Great Britain as seen in the Swiss Press

[NormanH]

Swiss please note, so with no pro-EU axe to grind.

THE LAUGHING STOCK OF EUROPE

If it weren't so serious, the situation in Great Britain would almost be comical. The country is being governed by a talking robot, nicknamed the Maybot, that somehow managed to visit the burned-out tower block in the west of London without speaking to a single survivor or voluntary helper. Negotiations for the country’s exit from the EU are due to begin on Monday, but no one has even a hint of a plan. The government is dependent on a small party that provides a cozy home for climate change deniers and creationists. Boris Johnson is Foreign Secretary. What in the world has happened to this country?

Two years ago David Cameron emerged from the parliamentary election as the shining victor. He had secured an absolute majority, and as a result it looked as if the career of this cheerful lightweight was headed for surprisingly dizzy heights. The economy was growing faster than in any other industrialised country in the world. Scottish independence and, with it, the break-up of the United Kingdom had been averted. For the first time since 1992, there was a Conservative majority in the House of Commons. Great Britain saw itself as a universally respected actor on the international stage. This was the starting point.

In order to get from this comfortable position to the chaos of the present in the shortest possible time, two things were necessary: first, the Conservative right wingers’ obsessive hatred of the EU, and second, Cameron’s irresponsibility in putting the whole future of the country on the line with his referendum, just to satisfy a few fanatics in his party. It is becoming ever clearer just how extraordinarily bad a decision that was. The fact that Great Britain has become the laughing stock of Europe is directly linked to its vote for Brexit.

The ones who will suffer most will be the British people, who were lied to by the Brexit campaign during the referendum and betrayed and treated like idiots by elements of their press. The shamelessness still knows no bounds: the Daily Express has asked in all seriousness whether the inferno in the tower block was due to the cladding having been designed to meet EU standards. It is a simple matter to discover that the answer to this question is No, but by failing to check it, the newspaper has planted the suspicion that the EU might be to blame for this too. As an aside: a country in which parts of the press are so demonstrably uninterested in truth and exploit a disaster like the fire in Grenfell Tower for their own tasteless ends has a very serious problem.

Already prices are rising in the shops, already inflation is on the up. Investors are holding back. Economic growth has slowed. And that’s before the Brexit negotiations have even begun. With her unnecessary general election, Prime Minister Theresa May has already squandered an eighth of the time available for them. How on earth an undertaking as complex as Brexit is supposed to be agreed in the time remaining is a mystery.

Original: http://mobile2.derbund.ch/articles/59442e3cab5c3744ba000001

[Patf]

Good post Norman, I agree with all of your points.

It's the sheer incompetence of the people at the top, and lack of ability to think creatively  longterm that worries me most.

Absolute amateurs.

And though I hope Corbyn has something better to offer his ability to lead is still in question. Why hasn't he managed to persuade some of the old-timers to publicly back him?

And I hope there won't be any more DM style platitudes and rumours dished out about him. Doesn't get us anywhere.

[Alan Zoff]

A forlorn hope, I'm afraid Pat. Corbyn is taking on the right wing establishment so the majority of the Press will be against him all the way. And if you express similar sentiments to those in that article, you are merely seen as being unpatriotic.

With its superiority complex, UK is sleepwalking towards a disastrous own goal.

[mint]

What worries me even more is this:

If there is this much disarray over a fire (admittedly a catastrophic one) which has killed, let's say the same number of people in an aeroplane disaster, what on earth is the government going to do if we have a real biggie along the lines of the twin towers or worse?

[idun]

A good friend in France is Swiss and I know several french people who have lived in Switzerland, visited one whilst they lived there a few times.

I know much about things Swiss, even watch Swiss news quite often on TV5 Monde

So really the Swiss poking fun at anyone is what it is, and am taking this article with the pinch of salt.

[Alan Zoff]

I am inclined to be sceptical about anything I read in any of the Press, although on this occasion the article largely echoes my own thoughts. So it must be accurate! :)