the UK is being laughed at

[mudsticks]

Just because I "already knew" what you suggested I had missed does not mean there is not more to learn surely?

Well your in post implied that you'd missed out on any downside to our learning a lesson about who 'we' are, and our place in the world.

Writing

"Isn't this all good news?"

Suggests as much ..

Of course there's always more to learn in every situation.

 

[winjim]

Edgy.

 

[swansonj]

If Britain had any self respect and self awareness, we'd voluntarily relinquish our seat on the UN Security Council.

 

[newfhouse]

If Britain had any self respect and self awareness, we'd voluntarily relinquish our seat on the UN Security Council.

I’m not sure the US would want us to do that - having us there too effectively gives them two votes.

 

[BoldonLad]

No, but the decline of GB will not cause a seesaw effect where the previously hard done by are elevated.

Yes, that appears to be the lesson of history. Most, if not all, major social upheavals and revolutions appear to have had an (at least initially) detrimental effect on those at the bottom end of the social strata, than those nearer the top end. The French and Russian revolutions didn't end well for the respective monarchs, of course, but, the "peasants did not immediately gain a lot either.

 

[Unkraut]

And across Europe since the whole Brexit debacle and the rise of Johnson. Total bemusement at the rapid demise of a respected country, its people and it's importance on the world stage.
A great act of national self harm....

I think there are still many on the continent who differentiate between Britain - a majority of her people at any rate - and its current PM and government.

Conversations I have had have all shown a sadness that the UK has opted to go it alone, with the comment that in a world of power blocks this is a silly thing to do in the 21st century.

I don't know if it is my imagination but it seems to me in the stand off over Russia and the Ukraine that the Americans are more interested in the Paris-Berlin axis than the UK. I get that impression, and if it is correct it is a mark of the UK's diminished status in the world.

 

[cookiemonster]

There's a tiny part of me - and I'll admit it's not the best part of me - that's sort of glad that we're having a mirror held up to show us what the UK has become.

Believe it or not, the media out here do make the distinction between England and Scotland. They don't use Britain or the UK as a catch all.

They specifically mention England and Scottish independence is a popular thing here.

 

[newfhouse]

Scottish independence is a popular thing here.

Why is that? Is it a metaphor for a small but distinctive state being culturally and economically overwhelmed by a larger controlling neighbour?

 

[swansonj]

I think there are still many on the continent who differentiate between Britain - a majority of her people at any rate - and its current PM and government.

.....

Do they? Then they do something I don't. Part of why I find this all so depressing is the realisation that "this" is not an aberration, it's exactly what the people of this country knowingly chose - they chose Brexit, they chose Johnson, and they did both because they actually wanted what each of those represented.

 

[cookiemonster]

Why is that? Is it a metaphor for a small but distinctive state being culturally and economically overwhelmed by a larger controlling neighbour?

No idea.

But the fact that our democraticaly elected FM and our national flag were banned from being anywhere near the main part of COP26 was noted here in the press and by respective Gov representatives at the conference.

So I think your assumption may be correct.

 

[BoldonLad]

Do they? Then they do something I don't. Part of why I find this all so depressing is the realisation that "this" is not an aberration, it's exactly what the people of this country knowingly chose - they chose Brexit, they chose Johnson, and they did both because they actually wanted what each of those represented.

SOME of the people may have chosen Brexit and Johnson, but, not ALL

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

SOME of the people may have chosen Brexit and Johnson, but, not ALL

'The People' chose it and everyone is now stuck with it
no point in taking sides
you have to start from where we are now

 

[BoldonLad]

'The People' chose it and everyone is now stuck with it
no point in taking sides
you have to start from where we are now

No quibble with that, and, an opinion I have expressed several times, but, it still does not mean that everyone voted for Brexit, or Johnson. It is not a case of taking sides, more a case of not everyone being tarred with the same brush. Rather like we (well I) would not accept someone saying all cyclists ignore red lights.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Do they? Then they do something I don't. Part of why I find this all so depressing is the realisation that "this" is not an aberration, it's exactly what the people of this country knowingly chose - they chose Brexit, they chose Johnson, and they did both because they actually wanted what each of those represented.

To be fair, not all parts of the Union chose Brexit, so there are some distinctions.

 

[swansonj]

To be fair, not all parts of the Union chose Brexit, so there are some distinctions.

Indeed. Why else do you think I am learning the bagpipes, other than to increase my chances of being allowed to immigrate to Scotland when the time comes?

But Scotland (and other celtic peoples) is a small minority largely irrelevant in Brexit/Johnson terms compared to the depressing English majority, which is kind of the point....