‘The retreat of the state: Conservative ‘modernisation’ and the public services’

Simon Griffiths reviews a year of public services under the Coalition and tries to square the radical programme of reforms with the pre-election notion of Cameron as a ‘One Nation’ Conservative. If Labour is to effectively challenge the Coalition's anti-state arguments, he says, it needs to find a compelling narrative about the role of the public services and the place of the state in their provision.