Britain is an undeveloping country
The general air of decline carries a whiff of the last days of Pompeii
We are used to hearing talk of ‘developing’ countries. Not unreasonably, much effort and many resources are devoted by the ‘developed’ world to the task of improving the lot of those in the more disadvantaged parts of the globe, and to debating how we might best assist poorer countries in developing their infrastructure, technology, trade and industry, and to drive job creation, prosperity and general well-being.
All of this is to the good, of course. After all, the hallmark of a civilised world is the degree to which the ‘haves’ are willing to lend a hand to the ‘have nots’.
What we never hear about, by contrast, is the phenomenon of developed countries ‘undeveloping’. Perhaps some of us just assume that such a thing could not happen – that no country that had ever scaled the global heights could find itself rapidly going backwards.
But, just as it happens to empires, it can happen to nations, too. And that fact ought to focus our minds in Britain, for it is becoming increasingly apparent that we are such a country.
We must always try to avoid the temptation of believing that things were in all ways ‘better in the good old days’ – quite often they weren’t – but at the same time it’s hard not to conclude that our country is experiencing a major decline economically, socially and culturally.
I can’t be the only one who surveys our land and concludes that there is a feel of the last days of Pompeii about it all. With the economy a basket case, NHS waiting lists at record levels, booking an appointment with the GP akin to a Krypton Factor challenge, border control a shambles, a chronic housing shortage, a stubborn reliance on cheap labour through mass immigration, the emergence of naked communal sectarianism on our streets, our police useless at their main job of preventing and detecting crime, ambulances not turning up, our once-esteemed manufacturing base decimated, industry in decline, infrastructure creaking, high streets dying, our court system in disarray, prison estate overwhelmed and railway system broken, it is hard not to conclude that HMS Britain is in a state of severe distress.
And those are just the defects that everyone can see. What of those troubles and challenges encountered by ordinary folk every day that stay beneath the radar – the near-impossibility of getting through to the bank or HMRC or local authority on the phone, the acts of anti-social behaviour that blight their lives and communities, the dwindling of social solidarity and cohesion in their neighbourhoods, and so on?
The reality of our descent struck me again recently, albeit in a small way, when I spotted some old footage that went semi-viral on X/Twitter of 1950s London in summertime. Police officers – smartly turned out and not weighed down with taser guns and stab vests – were directing traffic, families were relaxing in a park, people were going about their business with a generally chilled air. Things seemed smarter, more ordered, less frantic and threatening. Watch it, and tell me I’m wrong.
Not that there wasn’t much about the 1950s that was decidedly dismal. There was, of course; and we shouldn’t forget it. But the footage left me with the impression that we were basically a better-functioning and more civilised society back then, that there was an abiding sense of security and stability percolating through everyday life .
Maybe the post-war political consensus, embraced by all the main parties, that there should be no return to the deprivation, want and unemployment of the 1930s, had the effect of instilling in people a confidence that the New Jerusalem of plentiful jobs, higher living standards, decent housing, a National Health Service and a welfare state would be there for them and future generations always. Who knows? Like most people, I wasn’t around back then and can only surmise or speak to people who were.
The bigger questions are why we ended up where we are, and whether and how we can get out of it. To the first question, I think there are a myriad of answers. A lack of respect for vocation and manual labour, a misplaced belief in the ‘infallibility’ of the market, the elevation of the interests of finance over those of industry and a basic lack of intellectual confidence have all undoubtedly contributed to our economic woes. The capitulation of our institutions to a hyper-liberal elite peddling an individualistic and atomising philosophy while denigrating anything that smacked of traditional values of ‘faith, family flag’, and the concomitant erosion of a universal and unifying moral code that transcended age and class, helps to explain much of the rest.
Those who grasped all this and were often its main victims – patriotic working-class voters in our old industrial heartlands – have tried to make their feelings known in recent years, most notably through Brexit. But, in truth, the dial hasn’t much shifted and, after a brief interlude, those who subscribe to the ideology that did so much to bring about our malaise are back firmly behind the wheel.
