Dogma and Disarray: Cameron at Half-Time

by Polly Toynbee, David Walker

Compassionate, caring, green: this is how David Cameron presented himself before the election. Once in Downing Street, he threw off his disguise. The laid-back old-school Tory emerged as the leader of a party on a break-neck mission to fulfil Margaret Thatcher's vision. Polly Toynbee and David Walker, previously sharp dissectors of the Blair and Brown record, report that despite confusion and economic failure the Tories core commitment is unchanged. Looking in detail at the government's policies during their first two years in power, Toynbee and Walker warn in this lively analysis that by the next election the welfare state may be in irrecoverable ruins - unless the Tory mission to downsize and diminish the publish realm is brought down first by Cameron's incompetence.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

88 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 25, 2012

About the author

Polly Toynbee (born Mary Louisa Toynbee, 27 December 1946) is a British journalist and writer, and has been a columnist for The Guardian newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and broadly supports the Labour Party, while urging it in many areas to be more left-wing, though during the 2010 general election she urged a tactical vote in support of the Liberal Democrats in an attempt to bring about a Lab-Lib coalition in support of proportional representation. She was appointed President of the British Humanist Association in July 2007. In 2007 she was named 'Columnist of the Year' at the British Press Awards.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good examination on the current government - the chapter on Michael Gove's ripping apart of the educational system like a bull in a china shop, because Cameron isn't especially interested in education, was the best.

[Eddie Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very comprehensive take-down of the Coalition's record in office, clearly argued but extensively backed-up with footnoted data. A brilliant overview of the disaster overtaking the UK currently.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine polemic that is right in its overall analysis if occasionally let down by a few errors of detail.