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Chatto CounterBlasts #9
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State
Lamenting the decline in all crucial welfare services during ten years of Thatcher rule, the author warns that this dream may fast becoming a Conservative nightmare. Townsend's anecdotes are a highly personal testimony to the Welfare State and the principles which underlie the concept of "welfare".
Contains: Introduction -- The Quick Birth -- What Katie Does -- Tales Out of School -- 1975: Gary, Daz and Craig -- Taking The Bottles Back -- Monitoring the Heart -- Community Care -- The Fiddler on the Train” -- The Paupers’ Funerals -- Mr Smith’s privatised penis
Contains: Introduction -- The Quick Birth -- What Katie Does -- Tales Out of School -- 1975: Gary, Daz and Craig -- Taking The Bottles Back -- Monitoring the Heart -- Community Care -- The Fiddler on the Train” -- The Paupers’ Funerals -- Mr Smith’s privatised penis
74 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1990
About the author
Sue Townsend
83 books969 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Susan Lillian "Sue" Townsend was a British novelist, best known as the author of the Adrian Mole series of books. Her writing tended to combine comedy with social commentary, though she has written purely dramatic works as well. She suffered from diabetes for many years, as a result of which she was registered blind in 2001, and had woven this theme into her work.
Susan Lillian "Sue" Townsend was a British novelist, best known as the author of the Adrian Mole series of books. Her writing tended to combine comedy with social commentary, though she has written purely dramatic works as well. She suffered from diabetes for many years, as a result of which she was registered blind in 2001, and had woven this theme into her work.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 24, 2019
This is a short collection of essays about the miserable state of Britain in the 70s and 80s – about how there is an acute need for a welfare state that works.
The author informs us that she can’t write a well-structured essay so she has fallen back on anecdotes. She portrays scenes from her own life, episodes involving herself and ones she has observed.
These are sober, bleak essays. I don’t know if things are better now in 2019, since I don’t live in Britain. Perhaps they are not better, but I certainly hope so.
Though the content is depressing, there is the usual humour, which Sue Townsend luckily cannot suppress.
She recounts the birth of her premature son, describes in detail the meagre finances of the working classes and shows how much child benefit actually covers.
She is visited by three teenagers who tell her “We’re leaving school in three weeks. Can you teach us to read?” It took 16-year-old Gary three minutes to laboriously write his Christian name and surname. None of the lads could read so much as a cornflakes packet.
She gave the boys details of some evening classes they could attend, though she knew they would never do so. None of them had a book of any kind in the house. They lived in poverty in damp houses on a problem housing estate.
It turned out that the headmaster of their school was “mad and violent and given to sudden attacks of rage”. The author and a colleague went to the school to see for themselves. The headmaster showed them his collection of canes and told them that most of the children were mongrels – the results of in-breeding.
She tells of her stay in the hospital due to a heart attack. A nurse says, “Sue Townsend”, “how embarrassing to have the same name as that woman who writes those silly books.”
She tells us about street people, Panda Mary, the Happy Man, a black girl who walks outside naked and a friend who had a breakdown.
These are dire stories, as are all the stories in the book.
She tells us about Mrs Bradshaw, the first of her clients in her job as a community worker, who wanted her to sell her body after her death, but, unfortunately, no-one was interested because she didn’t have a rare disease.
This is a sad and dismal collection of essays, out of date now, but probably still relevant. I would recommend Sue Townsend’s other, more cheerful books.
The author informs us that she can’t write a well-structured essay so she has fallen back on anecdotes. She portrays scenes from her own life, episodes involving herself and ones she has observed.
These are sober, bleak essays. I don’t know if things are better now in 2019, since I don’t live in Britain. Perhaps they are not better, but I certainly hope so.
Though the content is depressing, there is the usual humour, which Sue Townsend luckily cannot suppress.
She recounts the birth of her premature son, describes in detail the meagre finances of the working classes and shows how much child benefit actually covers.
She is visited by three teenagers who tell her “We’re leaving school in three weeks. Can you teach us to read?” It took 16-year-old Gary three minutes to laboriously write his Christian name and surname. None of the lads could read so much as a cornflakes packet.
She gave the boys details of some evening classes they could attend, though she knew they would never do so. None of them had a book of any kind in the house. They lived in poverty in damp houses on a problem housing estate.
It turned out that the headmaster of their school was “mad and violent and given to sudden attacks of rage”. The author and a colleague went to the school to see for themselves. The headmaster showed them his collection of canes and told them that most of the children were mongrels – the results of in-breeding.
She tells of her stay in the hospital due to a heart attack. A nurse says, “Sue Townsend”, “how embarrassing to have the same name as that woman who writes those silly books.”
She tells us about street people, Panda Mary, the Happy Man, a black girl who walks outside naked and a friend who had a breakdown.
These are dire stories, as are all the stories in the book.
She tells us about Mrs Bradshaw, the first of her clients in her job as a community worker, who wanted her to sell her body after her death, but, unfortunately, no-one was interested because she didn’t have a rare disease.
This is a sad and dismal collection of essays, out of date now, but probably still relevant. I would recommend Sue Townsend’s other, more cheerful books.
May 4, 2024
“They are soon caught in a downward spiral of financial despair. Soon this family are receiving expensive professional attention from a doctor, a social worker, a probation officer, a solicitor, a psychiatrist and several policemen. When all they honestly ever wanted was something cheaper and simpler - enough money.”
January 30, 2026
Sue Townsend - always entertaining, always thought-provoking. No matter the subject.
April 7, 2015
A pamphlet on just how hard it can be to get by when the deck is stacked against you, and how hard the push is to eliminate all safety nets in society. This applies even more so in modern day America than it did when it was written decades ago in Britain.
October 18, 2012
Sue Townsend's account of her dealings with the welfare state. Fantastic.
August 25, 2014
A wonderfully written pamphlet that proves to be just a little bit heartbreaking.It's been 25 years since its publication and the only changes to the welfare state have been for the worst.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews