How did Britain become so divided? Danny Dorling on our shattering nation

Why is the UK so unusual – and not at all in a good way? How did the Conservative Party end up having more in common with European political parties such as Germany]s far-right AfD than with other “conservative” parties on the continent – as far back as the prime ministership of David Cameron? How did a recent Scottish government policy that most people outside of Scotland are unaware of, manage to reverse one of the harshest measures imposed on families by the UK government?

From miserly state pension benefits to shrinking children and soaring child poverty, and from dwindling state spending as a proportion of GDP to the outsized influence of billionaire-owned newspapers that as far back as the 1930s, a Tory prime minister described as “engines of propaganda”, British exceptionalism is taking a toll on all who live in it as the country becomes poorer and harsher. In this election year, are there any reasons to be hopeful?

This is an audio-only recording of a talk by acclaimed geographer and inequalities expert Professor Danny Dorling of the University of Oxford at the Lewes Speakers Festival on 11 May 2024. His talk draws on his recent Verso book Shattered Nation: Inequality and the Geography of a Failing State.