[Annotated] Britain's state is poorly equipped to enter the Brexit talks

At the worst possible moment, Leviathan^[각주:1] is under strain^[각주:2] 

"Everywhere things are lean^[각주:3]. And not in a strategic, manged way^[각주:4]." It is march 8th. In Westminster Philip Hammond is giving the budget speech^[각주:5]. And in the West Midlands Caroline Leighton is pondering the British state. As chief executive of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) in Coventry, she knows her stuff. The CAB network is where people who have been failed by the public sector^[각주:6] come for support: those who have fallen through^[각주:7] the social safety net^[각주:8], are tangled up in^[각주:9] the legal, tax and health systems, or otherwise need help and do not know where to turn^[각주:10]. So the waiting room^[각주:11] outside her office is a sort of dashboard^[각주:12], constantly measuring Leviathan's performance. Today it is flashing red^[각주:13]: standing-room^[각주:14] only. In the past year the CAB's workload has grown by over 20%.

You do not have to spend long here to find evidence of a public sector under intense pressure. One visitor could not get a doctor's appointment despite acute^[각주:15] mental-health problems. Another, a 50-hour-a-week floor-layer swindled by^[각주:16] his boss, was failed by the authorities and ended up at food banks. Staff talk of civil servants simply disappearing. "You call an office and the phone rings for ever because no one is there any more," says Ed Hodson, the research boss. Pressured^[각주:17] bureaucrats^[각주:18] get client numbers wrong, lose documents and misspell^[각주:19] names, leaving vulnerable citizens without income for weeks. Increasingly^[각주:20] ubiquitous^[각주:21] at the Coventry CAB are people who have fallen into the gaps between^[각주:22] systems - think the man with mental-health problems, unpayable^[각주:23] debts and thugs^[각주:24] outside his front door. From 2014-15 to 2015-16 the average number of "issues" per visitor rose from^[각주:25] 2.8 to 3.5.

Coventry is not an outlier^[각주:26]. It is pure Middle England, close to the national average on most economic and demographic indicators. Its economy blends manufacturing (the largest private employer is Jaguar Land Rover) with^[각주:27] services (Barclays bank and the local building society^[각주:28] provide plenty of financial jobs). Like many English cities it was heavily bombed^[각주:29] in the second world war and was insensitively^[각주:30] rebuilt afterwards. The center is a concrete tangle^[각주:31] of highways and roundabouts^[각주:32] encircling^[각주:33] windswept^[각주:34], early-1960s pedestrian plazas^[각주:35]. The average resident of Coventry is neither rich nor poor, neither cosmopolitan^[각주:36] nor rural, and gets on with^[각주:37] life in a cityscape^[각주:38] forged^[각주:39] by a past generation's nightmares and Utopias.

And, like many other cities, Coventry has seen its public services pruned^[각주:40]. On the budget's eve, Bagehot spoke to Ed Ruane, the councillor^[각주:41] in charge of^[각주:42] children's services. He had come fresh from a meeting at which it had been decided to^[각주:43] end all remaining^[각주:44] council^[각주:45] provision^[각주:46] of youth services, close 11 of 18 children's centers and hand^[각주:47] many libraries to voluntary associations. Such facilities, he says, were about more than keeping kids occupied; they were an early-warning^[각주:48] system alerting^[각주:49] authorities to things like child sexual abuse. The Wood End estate, in Mr Ruane's north Coventry ward, saw violent riots in 1992. Now he fears for^[각주:50] the institutions - the libraries, sports centers and social programs - established to heal the wounds.

To be sure, Coventry's council has adapted^[각주:51]. It now shares functions with neighboring^[각주:52] authorities, puts services out to tender^[각주:53] and limits its use of back-office^[각주:54] staff. It is much more open to ad hoc^[각주:55] partnerships with NGOs, says Ms Leighton. These changes would be welcome even in the absence of austerity^[각주:56]. But such reforms^[각주:57] have their limits. The city's public sector has started to struggle. At the hospital 23% of emergency patients^[각주:58] now breach^[각주:59] the NHS's four-hour target for treatment^[각주:60], up from 13% a year ago. The nearest prison saw a 12-hour riot in December. At night rough sleepers^[각주:61] shiver^[각주:62] in doorways^[각주:63]. "The number rose 30% in 2016, on top of 50% in 2015," explains Matthew Green, a local homelessness^[각주:64] campaigner. Even in Coventry's wealthy, sinuous^[각주:65] suburbs^[각주:66], like Woodlands, concerns about^[각주:67] anti-social behavior^[각주:68] and crime are rising.

