‘[A] powerful account of the impact of the privatisation of public services…provides a timely and important analysis of this often overlooked feature of public life.’
Description
‘Outsourcing’ – when will the horror stories stop coming?
Every year the government gives private companies like G4S, Serco, Capita and ATOS £80 billion of taxpayers’ money to handle some of our most sensitive and important services – but where is their transparency?
Immigration is perhaps the most challenging and divisive issue of our time – so why has our government abdicated responsibility?
As privatisation looms over an NHS in crisis, how do we hold these companies to account?
Now, White speaks to campaigners, Whitehall insiders – and the companies themselves.
Who Really Runs Britain? is a shocking compendium of what happens when outsourcing goes wrong – and what we do now.
Reviews
‘This is a must read…It punctures the myth that the private sector is better at delivering public service.’
‘The takeover of government activity by a cartel of unaccountable corporations is a major shift in the way Britain works. Alan White shines a light into this murky world. Everyone is affected by the shadow state. Everyone should read Shadow State.’
‘In February 2014 the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published a devastating report on the way in which public services were contracted out to the private sector... Alan White’s well-researched book Shadow State, provides many examples that prove the Committee’s case, and will, I hope, act as an urgently needed call for action, particularly to improve the standard of contracting throughout Whitehall.’