Britain is in pieces—politically, economically, socially, and in terms of national identity.

The country’s existential mess has deep roots, dating back to the Thatcher years (UK Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990). Under her catastrophic reign, market fundamentalism and privatisation took hold, society was dismantled, and the foundations of the welfare state were eroded.

This destructive ideological approach persisted through 14 years (2010–2024) of Conservative rule—a dark period marked by austerity, neglect, social fragmentation, the calculated dismantling of public services, and the hollowing out of civil society.

If the damage is to be undone and a new nation built, it will take creative reimagining, a long-term principled approach, and political humility—all of which are currently absent in the Labour government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The system of governance itself requires major reform: it is increasingly centralised, unrepresentative, and undemocratic. First-past-the-post elections routinely deliver disproportionate outcomes—smaller parties are sidelined, and when a party holds a large parliamentary majority, as Labour does now (with a 156-seat lead over all opposition parties combined), it becomes virtually unaccountable.

It is a system run by rigid technocrats, seemingly incapable of imagining the scope of systemic change needed. The evidence of decline is everywhere:

Income and wealth inequality is the highest in Europe; the richest 10% of households own more than 45% of the nation’s wealth, while real wages have stagnated for 16 years; over 4.2 million children—around 30% of the total—now live below the poverty line; homelessness is at its highest level among developed nations; the National Health Service is in crisis; prisons are dangerously overcrowded—the UK imprisons more people per capita than any other European country—and they are severely under-resourced; local government, underfunded for over a decade, faces colossal pressure: youth services, social care, libraries, and basic infrastructure have all been gutted.

Add to this Brexit, environmental degradation, species loss, crumbling infrastructure, and failing transport networks, and the picture of a country with its very heart ripped out begins to........

© Eurasia Review