The wages of^[각주:69] Brexit

The city is a cross-section of^[각주:70] the British state. The austerity cuts began in 2010. For several years the effects were limited. Nationally^[각주:71], confidence in^[각주:72] the police service grew despite a real-terms^[각주:73] cut of 17% in spending. Violence in prisons was flat^[각주:74] despite an 18% cut. Hospital admissions^[각주:75] outpaced^[각주:76] funding increases while satisfaction levels^[각주:77] remained stable. But since about 2014 the figures have turned^[각주:78]. The administrators^[각주:79] of the British state have run out of^[각주:80] fat to cut. Assaults on^[각주:81] prison staff are up by 75% in three years. Homelessness in England has grown by a third. The proportion of^[각주:82] emergency hospital^[각주:83] admissions hitting the four-hour target has fallen from 98% in 2010 to 82%.

Now some services are in full-blown^[각주:84] crisis and remain alive only thanks to emergency infusions^[각주:85] from Mr Hammond. It was prisons in November, social care^[각주:86] in January, and both social care and the NHS in the budget on March 8th. To quote^[각주:87] the Institute for Government, a neutral think-tank^[각주:88], "crisis, cash, repeat" has become the new philosophy of the British state. The next flashpoints^[각주:89] will probably be the police (who warn the coming cuts will start to reverse^[각주:90] the recent fall in crime) and schools (which are already experiencing a recruitment^[각주:91] crisis and face an 8% fall in spending per pupil over the course of^[각주:92] the Parliament).

And things are set to^[각주:93] get worse. In the budget Mr Hammond confirmed^[각주:94] that the austerity program^[각주:95] launched in 2010 will continue at a similar pace^[각주:96], accelerating^[각주:97] in sensitive fields like prisons and local government^[각주:98]. Other pressures are growing. Inflation is rising and the population is ageing. And all this as Britain's exit from the EU threatens the very tax base^[각주:99] that keeps the show on the road^[각주:100]. The Institute for Government now talks of^[각주:101] "a disastrous^[각주:102] combination of failing public services^[각주:103] and breached spending controls^[각주:104] just as we exit the European Union in 2019." At best^[각주:105] the coming years will be a rough ride^[각주:106]. At worst^[각주:107] they could buck^[각주:108] the government out of its saddle^[각주:109]. 

