Statistics are notoriously easy to manipulate or quote selectively; those for Britain during the last 50 years do not show a one-way street.  For example, far fewer people smoke than used to.  After sharp rises, police recorded crime has actually come down since 2003.  Even violent crime is down on its 2005 peak and homicides are back to levels they were 20 or even 30 years ago.  Families hold together less well than they used to.  On the other hand, British society is now much more open and less class-bound.

It is vital to say at the outset that there is much that is right with Britain – much that is worth fighting for.  Our society still has more honesty and integrity and less corruption than so many countries, and our streets are safer.  It is still a privilege to be British.

Nevertheless, there are some alarming trends – indicators that we may be losing what we have, and that we have already lost quite a lot of what we used to have.

These negative trends are widely recognised by the general public.  According to a February 2010 Populus poll, 64% think that Britian is 'going off on the wrong path', while 70% think that 'society in Britian is broken.  A poll of 1,736 mothers for the 21st Century Family Life Survey found that 88% think there has been a breakdown in family life in Britain (quoted in the Daily Mail, 289 June 2006).  A surevy of 2,000 adults found that 12% were considering emigration.  The biggest concern driving this was a 'broken society', as well as the cost of living, crime and violence.  (Survey by the consumer watchdog uSwitch.  Quoted in the Times, 29 September 2011).

Please look left to see the links to the various articles that expose 'the problem' in detail and seek to understand how it came about.