It’s harder than ever to get a GP appointment. Burglaries go unpunished. Rivers are overrun with sewage. Real wages have been stagnant for years, even as the cost of housing rises inexorably. Why is everything going wrong at the same time?

In Failed State, Sam Freedman, one of Britain’s leading policy experts, offers a devastating analysis of where we’ve gone wrong. It’s easy to blame dysfunctional politicians who are out for themselves. But, in reality, it’s more complicated. Politicians can make things better or worse, but all work within our state institutions. And ours are utterly broken.

Sam explains why British governance has fallen so far behind. Speaking to politicians of all stripes, civil servants and workers on the frontline, he has insight into the real problems that are so often hidden from the front pages.