1. Leviathan ; 1. 레비아단(성서에 나오는 바다 속 괴물) 2. (문예체) (강력하고) 거대한 것 [본문으로]
2. strain ; 1. WORRY/ANXIETY | [U , C] 부담, 중압[압박](감) [본문으로]
3. lean ; 1. (보통 호감) (사람, 특히 남자나, 동물이) 군살이 없는, (탄탄하게) 호리호리한 [본문으로]
4. managed ; [형용사] (명사 앞에만 씀) 세심히 관리되는 [본문으로]
5. budget speech ; 예산 연설, 예산에 관한 발언 [본문으로]
6. public sector ; [명사] (경제) (국가 경제의) 공공 부문 ;; 참고 the private sector [본문으로]
7. fall through ; 완료[실현]되지 못하다 ;; [VERB] to miscarry or fail [본문으로]
8. social safety net ; 사회 안전망 ((최저 생활 보장 제도)) [본문으로]
9. tangle ; ~ (sth) up 헝클리다; 헝클어지다 [본문으로]
10. turn ; 13. BECOME | (…한 상태로) 변하다, …되다[해지다]; (…한 상태로) 변하게[…되게] 만들다 [본문으로]
11. waiting room ; [명사] 대기실, 대합실 [본문으로]
12. dashboard ; [명사] (또한 fa・scia , dash 특히 美) (승용차의) 계기판 [본문으로]
13. flash ; 2. GIVE SIGNAL | ~ (sth) (at sb) | ~ sb (sth) (불빛으로) 신호를 보내다[비추다] [본문으로]
14. standing room ; [명사] (특히 극장・경기장 등에서) 설 수 있는 자리, 입석 [본문으로]
15. acute ; 1. 격심한, 극심한 [본문으로]
16. swindle ; [타동사][VN] ~ sb (out of sth) | ~ sth (out of sb) 사취하다, 사기치다 [본문으로]
17. pressure ; [흔히 수동태로] ~ sb (into sth/into doing sth) (특히 美) 압박감을 주다, 압력을 가하다 ;; 동의어 pressurize [본문으로]
18. bureaucrat ; [명사] (흔히 못마땅함) (정부) 관료 [본문으로]
19. misspell ; [동사] 또는 mis・spelled , mis・spelled , mis・spelt , mis・spelt / ˌmIs'spelt / 철자를 잘못 쓰다, 철자가 틀리다 [본문으로]
20. increasingly ; [부사] 점점 더, 갈수록 더 [본문으로]
21. ubiquitous ; [형용사] (주로 명사 앞에 씀) (격식 또는 유머) 어디에나 있는, 아주 흔한 [본문으로]
22. fall into ; [동사] …에 빠지다; …에 서다; …에 종사하다, ~으로 나뉘다 [본문으로]
23. unpayable ; That cannot be paid. [본문으로]
24. thug ; [명사] 폭력배 [본문으로]
25. rise from ; …에서 다시 살아나다. [본문으로]
26. outlier ; 2. 본체(本體)를 떠난 물건, 분리물 [본문으로]
27. blend with ; …와 섞이다. [본문으로]
28. building society ; [명사] 주택 금융 조합 [본문으로]
29. be bombed ; 피폭되다, [본문으로]
30. insensitively ; [부사] 무감각하게, 둔감하게; 머리가 기민하게 돌아가지 않아서 ; 반응없이. [본문으로]
31. tangle ; 2. (혼란스럽게) 꼬인[엉망인] 상태 [본문으로]
32. roundabout ; 1. (美 |traffic circle , ro・tary) 로터리 [본문으로]
33. encircle ; [타동사][VN] (격식) (둥글게) 둘러싸다[두르다] [본문으로]
34. windswept ; 1. (장소가) 강한 바람에 노출되어 있는 [본문으로]
35. pedestrian plaza ; 보행광장 [본문으로]
36. cosmopolitan ; [형용사] (문화의 다양성 면에서) 세계적인[국제적인] [본문으로]
37. get on with ; ~와/(함께) 잘 지내다 [본문으로]
38. cityscape ; [명사] (특히 사진 속의) 도시 경관; 도시 사진 [본문으로]
39. forge ; 1. <쇠를> 벼리다; 벼려서 (…으로) 만들다 ((into)); <제품을> 단조하다 [본문으로]
40. prune ; 2. (부분들을 없애) 축소하다, (불필요한 부분을) 가지치기하다[쳐내다] [본문으로]
41. councillor ; [명사] Cllr (지방 의회) 의원; (협의회 등의) 의원[위원] ;; 참고 councilman, councilwoman [본문으로]
42. in charge of ; …을 맡아서, 담당해서 [본문으로]
43. be decided to ; ~하기로 결정되다, 확정되다, 정해지다, 판가름이 나다 [본문으로]
44. remaining ; [형용사] (명사 앞에만 씀) 남아 있는, 남은 [본문으로]
45. council ; 2. (英) (도시나 지방의) 자문 위원회 [본문으로]
46. provision ; 4. [C] (법률 관련 문서의) 조항[규정/단서] [본문으로]
47. hand ; ~ sth to sb | ~ sb sth 건네주다, 넘겨주다 [본문으로]
48. early-warning ; [형용사] 조기 경보용의(EW). [본문으로]
49. alert ; 2. [타동사][VN] ~ sb to sth 의식하게 하다, 주의를 환기시키다 [본문으로]
50. fear for ; ~을 염려[걱정]하다 [본문으로]
51. adapt ; 1. [타동사][VN] ~ sth (for sth) (새로운 용도・상황에) 맞추다[조정하다] [본문으로]
52. neighboring ; [형용사] [A] 이웃의, 근처[인근]의; 인접한(adjacent) [본문으로]
53. put out to tender ; 입찰에 붙여지다 [본문으로]
54. back office ; [명사] (상업) (사업체에서) 고객들을 직접 상대하지 않는 부서 [본문으로]
55. ad hoc ; [형용사] (라틴어에서) 즉석(에서 마련된) ;; arranged or happening when necessary and not planned in advance [본문으로]
56. austerity ; 1. [U] 내핍 상태 [본문으로]
