Potholes everywhere, shoplifters rampant – today’s Britain looks as broken as it feels | Simon Jenkins

This is what happens when power over public services is stripped from local councils and handed to Whitehall

Every day in Britain the police are failing to arrest about 670 shoplifters. Down the road, your median wait in A&E is three hours. Meanwhile the number of care home beds has fallen by 18% in a decade, and the recent budget will cut them further. Prisons are bursting. Schools are turning away autistic children. Meanwhile, the Treasury is promising to spend £1.6bn filling in 7m potholes on ...