Failed State: Why Nothing Works and How We Fix It - with Sam Freedman

In his bestselling new book, Sam Freedman outlines how it feels like nothing works in Britain anymore. It has become harder than ever to get a GP appointment. Many property crimes remain unsolved. Rivers are overrun with sewage. Wages are stagnant and the cost of housing is increasing. He asks why it feels like everything is going wrong, at the same time?
It's easy to blame dysfunctional politicians, but the reality is more complicated, he says. Politicians can make things better or worse, but all work within our state institutions. And Failed State argues ours are utterly broken.
In this event from the Policy Institute and the Fairness Foundation Freedman - a leading policy expert and writer of the UK’s most popular politics Substack - offers his analysis of how our governance has fallen behind and what can be done to pave the way for a fairer and more prosperous Britain.
Speakers:
Sam Freedman, author of Failed State and writer for the Comment is Freed Substack
Polly Curtis, Chief Executive, Demos
Emma Norris, Deputy Director, Institute for Government
Duncan Robinson, Political Editor and Bagehot columnist, The Economist
Bobby Duffy, Director, the Policy Institute at King’s College London (Chair)