Mad As Hell

First broadcast from 20050619 to 20050703.

Three talks by columnist Simon Jenkins. Why is everyone who comes into contact with modern British government mad as hell? Thatcherism was supposed to roll back the frontiers of the state and disengage government from the people. Yet after a quarter century of privatisation we seem more enmeshed in Whitehall rules, regulation and red tape than ever.

At the recent election, every party promised to cut back on every facet of over-regulation, in hospitals, schools, police, health and safety, even farming and building work. They seem unable to deliver. Why? What is it about modern society that seems to crave liberty but also to crave more state intervention?