Little Britain - the state of England today

There are so many videos of the riots in France.
It's difficult to know which ones to post.
I did say there were riots.

giving the whole country such a terrible image.

It's interesting, isn't it, the perception we gain from watching the news of another country.

We might be excused for thinking the French are always rioting, gilets jaunes were at every junction, protestors throwing stones and rocks at police, dreadful squalid refugee camps , tear gas being used by heavy handed police, migrants in camps accusing French police of rights abuses etc, anti-vaxxers protesting across France.

Yet someone living peacefully in a rural French village or town would be astonished at the image portrayed in the news media.

Different perceptions.
Good news isn't newsworthy.

youtu.be/pG7iwKIelsI

Good grief MissA, I hadn't seen the groups of drunken, belligerent idiots abusing and swearing at French police. They're mocking Covid restrictions and emergency lockdown and extending the pandemic for everyone. Those images will be shown all over the world. Just a minority, of course, but a significant one- giving the whole country such a terrible image.

They throw molotov cocktails at the police, too.

It is strange, and sad, that some people only want to see the worst in the UK.

Meanwhile here in Devon the beach was packed with locals, holidaymakers and day trippers yesterday. A woman gets into difficulty in the sea. People rush in to help her and to bring her to shore. A ring of people forms around her to shield her. A couple of people perform CPR while others contact the emergency services. Another group tries to remove families with children away from the scene, and starts to prepare a site for the air ambulance. The whole incident brings out the best in the British public.
Will these kind of daily acts of kindness be reported in the news? Probably not. Dwelling on bad news like football hooliganism is obviously more appealing to those who want to criticise everything in the UK.

Chewbacca

^MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s prime minister on Saturday condemned a series of violent protests^ in cities across the country against restrictions imposed to curb the surge of COVID-19 after a six-month state of emergency came into effect this week.
Riot police shot blank bullets to try to disperse scores of protesters who were setting fire to rubbish bins in Madrid’s main thoroughfare Gran Via.

Meanwhile, demonstrators pelted police with rocks and other projectiles in Barcelona in a second night of disturbances in Spain’s second-largest city.

In the northern Spanish city of Logroño, about 150 people attacked police with stones, set fire to containers and looted shops, police reported. Riot police were drafted in to quell ^disturbances in Haro, in the wine-growing region of La Rioja.^

Good heavens - they may be a minority, of course, but a significant one- giving the whole country such a terrible image.
Makes me so sad and angry too.

Little Britain maybe and there is plenty that needs improving, better than France?, no, just different. Paris and other large city’s have just as many problems as UK city’s, rural France is lovely, plenty of nice places in the UK.

Migrants cross the Channel because they get better treatment in the UK, plenty of ways the UK is a better place to live.

''It is strange, and sad, that some people only want to see the worst in the UK.''

you obviously did not read my post or chose to distort what I was saying.

Callistemon, thanks for reading it as it was meant.

Two vaccination centres have been ransacked in France amid protests over the government's introduction of tougher coronavirus rules.
One site in south-east France was vandalised and flooded with fire hoses on Friday night, authorities said.

A day later, another clinic in the south-west was partially destroyed in what local media called an arson attack.
The incidents came on a weekend of demonstrations against Covid measures.
On Saturday, more than 100,000 people took to the streets across France to denounce rules designed to tackle rising infections.
Anti-vaccine graffiti was found near a vandalised vaccination centre in Lans-en-Vercors near the south-eastern city of Grenoble. Saturday's arson attack targeted a clinic in the village of Urrugne near Biarritz in the south-west.

Just a minority, of course, but a significant one- giving the whole country such a terrible image.

A bunch of anti-lockdown protesters in various parts of France are not giving the whole country such a terrible image.

Kali2

''It is strange, and sad, that some people only want to see the worst in the UK.''

you obviously did not read my post or chose to distort what I was saying.

Callistemon, thanks for reading it as it was meant.

Excuse me, where was I actually referring to your post? You are being bery vain if you think my reference to "people" in general was all about you.
If you read my post correctly, and didn't distort it to your liking, you would see I was clearly talking about media portrayal - as I have been since the beginning of this thread

I expect you're right Alegrias; France, Spain and other EU countries, who have a minority of their citizens behaving badly during COVID restrictions, are no different to the minority of English people who behave in a similar manner.

Yes, and yet- there is a difference in the reasons for the demos, somehow- but no excuse for bad behaviour.

I can’t actually see anything online about the British “demos” in Benidorm. Could you provide a link please to the reports you say have been showed again all over the world and Press?

The ‘seeing the worst of things happening in the UK’ has been going on for quite a while now, both by those who live in other countries and those who actually live here, by anyone who disagreed with the referendum result or the result of the last few General Elections perhaps.

Of course, the badly behaved British are seen as far worse than the revolting French, the combat-trained Russian football hooligans, uncivil Spanish hooligans, the gangs of Eastern European football hooligans etc and all other groups of protestors/hooligans of excitable nationalities.

no excuse for bad behaviour
And why?
Because the British are supposed to be the upholders of a sense of fair play, of justice, of a stiff upper lip if we don't win.
We're Gentlemen, dontcha know and mustn't let the side down!!

