The concept of a “civilised society” typically hinges on the well-being of its citizens, the ethicality of its legal and political systems, as well as the transparency if its governance. By these measures, a civilised society ensures that its people have access to fundamental human rights, such as mental health support, secure housing, and fair justice. A government’s first priority is to the safety of its population, and that mental health, as well as physical health, should be at the forefront of their delivery of “national security” but they must also demonstrate integrity, empathy, sympathy and honesty, and its operations must remain fully open to public scrutiny.

The United Kingdom, a nation that lauds itself on its democratic traditions and the rule of law, appears to fall short in several key areas when measured against this standard of civilisation. Below, we will explore why the UK does not fully meet the criteria for a civilised society, as outlined by concerns surrounding mental health, homelessness, the legal system, and the political leadership.

 

Mental Wellbeing: A Failing System

One of the cornerstones of a civilised society is the prioritisation of mental health. A government’s duty includes ensuring its citizens have access to mental health services, fostering an environment of psychological well-being.

In the UK, mental health services are under-resourced and overstretched. The National Health Service (NHS) has faced severe funding cuts over the past decade, leading to long waiting lists for mental health treatment. In 2022, the Royal College of Psychiatrists reported that over 1.4 million people were on waiting lists for NHS mental health services, with many waiting months to receive adequate care, if they receive it at all. The variation in the efficacy of mental health provision is also a “postcode” lottery, but even the best areas are failing in their core delivery.

The impact of this underfunding is profound. Suicide rates, especially among young people and veterans, have been on the rise, many people suffering from mental illnesses, such as depression or anxiety, do not receive timely or effective treatment. The Mental Health Foundation notes that mental health problems are the leading cause of disability in the UK .

Furthermore, stigma surrounding mental health persists despite public awareness campaigns, reflecting a society that still does not treat mental well-being with the seriousness it deserves. A truly civilised society would invest heavily in preventive care and timely treatment, ensuring that citizens do not suffer in silence.

Mental Health should be a cornerstone of National Security, because the mental health of the citizens is core to a society that is not susceptible to extreme political thinking, religious indoctrination and will reduce the reliance of many of illegal or unsafe substance abuse, all of which put immense pressure on the health care and criminal justice systems.

The solution is a holistic one, not one in isolation.

Homelessness: A Systematic Failure

A civilised society ensures that its citizens are not left without shelter, one of the most basic human needs. However, homelessness is a persistent issue in the UK, and the government’s response has been inadequate at best for decades.

In 2023, homelessness in the UK reached its highest levels in decades. Shelter, the leading housing charity, estimated that over 270,000 people were homeless, including rough sleepers and those in temporary accommodation . Among these, rough sleeping has increased dramatically since austerity measures were introduced in 2010. Many homeless individuals struggle with mental health issues or substance abuse, but without access to housing, recovery is difficult, creating a cycle of poverty and social exclusion.

Moreover, the rise in evictions following the end of government pandemic support measures exacerbated the crisis. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a failure to address underlying structural issues, such as the lack of affordable housing and insecure tenancies, has left thousands vulnerable to homelessness .

A society that permits homelessness on this scale fails to fulfil its duty of care to its citizens, reflecting a failure to protect the vulnerable and uphold human dignity.

A civilised society has laws and provisions in place to ensure that all of its citizens have adequate shelter, adequate food and adequate access to support mechanisms, in this, the UK is an abject failure.

An Ethical Legal System in Decline

An ethical legal system is foundational to civilisation, ensuring that all citizens are treated fairly and justly under the law. Yet, the UK’s legal system has shown signs of inequality and ethical degradation for many years, it has also shown that, despite the executive and judicial branches of society are allegedly separate, the Judiciary has shown that it will bow to political pressure, and that is a very slippery slope.

Austerity measures have severely impacted the criminal justice system. Legal aid cuts have disproportionately affected the poor, making it increasingly difficult for those without financial resources to access real justice. The Law Society reported in 2022 that access to legal aid had been drastically reduced, leading to an increase in unrepresented defendants in criminal cases and rising instances of miscarriages of justice. Due to the legal aid funding, more and more defendants are only dealing with paralegals, not solicitors, and many solicitors are moving away from publicly funded criminal law as it fails to cover their costs.

