Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images
Every child in the UK is entitled to free treatment by a nonexistent dentist. Some people on benefits, pregnant women and those who have recently given birth also have free and full access to an imaginary service. Your rights are guaranteed, up to the point at which you seek to exercise them.
For a government that wants to destroy public services, NHS dentistry provides a useful template. Rather than inciting public fury by announcing a change of policy, you stoutly proclaim your undying commitment to the service while starving it of funds until it collapses. Then people grumble and unwisely grind their teeth, but they don’t rise up. The state of our mouths reflects the state of the nation.