Anything less is Just Not British and disgraceful.

The opening gambit of the state of England today, in the negative sense, to me is such a generic term it could apply to practically anywhere. Of course there are aspects of our society that are deeply depressing but could that not be said of most countries.

The racism towards the three young black footballers who took the penalties was reprehensible, but it does seem that the perpetrators who tweeted what they did are gradually being exposed and see how they like it when they get shed loads of abuse shoved their way. Why can't social media companies do more to filter this hatred? Cowards will always say what they like, because they feel they can under the cover of anonymity. A review of "The Ugly Side of Facebook" a fly on the wall expose, shows a company that often looks the other way and I imagine that could also be said of other social media platforms such as Twitter. It was heartening to see that Marcus Rashford's defaced picture was soon covered with letters and tributes offering support, most people, I believe are decent and want to demonstrate that. There will always be an element who let us down, I particularly hate the way some of our fellow country people show their worst side abroad, it does in a way shame as all, but it shouldn't because the vast majority will be appalled by it too.

For all the negatives in this country and undoubtedly they exist, they are there in practically every global society. This weekend I have read about:

The looting and corruption that has destroyed Mandela's dream, decades of crony capitalism and misrule by the ANC, a country that is gradually sliding into anarchy. So far 117 people have died, many hundreds injured and shopping malls, supermarkets, warehouses and factories have been burnt to the ground. A country where the 11.4 million unemployed have no income and have on average two or three dependents, so households comprising of 30 million, half the population going hungry!

Meanwhile in the communist utopia that is Cuba, sadly it seems the Cubans themselves don't feel that they are living in an idyll because they have been taking to the streets demonstrating about food shortages, power cuts and decades of oppression. They do it at their peril as they are likely to be incarcerated along with gay people and trade unionists already behind bars. Not far away, in Venezuela on the mainland of South America, a mere 1 million people have fled that country.

"Racism" which allegedly as pointed out by the OP, is one of the depressing aspects we have here in England, although my French cousin tells me their country hasn't done a magnificent job in assimilating their long established Algerian population that fought alongside the French in The Algerian War, nevertheless the unrest in the banlieues shouldn't be brought up otherwise that familiar, "whataboutery" so beloved on GN I know will be coming my way!

Denmark meanwhile under the auspices of the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, Social Democrat, has won approval for legislation to allow asylum seekers to be settled in third countries, probably Africa and yes I know that idea appeals to Pritti Patel, but I doubt whether she'd describe herself as part of a centre left coalition. Other draconian measures have been the threat of confiscating asylum seekers' jewellery and other valuables, labelling areas with high numbers of immigrants "ghettos" and limiting the number of non westerners who can live there. All in all there's a kind of deja vu there and who'd have thought it, liberal Denmark, no so liberal now

The terrible loss of life in the German floods does make us realise that like our own successive governments other countries make dreadful mistakes, they knew the floods were coming but allegedly the warnings didn't work and residents weren't evacuated so it seems sometimes even the "Germans Don't Always Do It Better"

Meanwhile, America, it seems have more homeless people than ever, tents cities all over the place.

......and well lets not even get started on China, where to begin?

Going back to the 1950s, it probably was easier to get a council house, maybe because more of them were being built, weren't 400,000 constructed under the McMillan government? and the population, haven't got a clue, but considerably smaller than it was now. People stayed together through thick and thin, divorce and separation was nothing like as commonplace, many unhappy unions I imagine. From what I've seen photographed slum dwellings existed that looked positively Dickensian.

I grew up in a town where there were numerous mental hospitals and I know for a fact, my friend's mother was a nurse in one, a girl could be incarcerated in such a place for years for having a baby out of wedlock.........and then there were all the mothers who were forced to give up their babies.

That's not say that I agree a lot of people are living in sub standard housing but on balance I think life was a lot worse then.

lemongrove

The ‘seeing the worst of things happening in the UK’ has been going on for quite a while now, both by those who live in other countries and those who actually live here, by anyone who disagreed with the referendum result or the result of the last few General Elections perhaps.

Oh how true!!!!
And we’ve had a few over the years.

British “demos” in Benidorm ........ doesn't look as though you're going to get the link... Maggiemaybe ?

Excellent post Terri ??????

Never mentionned 'demos' in Benidorm- just drunken, beligerent (belly - gerent?) idiots refusing to abide by emergency rules and abusing police and Hôtel, bar, etc, staff.

As said, a 'demo' is very different- but NO excuse for any abuse or violence.

Is there a link for that, please?

What you actually said kali2 was: And now groups of drunken, belligerent idiots abusing and swearing at Police and others in Benidorm- mocking Covid restrictions and emergency lockdown (and many of them not youngsters either) showed again *all over the world and Press*

I, and other posters, haven't been able to find any evidence of this assertion so, please could you provide evidence? Evidence of anti COVID violent demonstrations in both France and Spain has been provided but you've studiously avoided commenting on that, focusing, as always on the behaviour of English people.

Yes, exactly, thanks. Never mentionned demos- a demo is very different and for very different reasons.