other things are at least somewhat equal - in this polemic Butler beautifully illustrates the fallacious nature of such dire misconceptions. The author painstakingly lays out and critiques every policy decision, shady-dealing & misstep of a government which - steered by Brown & Blair - felt it could do no wrong as long as it strode forth into doom "for the sake of The People"

Highly recommended - even though the subject matter is now somewhat 'old news'

One person found this helpful

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Rotten State of Britain: Who is causing the Crisis and how to solve it Paperback – 13 Mar. 2009

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Eamonn Butler

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Follow the author

Rotten State of Britain: Who is causing the Crisis and how to solve it Paperback – 13 Mar. 2009

Product description

About the Author

Product details

About the author

Eamonn Butler

Customer reviews

Top reviews from Germany

Top reviews from other countries