Zelensky and Putin would seem to disagree. Both obsessed with us for different reasons. Countries our size should be a fart in the wind for Vlad, but the Russians have even accused us of blowing up their pipeline. They're desperate to piss about with our elections and political processes, we're constantly told. Everything the UK does attracts comment from everywhere. Including France, who are desperate to get us involved in its 'Definitely not the EU, honest guv' council. It must just be them being nice to an insignificant minnow like us, I suppose.
Why not, they'll only be ignored and sidestepped ... ... so, no harm done. When the Italians are laughing at the UK you know we're really at a low point.
As they say 'respect is earned' Our past earned us respect. Recent months of hilarious going ons, also frankly the 'austerity years' plus Brexit (implementation) has brought our economy to its knees. Politicians looking absurd and down in the dumps economy means we are falling down the list of global economies. Not even an opinion.. just truth
We're no longer making things so India, China, etc, will do that instead. That doesn't bother anyone because it only really affects the 'lower orders', their job's, community and self respect. When we start to lose our influence in banking, insurance, markets, etc, the wealthy will start to sit up and pay attention. IMO Brexit will do us no favours because we're now just a small island going back to Imperial measures, anti-European and an introspective mentality. The last few years have made un look unstable and careless ... ... not really attractive to foreign investors tbh. And don't even Gove and his 'levelling up'
Opinions are not facts, no matter which newspaper they happen to be published in. Facts are things like the Italians having 70 governments in 77 years.
Individuals may be laughing stocks. Career diplomats have to think years past current incumbents though. At worst they do a holding pattern which was what happened with Trump - not too committed, not too denigrating - and normal service is resumed as soon as they're gone. That's what will happen here, because that's what always has to happen. If it didn't everyone would be fighting everyone else all the time over stuff that happened years, decades and centuries ago.
Even Trump didn't do as much damage. That was one man who drew all the flak. The last two years of chaos, involving the entire party, is much worse. But, that's just my opinion so I'll leave it there.
Arent you forgetting a global pandemic and the biggest war in Europe since WWII as contributors to the state of the economy. They are not the be all and end all, but they contribute, and they too are facts.
True, but it is also a fact that we don't see any other "civilised" country chopping and changing prime ministers and other senior government posts because of those things and nor do we see the levels of scandal, incompetence or corruption you would perhaps expect to see in some 3rd world tin pot banana republic. It is embarrassing to be honest
This isn't really accurate. A quick Google search will show you that there have been significant scandals in Dutch, Belgian, and German politics in the last couple of years. Its just that they aren't reported in any kind of depth here. Italian politics has been in a constant state of turmoil for at least the last 30 years, if not longer. The recent upheaval here seems so bad because it's so unusual; internationally, the UK is seen as being very politically stable in comparison to other countries.
Individual political scandals are quite usual. This has been sustained idiocy from a succession of PM's starting with Cameron going off in the huff. I've never seen such a shambles in the UK ... ... throwing Italy in doesn't make it any easier to stomach tbh.
Yeah, Brexit has overshadowed everything for the last six years. Like you say, none of has seen anything like this period in British politics. Which is why it seems so bad- we're just not used to it. The post I originally replied to is wrong though; it's not the case that no other 'civilised country' (politically incorrect term, that) has seen the same levels of scandal and corruption- they certainly have.
While Labour still leads the Tories on most issues, 33% said they would prefer “a Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak” to manage the economy, with 29% choosing “a Labour government led by Keir Starmer”. When asked in the previous poll last week, 39% chose “a Labour government led by Keir Starmer”, with only 11% choosing “a Conservative government led by Liz Truss.” There is also evidence that Tory voters are returning to the party at the start of Sunak’s tenure. Last week, only 41% of Conservative voters chose a Conservative government led by Truss as their preference for managing the economy. The latest poll shows that 88% now choose a government led by Sunak. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/30/sunak-tories-labour-repair-economy-voters-new-poll
I've seen scandal but never with so many senior Government figures one after another ... ... if it was a drama series people wouldn't find it believable.
