Shadow State

Reviews / Votes

'Readable and well ordered'. * Literary Review * '[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' * Evening Standard * '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.' -- Andy Slaughter MP, Shadow Minister for Human Rights '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.' -- Lord Ramsbotham, former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales 'This is a must read for anyone who wants to know about the growing power and role of the private sector in delivering public services. It's comprehensive, written in a gripping style and chronicles many of the private sector's failures. It punctures the myth that the private sector is better at delivering public service.' -- Dame Margaret Hodge MP