Dismembered

Who are ‘we’, in these times of confused identity, exposed in the Brexit vote? Public services used to define who we are, from the NHS to the British Army, National Grid and elemental water and energy services. Some have been sold, bought by foreign companies and run for private profit. Others have been broken up into competing units, defying common understanding of who does what in whose name. ‘Public spirit’ is evaporating. What is the state? And what's it ever done for you? More than you think. The state houses us, educates us, employs us, protects us on the street and in the wider world. It is the country we created together, and a part of our national identity. However, in recent years there has been a systematic and covert attack on the state that has turned us all against it - the government have depleted funding and resources, and mounted an ideological assault on the public sector through the media. Toynbee and Walker travelled around Great Britain gathering the voices of the people who make up the state: nurses and patients, teachers and parents, policemen and civilians. This book is your chance to hear their side of the story. The story they tell is one of dismemberment across our nation state: a fragmented NHS, a reduced police force, divided schools and a vulnerable military. In Dismembered, it becomes clear that this attack on the state is an attack on each and every one of us, for our peace and productivity as a country depend upon a strong state. Dismembered lays bare the deliberate dismantling of the public sector and its consequences. Our post-Brexit well-being and prosperity are now at stake.