Are we in a state of irreversible decline? What’s the reason, what can be done about it and, if there is a solution, who in earth is going to put into action?” So begins episode six of Chris Morris’s magisterial satire Brass Eye, filmed in 1996 and broadcast on Channel 4 the following year, when Labour ended almost 19 years of Conservative government.
The word “decline” is everywhere in 2024, most often accompanied by the word “terminal”. It comes from the Right, driven mad by their impotence after Brexit, and from the Left, who judge Sir Keir Starmer to be just another manager of late capitalism’s doom spiral. There is also despair among social democrats and centrists, who see Britain’s institutions and infrastructure crumbling at the same time society is becoming more polarised and uncivil.
