We are a nation of mediocrities by & large. What saves us is our eccentricities.

ian cheese, london, uk

Excellent article! I’m sure that a lot of it was said with tongue in cheek though? Of course Olympic success does not equal Government success! But surely they must be able to take SOME of the credit?

alan, Oslo, Norway

Olympic athletes are just a very small group of elite athletes, but they are the tip of a very big iceberg. You don’t get successful elite athletes without having a very large and successful sporting infra-structure. In my opinion that also goes a long way to having a “successful” society.

alan, Oslo, Norway

I think that far too much sporting talent in the UK is wasted on football. We need far more role models like Chris Hoy and Rebecca Adlington and fewer like David Beckham. Fore some reason football seems to encourage anti-social behaviour rather than discourage it. Why is that???

alan, Oslo, Norway

We got more medals in the Olympics because they've been dumbed down.

IanH, Glasgow,

Memories of East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s should be enough to dispel this current hysteria over the Olympic medal tables. Their link to the health of society and the economy is tenuous at best. How fitting that Team GB hits its highest placing at exactly the point when our economy is tanking.

Jamie Stevenson, London, United Kingdom

With our country and our economy in ruins ,,awash with immigrants,,
we are all so glad to have our "Heroic" sportsmen home..
Now they can cash in on the sponsorship deals the Ad man
cometh with fat wallet.
What a load of rubbish.

eric, newcastle, uk

'If the “broken society” only means that there are places where there is too much poverty and crime, and that any death caused by a knife or a gun is a tragedy then, this side of Paradise, it means nothing.'

What would be the right amount of poverty and crime, Dr. Pangloss?

JL, Liverpool, UK

For once a long term vision has paid rewards. It's surprising Labour didn't cancel lottery funding of athletes because it wasn't their idea. Residents of 'broken' areas of the UK, Glasgow East, Tower Hamlets etc feel marginalized because no politician will commit to enacting long term improvements.

Howard, Nottingham,

Darling, just go out in any provincial British town on a Friday night, and you will suddenly have an epiphany as to what the term "Broken Society" means.

Delphine, Oxford,

Olympic sucess changes nothing significant about the country. It doesn't reduce taxes nor improve public services. All of the hype about "olympic heroes" just denigrates the people who are really heroes. So someone won a gold medal for throwing a stick furthest, big deal.

Chris, Derby,

We frequently do better in competitive sport when there's a bit of an economic downturn - think of Coe, Ovett, Thompson and Sanderson in the dying days of Callaghan's government, as examples! And art seems to flourish best when there's no money about. Too much cash seems to stifle creativity.

Gill, Southampton, UK

What a total non-sequitur! What has the Olympics got to do with cost of living (extortionate), violent crime, litter, high taxes, over-population, lousy schools, more litter, more vomit, asbos?

Gold medals does not = safety on the streets. Another one stabbed yesterday...

Michael, Kettering, England

If sporting prowess is the cornerstone of what it means to be British today then the decline is far worse than I had thought.

Davo Klees, Sydney, Australia

I agree with M in London. What possible indicator is the success of well-funded athletes on the moral health of the nation? Were we violent, rabid Barbarians, would our success in the Olympics mean that we were a fine society?

PIffle, Mr Aaronovitch!

David Garfield, London, UK

Review your figures. The investment per medal was shown on BBC this morning, showing that our maximum ROI is on sports with expensive high-tech equipment. That's called buying a medal. As for "broken society", most of us consider Nulab UK to be an oppressed society, trussed up in red tape.

KR, Stockport,

I say bring back Count Arthur Strong!

David, Cambridge, UK

I'm alright jack - pull up the ladder.

Scott, ashford, middlesex,

Olympics, etc. Britain will never win the honours in football: the European Cup & the World cup again-the most coveted prizes in Britain.

ian cheese, london, uk

Many Tories make sure their offspring never mix in their "broken society" and are cosseted in public schools.

iain rae, tunbridge Wells, u.k.

Shame there's no more East Germany, that must have been a real heaven on earth.

Don, London,

Strange how those with something positive to say seem to live overseas. Got out whilst the going was good eh?
The truth, DA, is that the full horror of GBs time at the Treasury is only just arriving. 2009 and 2010 will not be pleasant. It will take at least a generation to repair the damage.

Mike, Tonbridge, Kent

"The best figures available suggest improving performance at GCSE and A levels, but we know, we know, we know that this is because of a dilution in standards!"

Yes, we know that because we live in the real world and we rely on experience rather than this govt's lies.

