The too difficult box is a political concept introduced by UK politician Charles Clarke to explain why politicians often opt out of taking action to fix many serious political issues. It is focused on UK politics but the book suggests that the principles apply to other countries.
In 2011, Clarke originally expounded his ideas in a series of lectures at the University of East Anglia. In 2014, he launched the book The 'Too Difficult' Box: The Big Issues Politicians Can't Crack. The introduction, conclusion and a chapter on immigration is written by Clarke. The rest of the book contains individual chapters (edited by Clarke) by past or current politicians or political commentators - each chapter covering a specific political issue considered to be in the too difficult box.
Some reasons Clarke gives explaining why politicians find some issues too difficult to deal with are: