Not exactly a pleasant though, but has the UK failed as a whole? Wikipedia lists the following as general categorisations for a failed state:
Wikipedia – Failed State
- Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force
- Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
- Inability to provide public services
- Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community
Of these, I would argue that the only one we have not satisfied is the first, in that we have not (yet) lost control of any territory nor have we (yet) lost any of our ability to call upon the armed forces. Looking at the other categories though:
Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
Without question, the current government has almost done its best to delegitimise their authority. After all, we are on the third Prime Minister in the span of a few short months, and I have lost track of the number of scandals that have caused ministers to resign or be sacked. It is genuinely hard to accept that the current government has any mandate to lead, and in addition to this they have demonstrated time and time again that they do not have the collective character to do so.
Inability to provide public services
Sewage is being dumped into our waterways without treatment, doctors and nurses have threatened strike action for the first time ever, utilities have spiked in price, transport workers have repeatedly had to strike, several councils have had their refuse collections go on strike, education authorities have been brought to their knees with continuous budget cuts.
Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community
Brexit. Need I say more. We chose as a country to fulfil this particular requirement, and we can blame the Conservatives for blindly following a narrow advisory referendum into economy and diplomatic disaster.
Conclusion
The more I think of it, the more I think that we are presently a failed state. Our leaders do not have a mandate to be in charge, they do not have the confidence of their electorate to do the right thing, and the continuous changes in leadership show that they do not even have confidence in themselves. Hopefully this government is in its dying throes and we will not see significant additional harm before we can kick them out as voters.