Alex Swanson, Milton Keynes, uk

I'm always intrigued to hear how life looks from up in the Ivory Tower. I've been attacked twice in the last 2 years in public places going about my business in broad daylight- now go ahead and explain to me how this is in fact not true and fabricated by the Right and in fact I've never been safer?

Karl, Canterbury, Kent

We should not take the olympics as a barometer of health, because by such reckoning we ought to be aspiring to be Russia or China...

Mark, Berlin,

Why exactly is the Olympics an indicator of national health? The US came second in the medals tally but are in the worst housing and credit crisis since the 1930s... Mr Aaronovitch is writing this article with Polly Toynbee's acrymonious pen. And the 'lizards' are the 'tories'. You weaken your case.

Robin , London, England

Mike in Leeds, National debt burden is at a record 50bn, labour want to change the goverments own rules on the limit they can borrow another 14bn to bribe electorate, they have sold the country. its us the taxpayer who has to pay. Cheap gold anyone? Torys are just stating the obvious.

Chris, Leeds, uk

Spot on David! Life in 2008 is demonstrably better than at any time in history for women, for gay people, for the elderly, for the disabled.... We are living longer, eating better and have higher living standards than any other human beings who have ever lived.

Neil, Luxembourg,

Steve, Sydney, Australia (Formerly UK) - Is Britain socially healthy or sick? Ask folk if they are satisfied with UK life and optimistic about the future. Exactly, courtesy of lottery tax Olympians received £250 million in the last 4 years; other areas of UK suffer from lack of investment.

Kenneth Armitage, Suffolk, England

No wonder anyone with a slightly positive mental attitude has moved from the UK with such negativity constantly around

Enriqu, Doncaster,

No, of course not. Nothing wrong with this society. Only three teenagers knifed to death this week.

eric campbell, harrogate, uk

pumping millions of punds into sport with the sole intention of winning a few medals does not make a better country.

Andrew, Rosyth, Scotland

I think DA in his ever more desperate attempts to shore up Labour support has finally lost it.

A normal pick one or two facts and extrapolate to incredible conclusions. Broken society is used as a phrase to identify an underclass with no hope of escape.

How many of them won medals?

AB, Copenhagen,

The biggest mistake the UK has made is not putting 10% of Gvt oil earnings into a Fund for the Future! The Gold medal haul of the UK is underpinned by focused spending of significant amounts of money on some sports. This type of financial risk/reward thinking is needed the the UK economy as a whole

Ian, Madison, USA

Reptillian Tories? Is that from the David Ike school of thought Mr Aaronovitch?

What next, GB as Dr Who? I think Bo-Jo fits that image more.

But this lame bandwagon jumping defence of nu-labour is hilarious, thank you.

Andy, Plymouth, UK

Interesting to note the lack of Burberry, Kappa and Fred Perry clothing on display by British olympians and their supporters.

There is much to be positive about in Britain, however there is still much that needs resolving - not least the immense beauracracy stifling almost everything we can do...

Greg, sheffield,

Who says UK is broken? I happily live in London and marvel at its wonders nearly every day. It is vibrant, sophisticated, creative and exciting. I adore the beauty of the countryside and villages. Sure there is some crime and public transport is crowded but that is because the world comes here!

John, London, UK

Politicians like to exaggerate. Someone makes a mistake, they're "utterly incompetent"; conversely, a bit of help for a long-term problem will “completely solve the issue”. I guess the problem is rational arguments aren't often heard over the sensationalist ones.

Mark Johnson, Birmingham, UK

Ian,Cambridge - we know !
Try and contribute something positive !

OZ, Perth,

And the 1960s saw the US enjoy unprecedented economic growth and improvement in living standards. Yet find one person who will not describe the US in that decade as deeply troubled.

Get out and talk to real people - not the fashionable elites. The UK is one very unhappy country.

Hugh, London,

Economic prudence. The Golden Rule. Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime. Education, education, education. The re-birth of the NHS. Anyone remember any of these?

I'm assuming this has all been dropped in favour of a few golds at the Olympics. Nice one Labour, keep up the good work.

ben, london,

David Aaronovitch writes: "If one were to take the Olympics as any kind of indicator of national health (and why should we not?)". We should not because it is utterly trivial and reflects the achievements of a few hundred people in a country of 60 million. Try a serious subject next time, David

Quentin Langley, Woking, United Kingdom

So... we win a few medals at the Olympics and that makes everything alright? Good to see Mr Aaronovitch has his priorities straight!