57. reform ; [U , C] (체제・조직・법률 등의) 개혁[개선] [본문으로]
58. emergency patient ; 응급환자 [본문으로]
59. breach ; 1. (합의나 약속을) 위반하다[어기다] [본문으로]
60. treatment ; 1. [U , C] ~ (for sth) 치료, 처치 [본문으로]
61. rough sleeper ; 비주택거주자 [본문으로]
62. shiver ; [자동사][V] ~ (with sth) (사람이) (추위・두려움・흥분 등으로 가볍게) (몸을) 떨다 [본문으로]
63. doorway ; [명사] 출입구 [본문으로]
64. homelessness ; [명사] 집 없음; 노숙자임. [본문으로]
65. sinuous ; [형용사] (문예체) (이동 중에 우아하게) 선회하는; 물결 모양의, 구불구불한 [본문으로]
66. suburb ; [명사] (또한 美 비격식 the burbs [pl.]) 교외(도심지를 벗어난 주택 지역) [본문으로]
67. concern about [for, over, with] ; …에 대한 관심[염려]. [본문으로]
68. anti-social behavior ; (교육학) 반사회적 행동(反社會的行動) [본문으로]
69. wage ; [sing.] (wages [pl.]) (또한) (보통 주 단위로 받는) 임금[급료] [본문으로]
70. cross section ; 2. [C] [주로 단수로] (전체의 모습을 보여주는 대표적인) 단면 [본문으로]
71. nationally ; [부사] 전국적으로; (특정 국가의) 국내에서, 국가적으로 [본문으로]
72. confidence ; 1. BELIEF IN OTHERS | [U] ~ (in sb/sth) 신뢰 [본문으로]
73. real terms ; [명사] 실질, 알맹이. [ant] nominal terms 명목. ;; 동의어 substance. ;; real term ; (경제학) 실질단위 [본문으로]
74. flat ; 8. BUSINESS | (매출 등이) 저조한 [본문으로]
75. hospital admission ; 병원 입원 [본문으로]
76. outpace ; [타동사][VN] 앞지르다, 앞서다 [본문으로]
77. satisfaction level ; (경영학) 만족수준, (열망)수준(aspiration level)으로도 불리운다. [본문으로]
78. turn ; 13. BECOME | (…한 상태로) 변하다, …되다[해지다]; (…한 상태로) 변하게[…되게] 만들다 [본문으로]
79. administrator ; [명사] 관리자, 행정인 ;; US·UK [əd|mɪnɪstreɪtə(r)] [본문으로]
80. run out of ; (사람이) …을 다 써버리다, …이 없어지다; [물건]을 바닥내다 [본문으로]
81. assault ; 1. [U , C] ~ (on/upon sb) 폭행(죄) [본문으로]
82. proportion ; 1. PART OF WHOLE | [C+sing./pl. v.] (전체의) 부분, (전체에서 차지하는) 비율 [본문으로]
83. emergency hospital ; 응급 병원 [본문으로]
84. full-blown ; [형용사] (명사 앞에만 씀) …의 모든 특성을 갖춘, 완전히 발달한[진행된] [본문으로]
85. infusion ; 1. ~ of sth (into sth) (격식) (어떤 것을 더 강하게・성공적이 되게 하기 위한) 투입 [본문으로]
86. social care ; 사회 복지, 사회적 주의 [본문으로]
87. quote ; 1. REPEAT EXACT WORDS | ~ (sth) (from sb/sth) | ~ (sb) (as doing sth) 인용하다, (남의 말을 그대로) 전달하다[옮기다] ;; 참고 misquote [본문으로]
88. think-tank ; [NOUN] A think-tank is a group of experts who are gathered together by an organization, especially by a government, in order to consider various problems and try and work out ways to solve them. [본문으로]
89. flashpoint ; [C , U] 일촉즉발의 상황; (비유적) 화약고 ;; flash point ; (물리·화학) 인화점 [본문으로]
90. reverse ; 1. CHANGE TO OPPOSITE | [타동사][VN] (정반대로) 뒤바꾸다, 반전[역전]시키다 [본문으로]
91. recruitment ; 1. 신병 모집; 신규 모집, 채용, 보충 [본문으로]
92. over / in the course of ; (기간을 나타내는 표현과 함께 쓰여) …동안 [본문으로]
93. be set to ; ~하도록 예정되어 있다 [본문으로]
94. confirm ; 3. [타동사][VN] (지위・합의 등을) 확정하다[공식화하다] [본문으로]
95. austerity program ; 내핍계획(국내 소비 억제, 수출 증대로 국민 경제를 개조하려는 계획) [본문으로]
96. at a pace ; …의 페이스로. [본문으로]
97. accelerate ; 1. 가속화되다; 가속화하다 [본문으로]
98. local government ; [명사] (특히 英) 지방 자치 (체제) [본문으로]
99. tax base ; 과세 기준, 과세 표준 [본문으로]
100. on the road ; 1. (특히 장기간·장거리를) 여행[이동] 중인 [본문으로]
101. talk of ; …에 관해 이야기하다; …의 소문을 이야기하다 [본문으로]
102. disastrous ; [형용사] 처참한, 형편없는 [본문으로]
103. public service ; 1. [C] (교통・보건 등의) 공공 서비스 [본문으로]
104. spending control ; 지출 관리, 규제 [본문으로]
105. at best ; 기껏[잘 해야], 아무리 낙관하여도 [본문으로]
106. rough ride ; 곤란한 시기 [본문으로]
107. at worst ; 최악의 경우에, 아무리 나빠도 [본문으로]
108. buck ; 1. <말이> <탄 사람·짐을> 껑충 뛰어 떨어뜨리다 ((off)) [본문으로]
109. out of the saddle ; 권력의 자리에서 물러나 [본문으로]