To think the UK is losing a lot of soft power?

[alloutoffucks]

The UK has always had a certain reputation in many countries abroad of being competent and organised. That reputation translates into soft power. It beings increased respect for British businesses and business people, and helps foster trust.
Of course it does not mean that every British business person or business is respected or trusted. But the assumption that Britain in general is competent and organised does affect people's assumptions and views of British business.
I think that is eroding fast. Every friend and family member abroad I have spoken to has see that video of the nurse crying and I have been asked a few times why our supermarkets are empty of food (I know they are not, but that is the impression some of they now have). They ask me why British people are not co-operating when in their own country there is no evidence of stockpiling and the only shortage is hand sanitiser. They ask me why we don't have enough PPE for medics.
Some of these questions are by people who pay attention to the news, but everyone has seen the video of the nurse crying.
So AIBU to think Britain is losing a lot of soft power and that this will have an impact on British businesses abroad.

Cherry on the brexit cake

Brexit definitely damaged the way we are seen by other nations, this is just making it worse

Brexit already knocked that on the head. Charmingly eccentric is as good as it gets now...

but everyone has seen the video of the nurse crying.

That was at the start of the lockdown though, not now. And comments on YouTube have been positive to the nurse, so what’s your point?

As unfortunate as it is, a video of a crying nurse is not what impacts soft power. Britain’s soft power is enduring and strong, and while Brexit has sent negative signals to the EU, the same signal is positive to the US, Middle East and Far East. Think of soft power as a combination of the work of our diplomats, and our long running cultural power. Thanks(?) to colonialism, it’s almost impossible to get rid of our influence.

I think the majority of people are co-operating, we are not under total lockdown like other European countries, we're allowed to go out for work (if can't work from home), exercise, to buy essentials and for medical reasons. I don't know which part of the country you're in but where I am people are complying.

I have relatives abroad and they have said that shops have had food shortages the same as us.

I think a lot of people always thought we were dicks (the English not thinking of the other UK nations) so not sure anything has changed.

@SharonasCorona The issue is that they interpreted this as meaning our supermarkets were empty and could not understand why a rich country had empty supermarkets. I know that is not the reality, I am telling you what they thought.

@serge Much as I hate Colonialism and its impact, I hope you are right. I think a lot of people do not realise or underestimate the impact of soft power. A recession is coming, a loss of soft power would make it even harder.

And yes I think Brexit had an impact in some countries especially in Europe, but some of my friends and family are not in Europe so hadn't really heard of Brexit. I know I am coming from a very personal individual perspective here though rather than an evidence based research one.

@Mamamia456 Interesting, that is not what I have heard at all.

So which countries are doing amazingly well.

Do your friends not look at the dates these videos and photos were taken?

Personally I prefer the way we are doing lockdown to a lot of other countries which have draconian measures in place

Yes there are people who are not complying to the spirit of social distancing by standing together to clap the NHS on a Thursday night or driving hundreds of miles to go fishing or have weekends away in their holiday home and there have been too many people to be safe taking walks at the same time in city parks (probably because they live in flats with no outside space) but for the most part I think we have a “happy” medium given the circumstances.
A lot of people are still going to work or working from home and the government has tried to help out those that aren’t working because of this virus.
Atm we are 4 adults all on UC. All work was cancelled over night for dc. Dd will qualify for 80% of her normal income as she had been self employed for 3 years.

I saw pictures from some countries that had a supposed lockdown and it was business as usual.

In others the police have taken the lockdown rules seriously and have shot dead more people than the virus in that country has killed.

Personally I don’t think we are doing too badly in the grand scheme of things.
We could have locked down a week earlier but I can see the point of leaving things to the last possible minute otherwise people would get stir crazy and be out and about just as this thing was hitting the peak.

I would assume we will have the highest number of deaths in Europe because I am sure (outside the Vatican City, Monaco and some small principalities) we have the highest density of people.

Hopefully we will get back to normal soon

I don’t know why your friends would think that the UK would be assuming we would get everything right when we are dealing with something unprecedented and are feeling our way along this route blindfolded like every other country is.

while Brexit has sent negative signals to the EU, the same signal is positive to the US, Middle East and Far East.

No, it looks like the behaviour of a country bent on making itself weaker and irrelevant and casting obviously about for ways to proceed*

Thanks(?) to colonialism, it’s almost impossible to get rid of our influence.

You will realise how deeply deluded a position this is in the years to come.

I agree with araiwa.

One of the NZ ministers said on television yesterday that we must have been waiting for herd immunity because otherwise our plans made no sense. I took notice because i have relatives out there, that can still see doctors, but get tested by a Nurse when they attend the surgery. They are shocked that we have no access to tests, even when symptomatic.