Dominic Graham de Montrose, London,

Its very broken for some people. You were in Manchester recently - I saw you. Did you look around the edges of the rebuilt city? I doubt it. And that, metaphorically, geographically and literally, is the position of the wealthy like you. Not self pity - I loathe those places - but they do exist.

Joe, Manchester,

Did anyone actually read the article? Did anyone get the point Aaronovitch was trying to make? Did anyone see that the way he overstated the meaningfulness of Olympic medals is exactly how the Conservatives are overstating the problems Britain has now?

Can't anyone read between the lines?

Mike, Leeds,

"But I would be prepared to bet that what really motivates such Gallic fearfulness is media coverage of the supposed brokenness of Britain."

Perhaps, but the British have a bad reputation for meanness too. And our home cooking is not french home cooking.

Neil Murphy, cromer,

I am so sick of the Olympics! I did not make our 'athletes' do what they were interested in doing. Why should I feel 'proud'?

Once or twice I began to 'warm' to the games while watching but , no, I can't switch over.

I am so angry about London 2012, I can't speak.

Den Wills, Portsmouth, UK

This is exactly what I feared. Left-wingers desperate for good news to prove everything is wonderful under Labour give the government credit for Olympic medals. Then using their usual odd logic go on to claim that all is right in the country. Drowning men have clutched at straws with less panic.

Alan Trent, London, UK

Udo, Melbourne - you might be interested to know that the film 1984 was based on a "little-known" book of the same name. I imagine one or two other readers will have heard of it.

Ian, Cambridge,

Oh dear - I agree that Cameron's talk about a 'broken society' is dangerous, but the success of a few highly motivated, trained, and subsidised athletes (largely in expensive minor sports) has nothing to do with the state of youth and education generally, more to do with bread and circuses.

michael, london,

Aaronovitch is right that things have improved in British life but living standards. law abiding and education have been improving since the industrial revolution.

It isn't hypocritical to say labour are poor and life has improved if you think that things could have been better with the Tories.

Matt, Cardiff,

The problem i have with Camerons statement that the UK is a "Broken Society" like all his statements they are not followed with policies with any detail of how he will fix it. He should ask his mentor Margarate Thatcher the answer as she stated some years ago theres no such thing as society.

Bill Rees, Truro, UK

Olympic success as morale boosting as it is, is just a modern day "bread and circus" act.

Paul Davis, London,

I don't see the connection between success at the Olympics and the extent to which we live in a "broken" society. Must China be a Utopia, and Ireland a hell-hole?

M, London, UK

One small problem with this article is that John Major is the man that got the lottery funding to sport and so should be credited with the sucess of hte olympics, as he generally has been. This has had nothing to do with Labour.

Rob, Singapore,

Gee, an apologist for Gordo. Rare. And brave.

JL Ronish, seattle, usa

When you declare that things are "broken" then there are no further demands on you. It's the comfort of low expectations.

It's quite a change from Victorian days, when society thought highly of itself, and individuals struggled to be worthy of it.

jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/USA

Success in the Olympics is about the amount of money that a country chooses to throw at sport, not about the inherent sporting ability of the populace, or the state of society generally. Is Britain socially healthy or sick? Ask folk if they are satisfied with UK life and optimistic about the future.

Steve, Sydney, Australia (Formerly UK)

A pathetic article.

So it's acceptable for us to have only two swimming pools because we won some medals?

How many would we win with more pools?

J.Wilkes, Gloucester,

Delighted with the golds and Wales 2008.But, now here in the USA, it was a shock to discover that the state school here are light years ahead of the the UK schools, or acutally it reminds me of standards 30 years ago in the UK .Made me feel that my girls were done a raw deal in Britain.

Rhys, Fayetteville ,Georgia, USA

Unless 'Keeping your nose in the trough' was an Olympic sport there is no connection between this government and the Olympics.

Matt, Plymouth, GBR

welcome to 1984 (watch the film if you haven't seen it ).

Udo, Melbourne, Australia

There is absolutely no logic to this article.

J Mcd, San Francisco, ca, USA

China IS a paradise on earth. Lived there for years. Lived in England too once - happy to have left!

S K Lin, Singapore, Singapore

And right up until 1990 the good ol' USSR was still winning gold medals by the ton, as well as organising whizzo parades through Red Square. China with its 51 gold medals must be paradise on earth. Yup, the success of a tiny sporting elite is the true sign of a healthy society.

Simon, Brussels,