The State We Need: Keys to the Renaissance of Britain

At a time when great issues are crying out for resolution - financial and economic stagnation, an increasingly polarised society, global paralysis over climate change, and spiritual emptiness and loss of vision throughout the West - politics is dominated by spin and manipulation. Too many people feel confused, cynical and angry... and poorly represented by a remote political elite in Westminster. Despite the crash, that elite are still clinging to the same old ideas that have been tried and found wanting; we're still being told that we're not allowed to think outside the box of Thatcher's capitalism.

This book opens up a whole new vista - one that is radical but also practical. It presents a different model for business, a restructured banking system, an alternative economic policy, a reconfigured power structure, an industrial policy geared to the revival of manufacturing, a sharply different approach to employment and welfare, as well as inequality in society, and a fundamental reassessment of the handling of climate change. The State We Need answers the cry of the alienated many. It delivers a full analysis of the problems facing the British state, and offers the comprehensive, resonating vision of Britain for which we've all been waiting.

Michael Meacher was the Labour Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton from 1997 until his death in 2015, having previously been the MP for Oldham West. He served as a junior minister under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, and was Minister of State for the Environment and Privy Counsellor in Tony Blair's Labour government.