The Verdict: Did Labour Change Britain?

by David Walker (Author), PollyToynbee (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2011

  $3.25

  Did the Labour government improve people's lives? Are we healthier, wealthier or wiser; happier or safer than in 1997, when Labour came to power? If we are, how much do w have to thank Blair and Brown and their cabinets for? In The Verdict, Polly Toynbee and David Walker strip away spin, personality and political rhetoric to judge how our lives have changed. They consider Labour's lasting legacy and what its successors can learn from Labour's performance. Travelling the country, Toynbee and Walker compare Labour's promises with people's own accounts of what they experienced in recent years. They drop in on a Sure Start centre and visit schools, hospitals and colleges - and estates plagued by disorder - to ask: what different did Labour make? Combining sharp, witty writing, human stories and expert analysis, The Verdict charts Labour's often bewildering array of initiatives, projects and schemes. It questions how many depended on bubble finance and how many will be missed as recent public spending cuts take hold. From the early optimism of 'Things can only get better' to the misery of the financial crisis, Toynbee and Walker hand down the definitive judgement on Labour's record.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2010

  $3.25

  Did Labour policies worsen the recession? Why did social mobility slow down on Labour's watch? Has SureStart improved the prospects of tomorrow's children? Does politics ever actually change anything? In their new book, Polly Toynbee and David Walker investigate these questions and more, providing a telling analysis of Labour's longest term in office, and a fascinating account of the role of politics in public life. They compare election promises with government policy, and use real-world stories and incisive commentary to illustrate the impact of Labour's government on the lives of British people. At the heart of the book is the question: Would the changes of the past 12 years have happened anyway? From the gleeful consumerism of the boom times to the misery of the economic bust, Toynbee & Walker assess the era of Blair and Brown and ask What Have Labour Done?

• New

  Paperback
  2011

  $10.86

  Did the Labour government improve people's lives? Are we healthier, wealthier or wiser; happier or safer than in 1997, when Labour came to power? If we are, how much do w have to thank Blair and Brown and their cabinets for? In The Verdict, Polly Toynbee and David Walker strip away spin, personality and political rhetoric to judge how our lives have changed. They consider Labour's lasting legacy and what its successors can learn from Labour's performance. Travelling the country, Toynbee and Walker compare Labour's promises with people's own accounts of what they experienced in recent years. They drop in on a Sure Start centre and visit schools, hospitals and colleges - and estates plagued by disorder - to ask: what different did Labour make? Combining sharp, witty writing, human stories and expert analysis, The Verdict charts Labour's often bewildering array of initiatives, projects and schemes. It questions how many depended on bubble finance and how many will be missed as recent public spending cuts take hold. From the early optimism of 'Things can only get better' to the misery of the financial crisis, Toynbee and Walker hand down the definitive judgement on Labour's record.