To mark National Libraries Day, the novelist adds an extra scene to his 1998 satire England, England in which he imagines what happens when the 'National Coalition' closes every library down(As Sir Jack Pitman's project for a replica version of England on the Isle of Wight proves an enormous commercial success, the mainland, or "Old England" as it has come to be known, goes into sharp decline …)The first signs had been misleading, and greeted by some islanders with delight. After Scotland and Wales had left the Union, and Northern Ireland been reunited with the Republic, Europe lost patience with the sulky rump that remained. Decades of carping from the sidelines, while constantly demanding special favours and the repatriation of ...