Furthermore, the UK government’s increasingly hardline stance on immigration and asylum seekers raises ethical concerns. The 2022 Nationality and Borders Bill was widely criticised for undermining the UK’s human rights obligations and threatening the rights of refugees. A civilised society would offer protection to those fleeing persecution, but instead, the UK’s asylum system is mired in bureaucracy, delays, and hostility. The whole asylum system is deeply flawed, as is the refugee classification. A civilised society will offer respite and refuge to those in dire need, this is not to say it should freely accept everyone entering its borders, but it should ensure they are housed and feed, have access to medical facilities and treat them humanely whilst their case is heard and a decision made on their eligibility. The UK has systematically failed in this, but then, so have our neighbouring nations.

Ethical Political System and Leadership: A Deficit of Integrity

An ethical political system is transparent, honest, and empathetic to the needs of its people. Yet, the UK’s political leadership has been repeatedly criticised for failing to meet these standards.

In recent years, the UK has faced multiple political scandals, notably the “Partygate” scandal in which government officials, including then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were found to have breached their own COVID-19 lockdown rules by attending gatherings . This breach of public trust highlighted a growing sense of political elitism, where leaders seemed to operate under different rules than ordinary citizens.

Additionally, empathy and compassion in leadership appear to be lacking. The hostile environment policy, which has aimed to make living conditions unbearable for undocumented immigrants, has been widely condemned. The Windrush Scandal, where UK citizens of Caribbean descent were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, and in some cases, deported, further exposed a failure in leadership to safeguard vulnerable groups .

In recent months the new Labour Government has become mired in scandals, from free clothing, pop concert tickets, and the proposed introduction of VAT on private school fees, all of which damage the perception the population have of their government.

Political leadership that lacks honesty, integrity and compassion undermines public confidence and contributes to growing inequality, which is antithetical to a civilised society.

Leadership starts at the top, without leadership in government, we have no leadership in society and eventually, we have no society worth leading.

Transparency and Accountability: Insufficient Public Scrutiny

A truly civilised society ensures that its governance is open to scrutiny, and public institutions are held accountable. In the UK, however, the government has often been criticised for a lack of transparency.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), designed to provide citizens access to government data, has been increasingly circumvented by delays, refusals, or the excessive redaction of information. Investigative journalists have noted that government departments frequently withhold information of public interest, thereby limiting the ability of citizens to hold their leaders accountable .

In recent years, there have also been concerns about the influence of private interests over public decision-making, with accusations of cronyism in the awarding of contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic . This suggests a system where decisions are made in favour of those with political connections rather than the public good.

Laws need to be withdrawn from use and replaced with laws offering more robust scrutiny of government decisions, how they spend public money, how decisions were arrived at and how all such decisions must be made available for all to read should they choose too.

Conclusions

By any reasonable standard of civilisation, the UK falls very short in many critical areas. Mental health services are woefully underfunded, leaving many the population without adequate care. Homelessness is rampant, and the government has failed to address its root causes. The legal system is increasingly inaccessible to the poor, and political leadership has been plagued by scandals, dishonesty, and a lack of empathy. Transparency in governance is also in decline, with public accountability mechanisms being routinely undermined.

A civilised society cares for its citizens’ well-being, maintains an ethical legal and political framework, and ensures public scrutiny of governance. On these measures, the UK is currently failing to live up to the standards it claims to aspire to.

British Democracy will change all this, we will make mental health funding a priority, we will ensure that there are measures in place to ensure there are no homeless people in this country, we will overhaul and improve the criminal justice system, to make it a system that is, once again, the envy of the world as it delivers fair and unbiased justice to all, whether they are the poorest or the richest, because no-one person or no organisation can be above the law. The Judiciary must be fully removed from any and all political interference, with the exception of the abolition or the passing of laws by the Executive.

We will pass new laws, with the abolition of old ones, that ensure the public have full oversight of all government decisions, that government procurement contracts are awarded “blind” and with full oversight, all public spending will be available constantly for public scrutiny and that any and all malfeasance within this policy or in public office in general will carry severe consequences for those responsible.

The Public must have confidence in the leadership of the nation.

References:

1. The Law Society, “Legal Aid Crisis,” 2022.
2. Shelter, “Homelessness in the UK: Facts and Figures,” 2023.
3. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, “Housing and Homelessness Report,” 2023.
4. BBC News, “Partygate Scandal: A Timeline of Events,” 2022.
5. Royal College of Psychiatrists, “Mental Health Waiting Lists,” 2022.
6. Mental Health Foundation, “State of Mental Health in the UK,” 2023.
7. The Guardian, “Windrush Scandal: Government Failures,” 2019.
8. Open Democracy, “The Decline of Freedom of Information in the UK,” 2022.
9. The National Audit Office, “COVID-19 Government Contracts,” 2021.
10. Children’s Alliance “The Major Conditions Strategy – A 10 Year Failure for Mental Health”