Is the UK now giving off strong Third World vibes?

I lived in finglas and inner city too.

Have you lived in areas in England I mentioned before?

I saw material poverty in England that I hadn't seen in Ireland since the 80s.

Relatively there are poor places within Ireland, just as there are relatively poor parts of Switzerland.

I'm noticing more and more english accents on Irish building sites.

The main argument against PR was "we'll end up like the Italians".

5 Prime Ministers in 7 years later............

That's what ignoring all the countries that coalitions work fine, will do.

Italy was always an untypical example of a country with coalitions ; dozens of different parties and with a recent history of both fascism and communism. The overwhelming majority of countries have much more stable coalitions than what was seen in Italy post-war.

Slightly different in the UK, with a "democracy" that is the property of the highest bidder, coalitions are not needed when you can bribe people like the DUP with money that the Tory government finds sprouts out of this "magic money tree" to force your dogma through.

Britain would not be happy with an EU style coalition, after all the whole of the EU is run by a "corrupt bureaucracy" that "hasn't had its accounts audited" .

Well that's what the so called freedom loving Brexit voters came out with.

They (Brexiteers) are gaslighted into thinking whatever the right wing press barons want them to think. All the stuff about Britain being the greatest democracy in Europe, the EU being totally corrupt by comparison etc is straight from the pages of the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph.

Well you have to wonder what the educational system is like.

Complaining that the EU is undemocratic and sending Farage to Europe to "look after" Britains fish along with the other bunch who's only claim to fame was to turn their backs when someone played "Ode to Joy".

I suppose they got their wish, but I'm sure they could be equally miserable even had they elected intelligent people to represent them.

I don't think there is much hope for the country. To rectify a problem, the problem must be recognised. The vast majority still have the belief that they are key players in world events, while ignoring the fact that not so long ago UNICEF were in Britain feeding their kids.

As a BBC interviewee from Hartlepool said when asked about voting intentions, "I'm voting Tory, you get more food banks under the Tories".

I may seem a tad negative about all this, but when stupidity wipes 20% off your English accounts, it's hard to feel sympathy or respect.

Currently 1.15 euro to the quid. Not even at the 1.16 it dropped to after the result.

A huge problem is that the right wing media sees its role as to keep the Tory Party in power. This is a disaster from the point of view of the public, as the Tory Brexit regime is scarcely being held to account at all. Even now, the right wing press are mostly attacking Starmer and Labour (and the SNP, Greens, Lib Dems etc). The whole thing is beyond messed up.

i can, not a chance will there be an irexit.

it won't be allowed to happen.

As I explained to brexiters as an Irish person it would be hypocritical not to respect a nation leaving a union, just as we did.

The story of the Sycamore Gap tree being cut down in an act of vandalism is so on point with where the UK is at in this period of time.

It's not a significant event in the context of politics or the economy or looking at it through similar lenses, but its another news story that people click on, or hear, or see and for many I expect it cuts away at their mental fortitude.

It feels like this period of time will be looked on as a very dark period for the UK in future years when it is distilled down to being referenced as a decade or 15 or 20 year period.

If you were born in the UK in say, 1995, you'd be 28 years of age now. Probably having completed education, built up a couple years experience (or more if you didn't go the 3rd level education route), and possibly in a relationship and thinking of the next logical step of house, marriage, family etc. (Broadly speaking of course). And while many people born at that time, did all these things, many of their significant years in terms of their mental well being, societal viewpoint and personal philosophy has been accompanied with pretty negative events in the society around them.

From the 08 crash which could have impacted the parents of these people in terms of job security, mortgage payments etc as the kids entered secondary school to the massive growth of tuition fees for university courses as they looked in that direction, the period of austerity which it feels like never ended. The toxicity that led to the Brexit referendum being held as they graduated from college and which was ratcheted up during the campaigns, as they saw 50 to 60 year old's argue for taking away the opportunities to travel freely for these young people that they themselves had benefitted from. Everything that has happened since with successive governments being in a shambles, a series of calamitous Primer Ministers along with a dominance of political influencers with very regressive philosophies, the acrimony and vitriol that prevails in anything with a European influence, the Covid Pandemic, the sh*tshow that is UK beaches for the last couple of years, the rampant inflation of the post Covid period, the profiteering of companies in possession of formerly nationally owned companies, the terminal decline of the NHS, the slashing of the goals for anything progressive or for the wider ocuntry with the step back of Net Zero targets and the practical abandonment of HS2.

And this week, something that gave most people a feeling of comfort when they saw it, in person or on TV or whatever, was destroyed, just because.

It's just a tree, but if you're a 28 year old in the UK who likes nature, wants to protect the environment and feel like your youth was stolen from you, this was another blow you have to fend off. The fact that it is just so pointless makes it hurt even more.

Believe me it was easier to spin them off with that than actually engage with their brexit fantasies.

They had zero knowledge of their own history so it would be like wrestling a pig, both get dirty but the pig enjoyed it.