By 1997, Britain was tired of a Tory party that had been in power for 18 years and who many felt had contributed to the decline of the nation. Hutton identified clearly the failings of the British political and economic establishment and suggested, both in this book and its hurried sequel, "The State to come", how things could be put right.

It is a book that captured the zeitgeist of the nation most accurately. It encouraged many to vote for New Labour, in the misguided belief that New Labour had actually read it. After all, Hutton was a one-time stockbroker, and a respected economist and commentator. Instead, things turned out differently. ( )

This is an analysis of the social, political and economic arrangements in Britain which Hutton asserts have become out-of-date. It includes ideas on how he thinks the state can be updated. Hutton argues that the weaknesses of the economy cannot be divorced from the problems in the rest of society.
He makes a critique of Britain's institutions and argues that we have an 18th-century state dealing with 20th-century issues. He offers explanations for the attitudes which he thinks prevent Britain from moving forward into the 21st century as a truly modern country.

Ian McEwan: Will Hutton gives a chilling account of the modern Tory Party's penetration of our national institutions.

This is an analysis of the social, political and economic arrangements in Britain which Hutton asserts have become out-of-date. It includes ideas on how he thinks the state can be updated. Hutton argues that the weaknesses of the economy cannot be divorced from the problems in the rest of society.
He makes a critique of Britain's institutions and argues that we have an 18th-century state dealing with 20th-century issues. He offers explanations for the attitudes which he thinks prevent Britain from moving forward into the 21st century as a truly modern country.