Yes bring it back

A very well written and told book, The nanny state is so urgently needed,the sooner the better

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Modern British History Lesson

Very interesting book, well researched and making some very good points about the way this country is run. Maconie is passionate about this subject and this is a thought provoking and intelligently written book.

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Spot on

I felt this book personally
I was born in 1953 in Hackney London and consider myself a child of the welfare state.
The "Nanny State" made so many of us and Stuart Maconie is so right to look at the reasons that we gained so much from its wide net
The story of the decline of the welfare state is perhaps the greatest tragedy of our lives.
interestingly I graduated in 1976 from Warwick University. In the beautiful hot summer of that year we had an open day where I met up with a friend I'd met at a local jazz club in Earlsdon, Coventry.
He'd left school at 15, married early, raised a family but was able to sit with me in the cafeteria at the Student's Union building talking of his hopes for the future for his children. He was self-educated from books that he borrowed from the local library, was thinking of doing an Open University course and ran rings around me (just graduated with a Politics degree) on discussion about political philosophers!
According to Maconie 1976 was the height of the postwar benefits of the welfare state.In 1079 Mrs Thatcher arrived at 10 Downing Street and the test is a sad story of greed and selfish individualism that has dominated too many years of my life. I often wonder what became of my friend and his children on the decl9n9ng situation that followed that beautiful day.
This was a great listen and well worth anyone's time. The ending was uplifting and brought tears to my eyes.

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Never a truer sentiment

A fantastic look at how woefully selfish this nation has become having fallen for all the Tory lies about privatisation being good

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A superb reminder of things we may have forgot...

Mr Maconie is a force for good in turbulent times...
You will spend your hours no better than with this audio book.

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Brilliant!

Confirmed my feelings and beliefs about the post-war years in the UK. This is the first book I have ever read by Stuart Maconie but it is unlikely to be the last. Eloquent report on the moral corruption of the real "Best of British" by the imbibing of Thatcherite and Neo-Liberal toxic but intoxicating-for-some koolaid. Stuart warmly and candidly relates the blessings of the welfare and caring state on the average citizen expressing gratititudes that many of us are, so often, made to feel ashamed to feel. I enjoyed it so much that I will be going through it again as if it is a book on a syllabus I am going to be examined on, taking notes, checking references, revising, meditating, writing my own commentaries on it, discussing it with others. I cannot praise it highly enough. As a "southerner" , born and raised in West London, this book has filled me with a love of the north, the northern working-class, and social-reformers moved into action by Christian values and love for their fellow man. This book ought to be compulsory in schools, or at least required reading for our schoolchildren.. It probably will be, but sadly not in the UK.

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Eye-opening and enjoyable

Hard to imagine how things can change when our governments, bankers, media moguls are doing so well from privatisation. Even 2020 selfless NHS staff after treating the Prime Minister through his self-induced Covid illness, they are being told they won't be receiving a pay rise anywhere near a member of parliaments upgrades, mostly all working from (one of their) homes.

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Excellent timely book

Stuart Maconie is at his best when he gets all polemical, and while I don't agree with everything here (in particular, criticising left Labour activists for being patronising then saying he's more centrist because "I'm a grown up" is a bit jarring), this is a great impassioned case for the welfare state and a fairer society. As usual it's really well researched and I especially appreciated ('enjoyed' would be the wrong word) the bit about Prescot and, quite frankly, how bleak its decline over the last 30 years has been. An excellent and very timely book.

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Stunningly good listen

OK, I am a big Maconie fan and love his radio shows. This is the first book of his I have listened to and won't be the last. As someone a bit older than Stuart but a product of the Nanny State, I laughed, cried and sometimes got angry (not against Stuart) when listening to this well researched book. It is wonderfully read and I will listen again. I have also bought the book for reference purposes.

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Food for thought.

This book is a must read not only for nanny state / welfare babies, but a real eye opener for anybody who is interested in how our country has been destroyed.
Excellent narration by the author.

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