One of the best things about writing books is going on a book tour. I’m in the middle of one now. A tour means authors meet readers – and sell books – at public events with audiences at festivals, theatres and book shops.
I’ve been up and down the UK from Scotland and Northern Ireland to Wales and all across England with more venues in the next month. I’m discussing my new book Britain Is Better Than This which, as the title suggests, argues that Britain remains a great country, but as a nation we often fail to live up to our own best standards.
To take some obvious examples, the University of Cambridge has more Nobel prize winners than any country in the world except the US and Britain itself. British musicians are known all over the world. British writers such as Ian Fleming, J K Rowling and JRR Tolkien create heroes and villains that produce some of the biggest Hollywood franchises, and fill cinemas around the world.
But there is a gloomy sense of things going wrong in Britain right now. Our public and political life is not living up to the hopes and aspirations of most of us. Economically we are under-performing.
In years gone by, book tour audiences would sometimes say that the British system of government “doesn’t work in theory, but works in practice.” I don’t hear that much any more. Instead, people talk of systemic failure and a country too often stuck in the glories of the past.
Last week, for example, I spoke at a book festival in Kent, where 16 of the 17 parliamentary seats are held by Conservative MPs. But I heard repeated complaints about things not working well, about a government and politicians generally out of touch.
I hear complaints about failing public services, incompetence in government and the decline of standards and loss of national pride in our great institutions
Voters will get a chance to have their say soon in a general election. That means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s budget this week is probably the last big chance for him to demonstrate he has a grip on the way the country is moving.
The speculation has been about tax cuts, perhaps 2 per cent off national insurance. This is red meat to traditional Conservative voters, but even if such a cut is announced, it may not save Mr Sunak.
As James Callaghan, a former British prime minister, famously put it back in 1979 when his government was wiped out by a landslide for the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher: “There are times… when there is a sea-change in politics. It then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of.”
Many of those book festival audiences appear to sense that such a shift has already taken place. The complaints I have heard most often on the book tour will not be solved by a tax cut. Audiences talk about the high cost of living, and 2p in the pound off income tax doesn’t compensate for 14 years of austerity.
Everywhere I travel across the UK I hear complaints about failing public services, incompetence in government, poor transport links, sewage in rivers and the sea, the decline of standards and loss of national pride in our great institutions including the National Health Service, local councils (some of which face bankruptcy), underfunded universities and schools, and other public services.
A tax cut now may simply be a sign of the Sunak administration leaving a poison-pill legacy for a future Labour government, which will – many economists believe – probably have to reverse any cuts to fund damaged public services.
The Labour Party remains way ahead in opinion polls, reflecting James Callaghan’s sense of a major turning point. Even in a largely Conservative county like Kent, many voters appear to think the Conservative Party has run out of ideas. Mr Sunak himself is hugely unpopular. Voters may not be wholly enthusiastic about the Labour party either but polls suggest they see Labour as the least worst option.
Barring surprises, therefore, this week’s British budget is likely to be the last big scheduled political event before a general election. It will be analysed, sliced and diced by economists and others, but it is difficult to believe a possible tax cut a few months before an election will make a significant difference.
One other peculiarity of the British system is that Mr Sunak has never faced a national vote as leader despite being prime minister since October 2022. He succeeded the disastrous premiership of Liz Truss but neither Mr Sunak nor Ms Truss secured a personal mandate from the British people.
They both became prime minister only as a result of an internal Conservative Party campaign and support from MPs or party members. That, as book festival audiences used to say, is “just the way the British system works.” But does it “work” any more?
Trust in UK political parties has plummeted to just 12 per cent according to the Office for National Statistics, making them the least trusted of any British public institution. Since the party system is at the core of democracy, that is not good news.
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
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Men's football draw
Group A: UAE, Spain, South Africa, Jamaica
Group B: Bangladesh, Serbia, Korea
Group C: Bharat, Denmark, Kenya, USA
Group D: Oman, Austria, Rwanda
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Recycle Reuse Repurpose
New central waste facility on site at expo Dubai South area to handle estimated 173 tonne of waste generated daily by millions of visitors
Recyclables such as plastic, paper, glass will be collected from bins on the expo site and taken to the new expo Central Waste Facility on site
Organic waste will be processed at the new onsite Central Waste Facility, treated and converted into compost to be re-used to green the expo area
Of 173 tonnes of waste daily, an estimated 39 per cent will be recyclables, 48 per cent organic waste and 13 per cent general waste.
About 147 tonnes will be recycled and converted to new products at another existing facility in Ras Al Khor
Recycling at Ras Al Khor unit:
Plastic items to be converted to plastic bags and recycled
Paper pulp moulded products such as cup carriers, egg trays, seed pots, and food packaging trays
Glass waste into bowls, lights, candle holders, serving trays and coasters
Aim is for 85 per cent of waste from the site to be diverted from landfill
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Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
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Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
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yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
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Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
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- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
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