I think there’s a fundamental misunderstanding here. The thread is specifically about the current UK government - and its scary disregard for democratic and human rights. This is a genuine concern for many here - I, for example, have friends and relatives, including a daughter, in the UK.
Criticisng the UK government is not the same as saying ‘UK bad’ - and it’s a long way from saying ‘France good’. I don’t see countries in that way at all (in some kind of point-scoring league). Nor am I any fan of Macron’s government anyway - again using myself as an example - although I’m not currently concerned that it’s going down the very dark path the UK and Italy are on.
The question this raises for me is why some people see criticism of the UK government as criticism of the whole country? Or indeed absence of criticism of the French government (which is, lets be honest, pretty anaemic - neither too objectionable nor very inspiring) as some kind of implicit praise for France in general?
But how would anybody know it was a comment on that one sentence?
It wasn’t a reply to it, and was 12 posts later!
And you’re still making a big leap from the fact that people leave countries when they fear their government is being captured by the extreme right*, to a more general ‘narrative’ of good/bad countries. There’s more to countries than their politicians.
Interesting FT graphical representations of just how far right the right of the Tory Party is (data from Truss period, though I doubt it’s changed much under Sunak)…
"A part of the reason for the problem of extremism that we face in the UK is that we have a political system that for a very long time sought to suppress the extremes, and succeeded in doing so. That is precisely what first-past-the-post two party politics is meant to do.
This system worked when the trigger for authoritarianism did not exist. That trigger is inequality, both actual and perceived. And we have since 2010 had a political party in office that has deliberately promoted inequality in the UK.
Those in the Tory party who did this must regret doing so, simply because as a result they have lost control of that party."
You couldn’t make it up - days after Sunak appointed him Tory Party Chair, Lee Anderson is being sued for libel over comments about a man who runs a food bank.
Reminds me of “This is Your Life” when that was on TV. My late FIL used to get riled up at watching so called celebs having their life story related which in most cases showed they had never done anything interesting and he always said it should have showcased ordinary heroes from the public who needed to be thanked for what they had done, not rich and famous celebs. The only one I can remember like that was to do with the Penlee Lifeboat tragedy and the heroes who went out to help them
a disgraced de Pfeffle should not only have the whip removed but any plans he had to reward cronies with honours should be binned at the same time. If KCIII had any balls, he would absolutely refuse to countenance them - Truss likewise.
As for his father - what message does rewarding a serial wife beater send out
Shockingly intolerable
I don’t think many (any?) will be particularly surprised by any of the claims made in the book, but it’s good to have my thoughts on Johnson’s ability to deal with a crisis confirmed.
