Lamenting the decline in all crucial welfare services during ten years of Thatcher rule, the author warns that this dream may fast becoming a Conservative nightmare. Townsend's anecdotes are a highly personal testimony to the Welfare State and the principles which underlie the concept of "welfare". Contains: Introduction—The Quick Birth—What Katie Does—Tales Out of School — 1975: Gary, Daz and Craig—Taking The Bottles Back—Monitoring the Heart—Community Care—The Fiddler on the Train” — The Paupers’ Funerals—Mr Smith’s privatised penis