EAN: 9780141992266

THE DREADFUL MONSTER AND ITS POOR RELATIONS - J...

'An invaluable primer to some of the underlying tensions behind contemporary political debate'
Financial TimesIt has always been an important part of British self-image to see the United
Kingdom as an ancient  organic and sensibly managed place  in striking contrast to the
convulsions of other European countries. Yet  as Julian Hoppit makes clear in this fascinating
and surprising book  beneath the complacent surface the United Kingdom has in fact been in a
constant  often very tense argument with itself about how it should be run and  most
significantly  who should pay for what.The book takes its argument from an eighteenth century
cartoon which shows the central state as the 'Dreadful Monster'  gorging itself at the dinner
table on all the taxes it can grab. Meanwhile the 'Poor Relations' - Scotland  Wales and
Ireland  both poor because of tax but also poor in the sense of needing special treatment - are
viewed in London as an endless 'drain on the state'. With drastically different levels of
prosperity  population  industry  agriculture and accessibility between the United Kingdom's
different nations  what is a fair basis for paying for the state?

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