This is the first chapter of a novel that will be published in serial form in the Daily Sceptic. It’s a dystopian satire about the emergence of a social credit system in the U.K. in the near future.

It was a dark, grizzly morning, the kind they seemed to have so many of these days. The remnants of a dense dawn mist clung to the cool November air.

She trudged out to the shops.

Over the bridge, past the ancient church and its higgledy-piggledy wind-wasted stones. Past the worn medieval terrace, crooked timber beams straining to breaking, bookended on either side by two neat Victorian cottages. Engraved letters could still be seen