I suppose the idea has been repeated here and there and no one has thought to challenge it. But a moment's reflection tells us that it is absurd. Name the advanced economy with a democratic system which does not have a welfare state. Every country in western Europe has a welfare state. Even the USA, whom many in the media in Britain assume is capitalist in tooth and claw, provides government education and has welfare benefits for the unemployed and the ill. Some forty per cent of healthcare in the USA is paid for by government, too. Yes, all the welfare state from Sweden to Australia vary, but virtually all comparable countries have them. The welfare state is not a special British achievement.

Why is the idea that it is especially British dangerous? Because it calls in patriotism as a reason for believing that the welfare state is a 'good thing'. The linking of patriotism and the welfare state is inappropriate and misleading.

One other historical note: our national unemployment insurance was created explicitly in imitation of the system in Germany. Lloyd George visited Germany to find out about the system there. Some of the details of his strange trip are in the book.