The Nanny State Made Me
A Story of Britain and How to Save it
A Story of Britain and How to Save it
'He is as funny as Bryson and as wise as Orwell' Observer It was the spirit of our finest hour, the backbone of our post-war greatness, and it promoted some of the boldest and most brilliant schemes this isle has ever produced: it was the Welfare State, and it made you and I. But now it's under threat, and we need to save it. In this timely and provocative book, Stuart Maconie tells Britain’s Welfare State story through his own history of growing up as a northern working class boy. What was so bad about properly funded hospitals, decent working conditions and affordable houses? And what was so wrong about student grants, free eye tests and council houses? And where did it all go so wrong? Stuart looks toward Britain’s future, making an emotional case for believing in more than profit and loss; and championing a just, fairer society.
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Stuart Maconie looks into the ‘Nanny State'. This is the derogatory term used for public or nationalised services by people with in power. Or, as Maconie says “people who had nannies”. Maconie looks back with rose-tinted glasses to a life led under the glory days of state intervention. However, Maconie becomes too misty-eyed to keep a focus. Topics are wide ranging, and only touched upon. It's also relentlessly negative. Chapter after chapter of invective becomes tiresome. His praise of society under the auspices of government funding leads to a highly personal and polemical book. Clinging to a romanticised past for the majority of the book it's only in the last chapter that Maconie touches on the real problem. This is the growing social and political emphasis on individuality and identity. He has a point, albeit made far too late.
