The "Rotten State of Britain"

Britain is at an historic political crossroads. Public disgust with elected officials cannot be overstated. But more on that, as they say, in a moment.

I spent the past few weeks in London where the most amazing thing I witnessed was six straight days of blue skies, warmth and sunshine. I was there looking into a number of stories you’ll soon see on the CBN Newschannel and TV, including analysis of the MP expenses scandal that’s rocked Britain to its political core, the occasional health hazards of Britain's government run healthcare, and the war on Christianity in what is still officially a very Christian nation. I will also update my story on the mega mosque planned for East London (which is now in serious jeopardy), and update Commonwealth Church, the multinational congregation evicted from St. Mark’s Church in London’s West End so that the cash-strapped Church of England could sell the historic place of worship to a developer who would like to turn it into a ladies spa. The fat lady hasn’t sung on Commonwealth’s hopes, and she will probably have to find another church...er...spa in which to slim down.

One of the people I interviewed there was Dr. Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute and author of The Rotten State of Britain.  Butler’s book was written before the MP scandal, but could not have been more aptly titled for this moment in Britain. He believes 12 years of Blair and Brown have turned the United Kingdom into a miserable place where CCTV cameras spy on everyone and a person can be arrested for dropping an apple core on the ground. Added to that now are the disclosures of official hypocrisy, which leads us again to the crossroads.

While In Britain, I asked just about everyone I could about the MP scandal, in which members of Parliament were caught expensing everything from adult films to second homes.  The public is seething after learning that politicians, who for years saddled the public with heavy taxes and nanny state regulations, have been living by their own standards and in a world of privilege, reminiscent of the Communist party bosses in the old Soviet bloc. A BBC poll shows 85% of Britons now want to strip MPs of their power to police themselves. This scandal has stuck a dagger in Gordon Brown’s already feeble Labor government, and has boosted the British National Party, which is widely viewed as racist, although it says it is not. 

We'll have to wait to see just how fed up Britons are.