Other countries are commenting on how badly we are doing. There was a statement by numerous Italian ministers and doctors asking what we were waiting for.

"Personally I don’t think we are doing too badly in the grand scheme of things"

I don't see how we can justify leaving over 200 people to die outside of hospital. In the case of two, a 34 year old Mother and a 50 yearcold Nurse, both were refused by paramedics to be taken in. Both from the BAME community. She isn't the only Nurse who has been denied hospital care.

We are doing appallingly.

I've been looking at Le Monde and New York Times during lockdown and not noticed them saying how terribly the Uk is doing compared to other countries. Le Monde mentions Sweden not doing lockdown sometimes and that Paris had banned exercise between 10- 7 due to people not social distancing. Do your friends get their news from social media or sensationalist news outlets that focus on Britain over other countries?

Do your friends not look at the dates these videos and photos were taken?

Do you? Do you look at the dates of videos before assessing their content? We're talking about perceptions here. Not detailed, critical analysis.

Personally I don’t think we are doing too badly in the grand scheme of things

What kind of fucking kool aid are people drinking, the death rate in the UK is appalling.

And it doesn’t include nursing homes 😵

OP, I agree the UK is looking fairly shambolic on the world stage right now.

But then it’s reputation as a country that has its shit together has not been based on reality for some time now.

The confidence, bluster and rhetoric of the public school buffoons in charge have probably kept that perception going, but in reality, the place is a shambles.

@Oliversmumsarmy I am not talking about facts here. I am talking about perceptions. And perceptions matter.
Yes they are shocked we can't get a test either.

@costarica They get their news from a variety of sources. As I said in my OP some do read newspapers and are better informed, some just from social media.
But some of them complain that it is taking 2-3 days to get a test result, and are shocked that we can't get a test at all.
One for example who lives in Thailand told us all how she had to really persuade medics to test her and was unhappy about this - it was obvious from what she was saying she had symptoms of a cold but she was a worried teenager. She went to the drive through place and got a free test that was negative. She could not believe it when my teenagers were saying they would not be able to get a test here unless in hospital.

Some of these people are living in countries where they expect the UK to be better at things than where they live. They expect us to be more organised and more competent. The fact we are not does shock them.

@LaurieMarlow I agree that perception abroad of how organised and competent the UK is often not based on reality. And some of the perceptions now of friends and family abroad of how shambolic the UK is are also not based on reality. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
But perception is soft power. We all have known someone at work who is not that great but senior management think they are wonderful and very competent and that perception gives them power. Reputation matters and I think this is underestimated by many on the UK.

But perception is soft power

I totally agree. I just wonder how much that reputation is crumbling now.

@cnoc Let’s not do personal attacks. We are all anonymous on this forum, you cannot speak to how qualified anyone may be to comment on this.

The US experiences more impact of problematic domestic politics on their soft power because it’s more salient globally. Most people could not name or recognize our Prime Minister. We are powerful, and people work hard every day to maintain and grow that influence.

Alloutof - Food shortages will vary in other countries the same as here. You only have to look at some of the threads on here where you get one person saying they are struggling to find basics and another person saying their local supermarket is well stocked.

I can't see it myself;

"Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, sent a tweet saying his thoughts and prayers were with Johnson “To my dear friend Boris Johnson, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, as you fight for a swift recovery.The people of Japan stand with the British people at this difficult time.”

"Donald Trump, appearing before the press, said he was praying for his “good friend”, after Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit of St Thomas’ hospital.The US president added that he had asked pharmaceutical companies to contact London regarding Johnson to “see if we can be of help”.

"Italian president Giuseppe Conte tweeted: “My thoughts go to Boris Johnson and all the British people. I wish you a fast recovery. You have the whole Italian government’s support and my personal one.”

^"Australian prime minister Scott Morrison tweeted: “Get well soon
Boris Johnson.Thinking of you, your family and all our UK friends at this tough time.”^

"From Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the People of Israel pray for the speedy and full recovery of our friend British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.”

They ask me why we don't have enough PPE for medics.

Really? Which country has enough PPE?

@Mamamia456 I agree that there are plenty of shops with food in and I have told them that. But their perception is that we have lots of supermarkets with no food in at all. I was bit shocked by how convinced some of them seem to be about this.

@Clavinova I am perplexed. What do you expect other Prime Ministers or Presidents to say? Not surprised you have got ill given how shambolic your country is? Of course not. Of course they will send get well soon messages that are supportive. I would be shocked if they did anything different.

There is a global shortage of ppe.

Your friends are just that. They are not representative of their country or the world.

It sounds, like your friends like many people here, may be making judgements based on videos on social media.

They are a tiny snapshot.