Broken Britain

Broken Britain is a term which has been used in The Sun newspaper,^[1] and by the Conservative Party^[2] to describe a perceived widespread state of social decay in the United Kingdom. The Sun has run frequent stories under the "Broken Britain" theme since 2007. Whilst the phrase is essentially a political one, the frequency of these stories has decreased since the Conservatives came to power in 2010 with the root causes coming under more scrutiny by the electorate.

Associated social issues

The term has included coverage of several supposedly interlinked issues:

• Child neglect to include the inadequacy of Child Protection within Social Services, particularly in the wake of the Baby P case^[3] and the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews
• Binge and underage drinking^[4]
• Violent, gang, knife and gun crime^[5]
• Teenage pregnancy^[6]
• Corrupt politicians, namely the expenses scandal
• VIP Paedophile scandal to include high ranking politicians^[7]
• Vote Rigging^[8]
• Mass Immigration combined with a rise in extremist Religious viewpoints ^[9]

Political usage

David Cameron has referred to "Broken Britain" during his time as leader of the Conservative Party, and pledged to "fix" Broken Britain during the campaign for the 2010 general election. In September 2009, The Sun announced^[10] that it would back the Conservatives in the 2010 election, having supported the Labour Party in 1997, 2001 and 2005, stating that Labour had "failed on law and order". Iain Duncan Smith published two reports, "Breakdown Britain" and "Breakthrough Britain", dealing with similar themes, through the Centre for Social Justice.

By contrast, The Guardian ran a series of articles in 2010 questioning this theme, under the title "Is Britain Broken?".^[2] The Conservatives also came under criticism after publishing an inaccurate figure in a report on teenage pregnancy and crime rates.^[11]

After the 2011 England riots, David Cameron alluded to many of these themes while speaking on the UK's "moral collapse". Under the banner of "Broken Society", he listed: "irresponsibility, selfishness, behaving as if your choices have no consequences, children without fathers, schools without discipline, reward without effort, crime without punishment, rights without responsibilities".^[12]

In popular culture

A number of films released from 2006 onwards have been identified as dealing with the fears stirred up by the idea of Broken Britain. They include Ill Manors, Harry Brown, Eden Lake, The Disappeared, Summer Scars, Outlaw, The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael and Heartless.^[13] The 2000 AD story Cradlegrave also played with similar "hoodie horror" themes.^[14]

See also

• Social structure of the United Kingdom
• Chav
• Crime in the United Kingdom
• Booze Britain

General:

• Criticisms of welfare
• Social cohesion
• Social disintegration

References

1. Pascoe-Watson, George. "David Cameron – Tory leader – Plans to mend broken Britain – The Sun –News–Sun Justice". The Sun. London.
2. Gentleman, Amelia (31 March 2010). "Is Britain broken?". The Guardian. London.
3. Jon Gaunt. "Why neglected kids are future Mercers". London: The Sun. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
4. Ashford, Ben. "Broken Britain – Binge drinking – Helen Newlove demands harsher booze laws – The Sun –News". The Sun. London.
5. "YouGov poll on Broken Britain reveals 71 per cent of Sun readers fear their children could be victims of violence". The Sun. London.
6. Hagan, Lucy. "Playtime for baby-faced 13-year-old dad Alfie Patten – The Sun –News". The Sun. London.
7. Mark Lawson (12 September 2013). "Channel 4's Dispatches on Cyril Smith is uncomfortable but powerful viewing". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
8. Barnaby Mason (5 April 2005). "Voting scandal mars UK election". BBC NEWS - UK. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
9. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263181/ETF_FINAL.pdf
10. "The Sun Says: Labour's lost it – The Sun –News". The Sun. London.
11. "Tory error over teen pregnancies". BBC News. 15 February 2010.
12. "England riots: Broken society is top priority - Cameron". BBC News. 15 August 2011.
13. Graham, Jane (5 November 2009). "Hoodies strike fear in British cinema". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 August 2011. They show all the hallmarks of the stereotypical youth of "Broken Britain" – the tracksuits, guns and dead eyes
14. Molcher, Michael (30 September 2011). "The ultimate hoodie horror - welcome to Cradlegrave". 2000ADonline. Retrieved 2 October 2011. The Ravenglade Estate is ‘broken Britain’ as its worse.