The latest survey of the social attitudes of the British people provides evidence that we are fast becoming a nation of individuals - disengaged from local community and national political affairs. The 17th annual report on British social attitudes reveals the British public as one of the least religious populations in the world.
Younger people are also increasingly uninterested in any form of political debate.
Two thirds of British people meanwhile are now hostile to begging - now a common feature of city life. These survey results pose some searching questions for social scientists meeting at an annual conference today, organised by the Economic and Social Research Council. The problem is that other evidence presents a much more charitable character-portrait of the British public. A report by the Fabian society this week meanwhile reports that the vast majority of the public would prefer spending increases, to tax cuts, if only they could be sure that the money was genuinely going to improve public services. At the same time, there is increasing pressure on individuals to manage their own lives, from planning pensions to organising their childrens' education.