Introduction: A Crisis in UK Institutions?

Abstract

There is an obvious, but striking contrast between the 1950s, an age often framed against a back-drop depicting popular, widespread deference, respect and trust towards the ‘great’ institutions of the state such as parliament, Whitehall, the judiciary, the armed forces, the established Church, etc., and today, where rarely a week passes when one or other institution is not being drawn into publicly defending itself against accusations of nefarious practice, corruption or maladministration. To give a flavour, in the brief time it has taken to pen this introductory chapter, the media have carried a variety of stories — either real or alleged — concerning:

• failures in child protection

• unacceptable practices in various NHS primary care trusts

• a smear campaign against the Stephen Lawrence family organised by the police

• the failure of the Liberal Democrats to properly investigate sexual harassment within their party

• union manipulation in the selection process of Labour MP candidates

• the Conservative MP Patrick Mercer resigning from his party over concerns surrounding cash for questions

• the conviction of the BBC presenter Stuart Hall for child-sex offences following on from the arrest of other current or former BBC employees on similar charges in the wake of the Jimmy Saville affair

• the arrest and prosecution of a number of media figures as part of the Eleveden and Weeting operations investigations into illegal media practices

• three UK banks being investigated for shutting exchanges out of the credit derivatives market.