What went wrong with Britain? Can history help?

Between 1850 and 1950 Britain became increasingly well-behaved. But since the '50s it's been back to the bad old days, says Jonathan Sacks, writing in The Times. What has happened and is there any going back?

Between 1850 and 1950 there was a sustained, year-on-year reduction of crime, violence, illegitimacy and alcoholism throughout England until it became a model of law-abiding, mild-mannerism. ed place that Orwell and Mikes described in the 1940s.

How did it happen? More effective policing may have played a part. But according to the Harvard criminologist James Q. Wilson, the major change was due to the emergence of a series of social and cultural institutions, among them youth groups such as the YMCA (founded in 1844), temperance societies, state schools, voluntary associations, charities and friendly societies.

Read the rest of Jonathan Sacks;' article in TimesOnline here