ABSTRACT
It is also clear that, alongside this diplomatic and political decline, there is a shrinking of the financial and manufacturing role for Britain within the global economy Despite protestations by successive Conservative governments, the economic realities of changes in the worldwide structures are well rehearsed. The impact of this has certainly been felt in the restructuring of the British economy, which has now been ‘trimmed’ to meet what has been defined as the new economic reality for Britain. The political and social tensions of this restructuring remain a constant divisive factor and have raised new questions about the coherence of British society in the light of the very wide economic, cultural and social gulf gulfs which have been added to by this economic experience.
