Customer Reviews
Short memory! - By: I. Taylor, 01 Oct 2008 
Three years ago Toynbee wrote "Better or Worse: Has Labour Delivered?" This intervention gave the verdict that New Labour had delivered & that Britain was safer, better educated & better off all round thanks to Tony Blair. Forward to 2008 & suddenly Toynbee is talking about a totally different & unrecognisable country compared to her "Better or Worse" effort. Given that she is a famed New Labour luvvie, her indictment of modern Britain is an indictment of New Labour's record & by extension, is an indictment of Toynbee & her ilk.
truth about divided britain - By: Mr. R. J. HESKETH, 16 Sep 2008 
This book is first class.As with Toynbees & Walkers previous publications it is exceptionally well researched.Through careful evidence based arguments the true nature of a socially & economically divided Britain is vividly critiqued & exposed using the full force of the authors considerable gift for bringing new light & clarity to issues of social justice. Despite the scandalous levels of inequality that prevailin Modern Britain that are exploredin this book, the book is not at all defeatist or disheartening.
Why? Because the authors raise the debate by raising the game above complaining about terrible things are & how nothing can ever really change.Solutions is far more the theme of this book rather than problems.I as a reader was left feeling reinvigorated & hopeful for the future because any false mystique attached to the inevitability of having to settle with the current shambles as the best we can hope for is completly stripped away by Toynbee & Walker who refuse to tip toe around those whose entrenched priviledge needs to be urgently questioned.
The authorship of this book has a gift for clarity that is second to none.It will make uncomfortable reading for New Labour ,It will at first make you angry but you soon come to realise that the main problem is political will & that equality & fairness by no means need to remain just pipe dreams.An excellent book.A must for anyone truly interestedin social justice.
Extraordinary account of inequality - By: R. Wilson, 12 Sep 2008 One of the most compelling political books of the year. The magnitude of inequality across Britain is extraordinary, the level of self-denial by the rich disgusting.
The research here is thorough & irrefutable. The rich really ARE stupendously overpaid, inequality HAS been rising to an insane degree, & the effect on the poverty stricken IS profound & unacceptable. The next time someone mutters something about dole scroungers to you, simply reel off the figuresin here about how much tax dodging the rich do.
I don't write hyperbolic reviews - but I would say this is an essential read to understand one of the most serious problemsin contemporary Britain.
One more to admire than to enjoy - By: G. L. Haggett, 30 Aug 2008 
Polly Toynbee & I sing from a similar hymnsheetin political terms.
There is much illuminating evidence here about how the wealthy (mis) conceive the less well off. However, those good intentions which tend to mask Polly Toynbee's sometimes turgid prosein a short(ish) newspaper article cannot pull off the same trickin a book of this length. She is so keen to get her message across that she can become heavy-handed & repetitious.
That said, many of the points she makes are absolutely valid; as ever, the research is impeccable & the arguments are backed up well. Ultimately, however, even the most valid argument can become tiresome if you keep producing examples of the same problem. In that sense, this book was depressingly familiar & it does lead me to ask where we should be looking for the upside.
One minor complaint; the cover price for this (paperback) book is £10.99. The money clearly did not go into the production, because the proof-reading leaves much to be desired. This appears to be a growing problem & even a disturbing trend among publishers eager to get books outin order to capture the Zeitgeist.
Breath-takingly selective and totalitarian - By: Rationalist101, 27 Aug 2008 I heard Polly Toynbee at a debate recently & bought her bookin order to read more data about the subject. Although one of the rich of this country (I pay higher rate tax at the margin)I am, of course, concerned about society as a whole. By the end of the book I was fuming.
After tricking a few lawyers & bankers into giving her ammunition (which she very selectively uses) she gives a handful of case studies. Firstly, the lawyers are so rich they don't even know how rich they are, therefore, tax them into oblivion - it's only fair! Furthermore, since they aren't experts on the dispersion of incomes within the country she asserts, only slightly tonguein cheek (?), that they shouldn't be allowed to vote. Now the vast majority of peoplein this country are not economic & strategic experts - does that mean we should scrap democracy?
Polly's solution is spend, spend, spend! Afterall, "equality is expensive" & "equality is painful"
How do we pay for this? Tax, tax, tax. It's only fair!!! (just a little bit more...)
Now she gives one case study of a girl at primary school who after a year was isolated & unable to read or understand the concept of the beginnig of a sentence. Polly tells us how a wonderful new (and expensive) remedial service brought her up to standard of the average class after 7 hours of tuition. They you are! spend, spend spend! Of course the REAL answer was teach the child properlyin the first place, but this didn't occur to Polly.
She wants all tax returns to be public & actively wants neighbours to snoop & "whistleblow" on anyone spending "too much" - how sinister & totalitarian is that! Polly would have been a good friend to the Stasi!
Tax homes too!... afterall capital growth is free of tax. In fact this is nonsense. Over time, the growth just reflects inflation. The debt incurred to buy the property does have to be paid back from after-tax income, so homes are taxed twice if they fall into inheritance tax.
Polly begrudgingly notes that the poorest today (refering to one of thosein her case studies) are vastly better off than their grandparents. And why is that Polly? Surely not the terrible system you want to tax to death? She assumes that society will carry on improving, yet ruthlessly egalitarian societies of the recent past invariably achieved the reverse, e.g. East Germany. (but lots of lovely snooping & equal boxes to live in)
I suggest people read the book. However, counter balance it with an account of the appalling & incredible waste of taxes under "New Labour" given by David Craigin "Squandered". Governments are fundamentally & inherently wastefulin areas outside core fields such as justice. (let's have two teachers when one would do)
Anybody seriously interestedin how society can improve for EVERYONE should also read "The Origin Of Wealth" by Eric Beinhocker. Specialisation leads to prosperity but it also leads to inequality. Sorry Polly, but that is demonstrable. To destroy inequality as you say you want, you also destroy prosperity.
