PM will pay for this outrageous betrayal

THE long shadow of crisis hangs again over our nation. On almost every front, there are dark clouds ahead. The economy is in deep trouble, as debts soar and job creation plummets. Too many Britons are on welfare; too few can afford a home. Our overstretched public services cannot cope.

- Leo McKinstry

In Liverpool this week, NHS patients were warned to expect 50-hour A&E waits. Yesterday, one doctor told the BBC that parts of his local hospital were "like a war zone". Public faith in the justice system is collapsing. Acts of random violence seem endemic, like the murder this week of 14-year-old Keylan Bokassa on a bus in Woolwich, south-east London.

What were once serious crimes have effectively been legalised by police indifference. There is a grim feeling of disintegration across our land. The bonds of solidarity that used to hold us together are fraying. Traditional British values of fair play, humour, tolerance and free speech are disappearing.