Britain has just experienced an economic crisis that has had a similar effect on our country as a world war. This crisis may be over or simply be in abeyance, but the national media and politicians have yet to fully understand the effects on the people living in Britain's peripheral communities, away from the metropolitan bubbles.
It is the job of politicians to make life better for the people they represent, but this task is stymied because most people in Britain's areas of "market failure" do not believe those representing them understand the first thing about their lives.
This has created an environment that is hard going for progressive politics, even when it could hold the answers to the problems that our nation and these communities face. Ed Miliband has called this a crisis of political legitimacy – and he is right to do so. Legitimacy is rooted in accountability and authenticity. Right now, it is the widely perceived lack of both qualities within our politics that is enabling a toxic disconnection between the governed and the governors to flourish
Read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/17/forgotten-britain-towns-villages-austerity-community