Maybe because our problems run so deep the decline can only be managed and not reversed. Perhaps ‘redeveloping’ as a nation is beyond us. One thing’s for sure: until our political class understands why the problems emerged in the first place, and shows itself up to the job of rectifying them, we aren’t likely to find out.
I appeared in my regular slot as a panellist on GB News’s Dewbs & Co. last Friday. Topics under discussion included Cop 28 and the green agenda, a council’s decision to ban a Hanukkah candle display, and whether we should be proud that the NHS recruits so many nurses from abroad. The episode can be viewed here.
A reminder that you can follow me on X/Twitter: @PaulEmbery
Hi Paul, you’ve given us a good account of the political landscape but to me the film clip is a stark reminder of the fundamental cultural shifts which have taken place since the 1950s. It’s these I think which have changed society so much. Growing up in the 1950s like all children I knew my place. Be it father, the vicar, teacher or your mother you did not rebel against their authority without expecting punishment. “Parenting” had not been invented and without so called experts our parents instilled in us what values they had inInherited from their own upbringing in the 1920 -1930 period.
My generation came of age in the late 60s and seventies and fought back against the old restraints and traditional views, for women’s liberation and as much individual freedom as we could get. It was all progress and in one direction … or so we thought. But with all the boundaries down now, in this new universe of our own making it seems there are few shared norms to bind us together, just a hollowing out of meaning and a growing pessimism about the future.
An interesting read Paul, thank you, but as you say, it’s easy to regret the passing of the ‘good old days’ without seeing them for what they were. A visit to Marwellam Quay in Cornwall cured me of that! It’s actually a British ghost town -a settlement based on mining that died with the resource it exploiter’s economic value. Homes that were hovels. Back breaking labour underground in a literally toxic environment, women and children putting in hours (part time after schooling for the kids…) breaking rocks. I always wondered why ancestors of mine joined the Navy given its reputation in the nineteenth century. After going there I realised that it was a better option!
Ah, but we are talking about the 50s…. Okay then… efficient policing . Yes, there are some elements I’d want to see brought back, not least a smart uniform worn smartly, a sense of service and foot patrolling in a much greater way, however, there was also extreme corruption which grew under a directly recruited ‘officer class’ introduced by former General Sir High Trenchard in the 30s, and who knew nothing about policing mostly. Routine ‘verballing’ and violence which was winked at by the courts went on to gain convictions - which subsequent legislation like PACE 1984 was introduced to eliminate or control.
The NHS is a shambles as anyone who attempts to use it knows, but isn’t that largely because it has been too successful? In those days the treatments available were much less. The famous free ‘Medicines and glasses’ quote about the NHS by Bevan(?)Now decisions are being made and have to be, by administrators on cost basis because drugs are too expensive. Plus you have the ‘internal market’ brought about by Thatcher and which years of New Labour did nothing to address. My limited experience of that as a statutory partner was a fractured, navel-gazing organisation, which was difficult to engage with and with conflicting, overlapping areas of business for each ‘trust’. As a patient, yes, it’s getting worse!
However another thing I think of is a programme I watched years ago where a nurse recalled a London hospital with a WARD full of under tens with VD… nothing like that exists today!
Immigration, yes, again an issue but remember the Notting Hill Race Riots against West African Immigration took place in 1956 and Mosley was still active then. The real issue is that people can now move much more easily around the globe than they used to be able to and are exploiting that freedom to head for countries where you can have a better lifestyle -well, I would, wouldn’t you?
I completely agree with you on manufacturing though. Thatcher destroyed the heavy industry, after decades of state mismanagement and workforce obduracy in some cases, and mortgages our future to the ‘service economy’. We saw the effect of that in the financial meltdown of 2008 and the COVID era. We suffered more than those nations that do still maintain an industrial base, but let’s be honest, British goods had gained a reputation for shoddiness and poor quality anyway.
The biggest fault of governments to me is the failure to maintain a proper educational system. I was a grammar school boy, but hold no candle for the system, but the old technical education route no longer exists, with more and more graduates in strange and esoteric subjects joining the ranks of the indigent unable to find work.
I think your final couple of paragraphs are bang on, but I can’t agree with the idea that there ever was a better time. The problems were just different but often it was in addressing those issues that the seeds of our current dilemma were sown?