There’ll be books; it will linger onIn galleries; but all that remainsFor us will be concrete and tyres. Larkin wrote these words in 1972. On the basis of a trip through England and Scotland in summer 2023 I can report that his fears were premature. British conservatism, of which Larkin was an eccentric representative, has always had a stronger conservationist streak than its American cousin. The Conservative Party, in power for most of this period, is often blamed for backing post-financial crisis austerity and lurching into Brexit.

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Persons: ” Philip Larkin, “, ”, There’ll, Larkin Organizations: Health Service, Conservative Party Locations: England, Scotland, Europe, United States, Britain, Italy, Brexit