This poster, which is one of a series of three depicting progressive public buildings superimposed over bomb sites, could be said to have been motivated by the Beveridge Report. Sir William Beveridge, a well-respected economist and expert on unemployment concerns, was asked by Ernest Bevin, the wartime Minister of Labour, to produce a study into social security schemes, which had until that point developed unsystematically. He published his findings in December 1942, and the report on Social Insurance and Allied Services is widely credited with becoming the framework for the modern British welfare state. In the report, Beveridge identified five ‘giants’or obstacles on the path of reconstruction which society had to address; they were ‘Disease, Idleness, Ignorance, Want, and Squalor’. The welfare state would be the model for civic transformation and aimed to provide inclusive and universal welfare for all of the nation’s citizens.

The scene, which would have been familiar to people living with daily bombing raids, is one of squalor, and neglect. However, the hope of a new beginning is shown superimposed on this dereliction, as new and modern public buildings and homes, are literally built over the old. The poster is addressed to the ordinary man or woman who would have identified with the scene in the poster. The slogan ‘Your Britain – Fight for it Now’ is almost a command, but it is also optimistic as it makes clear the purpose of fighting for one's country, and promises a better future which everyone will help to build.