In Britain we are to get a new Prime Minister; she got there by doing precisely nothing. Everyone else dropped out of the leadership contest. Thus, triumph for democracy… Britain shall have a new leader.
Theresa May, possibly the worst Home Secretary we have ever seen. The very Minister responsible for the 300,000 passports of asylum seekers that were “lost” — I know about this because friends of mine were detained and locked up in Yarlswood for breaking immigration law. They wanted to leave the UK but couldn’t because the dimwits at the Home Office had lost their passports. May has totally demoralised the Police force in the UK, done exactly nothing to manage necessary justice reform and is universally reviled by her colleagues (according to off the record reports.)
Now I know a number of you (particularly non-Brits) are watching on in dismay/amusement at the slow-motion car-crash that is the UK right now. Many of you from Britain are leaving or considering doing so. Those Europeans of you probably feel pretty unappreciated right now too, and if you happen to be black, asian or look a bit foreign you might have heard stupid comments from ignorant people in the wake of the Brexit referendum. It appears that some people thought that “Leave” meant that all foreigners had to leave… I digress.
We, British, and I mean that in the broadest sense to include EVERYONE that chooses to live in Britain and those from Britain that live outside (me) are really appalled at the lack of leadership in our country. This is the culmination of decades of slow ruin, asset stripping, turd-polishing, marketing-spinning and downright ignorance and stupidity running through our politics, media, academia, workplaces and daily lives. Series like “The Office” are sadly a true reflection of what life has become like for many people. It’s been a downwards spiral since the late 90’s where people’s standards of living have been slowly eroded by rising house prices, stagnant wages, declining public services, offshoring of jobs and much more besides. All along people have been distracted by shiny new technology, rebranding of things that are the same (how many different brands have your local trains had, and why are they the same old carriages?), the twenty-four-hour-rolling-news-cycle-in-all-it’s-amazing-glory-thanks-to-Murdoch, The Premier League, Celebrity Gossip, Reality Shows, I really shouldn’t continue should I?
I mean wow.
Just wow.
Here we are in 2016, and it’s a fucking mess.
However… if there’s one thing you should know about Britain, it’s that Britons do not give up. We have a long history of being ruled by idiots, we’re used to that by now. You may look in from outside and stifle a laugh as you see us picking up copper coins from the street that are worth 20% less than a month ago. But at heart, we’re still decent people — we try to do the right thing and no matter who is installed in Number 10 Downing Street we’re still the same open-minded, slightly crazy, totally contradictory, marvellously eccentric people we always were… and by the way, Britain will still keep on making fantastic music. When times are hard, culture blossoms — flowers grow best on a huge steaming turd. So whilst you might just see a turd right now… very soon there will be flowers again.
