Golden Compass author lays it on the line.

The writer Philip Pullman is not one to hold back and he took no prisoners when he shared his thoughts on Big Society with a meeting in Oxford last month. So much is being talked and written about all this that I fear that people may just switch off; just heave a sigh and change channels, or toddle off down the pub. But if you haven't seen it before spend a couple minutes reading what Pullman had to say. The man is on the money.