How They Broke Britain

Stop reading now if you’re a fan of Brexit and/or don’t like James O’Brien. I don’t like the former but I am a fan of the latter. And what I like about this fluently-written, ever-so-readable book is the thoroughness with which O’Brien lays out his case that the 10 individuals described within its pages are the reason why Britain is so broken.

Starting with Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacre’s creation of a ravenous, right-wing press, to David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn’s political incompetence, to Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson’s opportunism, he ends up with a short but devastating chapter on the disaster that was Liz Truss’ premiership. And the state the country finds itself in now.

Whether or not this book will change anyone’s mind about Brexit, or the people who promoted it, defended it and brought it to fruition is up in the air. Probably not. In this age where civilized discourse has become a thing of the past and politics a celebrity arena, the trenches may just be dug too deep on either side.

But I’ve never read a better, more blistering account of how we’ve ended up in the world we currently live in.