It goes much further back, the 2008 crash was just the coup de grâce. Our problems can be traced back as far as the 70s under Wilson and Callaghan where we failed to modernise our means of production and kowtowed to the union demands. Thatcher then systematically dismantled our manufacturing industry in favour of the financial serviced sector which makes your economy very prone to financial shocks along with the criminal sell off of our utilities.
Move along to Blair with his laissez-faire approach to spending, failing to put money away in case of further financial shocks and you end up at 2008...
At each stage there was an opportunity to do something which would have made it better in the long run for the residents of the UK but they failed.