To be ashamed to be British

[yesterdayschild]

Every day more and more British deaths. When compared to other countries some of them third world, we have an appalling death rate from Covid 19.
Why oh why did the government allow 3000 Spanish to enter just to watch a football match when Spain would not allow them to watch in their own country.
Why was the Stereophonics concert allowed when other countries had locked down.
Why are thousands of people still entering the U.K. with no checks.
Why are our NHS staff still begging for PPE

I am feeling very very low about all of this and wish I lived in some other country.

thegcatsmother

**The other countries that have high death rates like Belgium, are just beginning to ease their lockdowns, to the level of ours. if you want to have armed police and military on the street, stopping and asking you why you are going out, and have to provide papers, then go to France, Spain and Italy. If you want to be fined €200 for not shopping at the nearest supermarket to you, whether it is crap or not, move to Belgium, and see above for armed police and military.

We don't know that we have an appalling death rate, as we don't know the level of infections overall. Every single person in the UK would have to be tested for that.

I think you'll find the medical staff in other countries are begging for PPE as well - it's a world wide pandemic, with world wide needs for PPE, not just the UK.

I am not ashamed to be British and never have been. Places with large international hubs like London, Brussels and NY have been hard hit. Try looking at population density as well, we are a densly populated island; it's no wonder we have a lot of deaths.**

This this and this 👆

London is one of the most diverse city’s on the planet, as is New York. There’s people flying in and out from all corners of the globe, more than any other European country.

It’s got 6 airports within its vicinity so it’s a huge melting pot of citizens mixing. Brussels has 2 by contrast! Heathrow is also Europe’s busiest airport so it’s not really comparable to other cities.

Not sure how they could check and quarantine every person coming in to the airports, there wouldn’t have been the room for a start. It’s all very well checking if they have a temp but if they don’t that day it doesn’t mean they don’t/didn’t have covid...

It isn’t just as simple as closing the busiest airports in the world at the very start.

It was colonialism that did it for me.

Just think how the Scandinavians must feel. All that Viking violence, raping and pillaging of other countries back in the Middle Ages.

Ironically this thing about feeling like you're worse than everyone else is a very British trait.
Made me think of this (by Orwell)
'England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during “God Save the King” than of stealing from a poor box.'

I’m totally ashamed of our Govt. and our Brexit. This crisis has shown all too clearly that “let’s train our own drs, nurses, fruit pickers, bus drivers” whatever, is just a joke. We rely very heavily on immigrant workers. And now, they’re dying, to keep our NHS going and us alive.

We seem to have a small minded attitude I would never have thought possible in 2020 Britain.

YANBU AT ALL OP.

People can blame 'the government' til the cows come home but it's every single individual of the British public making shitty decisions every day that are causing the virus to spread and people to die in the thousands. People are too selfish.

I'm neither proud, ashamed, nor do I consider myself British, although I was born here.

I am ashamed to be British when I see covidiots ignoring the rules, thugs and bullies clapping for the NHS who dont normally give a shit about getting into pissed up fights and abusing the staff, people arguing in shops over toilet paper, the list of shameful behaviour is very long.

YANBU OP.

I blame the idiots that voted for this shambles of a Govt. A bigger bunch if inadequates, it would be harder to find.

Pritti Patel and her ‘shoplifting figures have fallen from this period last year’. No shit Sherlock!

The debacle of the millions of LOST and unaccounted for PPE.

‘Ashamed’, doesn’t even come close.

Not one of the 12 people suspected to have died of Covid-19 on Anthony's shift had been tested for coronavirus. As a result, their deaths were not included in the official coronavirus death toll in New York last Sunday, which stood at 594

That story is from 11th April.

On 14th April New York increased its death toll count by several thousand when they started including people who had no tested positive but were presumed to have died of Covid-19.

www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/nyregion/new-york-coronavirus-deaths.html

You would probably be complaining about lots of issues if you lived in any other country. The government don't always get things right, but by and large they are going in the right direction.

I blame the government, they have clearly bungled this terribly.

I dont blame the general public, but I will be ashamed if we fail to hold this government accountable for their slow and cruel behaviour. They could have done better and they didn't.

Why are thousands of people still entering the U.K. with no checks.

Because when they enter they are given a warning that they are entering a country with a high rate of CV deaths, and that they need to keep their distance from Brits and self-isolate if they develop symptoms.

Or is it just the fact that they are foreign enough to suspect them of being infected?

Have you tried emigrating to greener grass OP?

'England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during “God Save the King” than of stealing from a poor box.' Sigh. English doesn't mean British. Is that too hard to acknowledge.

whoever thinks the government have done a good job - you are deluded. 75% increase in deaths is a terrible record
a PM who willingly shakes hands, against his own advisors advice and becomes so terribly ill - wastes NHS resources having to be hospitalised due to his own stupidity, beggars belief sadly

No I like living in the U.K., you cannot believe the information coming out of many countries, do you really believe the ‘statistics’ coming out of Russian, Iran, Pakistan, etc?

No one apart from weirdos care about colonialism

It's a quote from Orwell, though, isn't it? It's how he put it.

I am ashamed - lions led by donkeys 😡

Not this again. Some people on here seem to positively wallow in every opportunity of slagging off their own country.

As for whoever mentioned colonialism, you do realise that other countries had colonies too? And certainly didn’t behave any better than we did - nor do they seem to endlessly beat themselves up about what went on well before they were born.

That was directed to @derxa you can see that it isn't that poster's own words, as Orwell refers to people being ashamed to say 'God save the King'.

This link shows that England and Wales had 37% more deaths than usual for the time of year, compared to France 34%, Spain 51%, Netherlands 42%, Italy 90%, Belgium 60%. There is I think a lag in the data, so time may change that. But no, no reason to be ashamed, if that were even the right word.

I don't understand the readiness people have to be "ashamed" of their country at all, you must have mixed with very different people to the ones I mix with who I am, generally speaking, proud to know.
[https://www.ft.com/content/6bd88b7d-3386-4543-b2e9-0d5c6fac846c]

If you are so ashamed of your country, I would have to ask what you are doing to make it a better place? We have more freedom than pretty much any other country on the planet - do what you want to make it a country to be proud of.

It's a quote from Orwell, though, isn't it? It's how he put it. Yes I know but during all the years I've been on MN posters think that England means the UK. Prince William is 'the future King of England' is frequently posted.
Anyway I love this country for all its faults.

Do these conversations happen in Italy and France?

Not sure, but you can bet they criticise their government as much as we do. Certainly in France, I'm not as familiar with Italy, but I would guess so.

No I am not ashamed to be British.

I think there are some things that could have been handled better (earlier lockdown) in this international crises but looking at Sweden and comparing is like comparing oranges and apples a fraction of the population, it is not an international hub, few areas of the country with high population density and the same with New Zealand.

Every country has had to plan and manage around their healthcare system, their economy, their population, the culture of the country (a lockdown like China with full government control simply wouldn’t work here)

I have family and friends in the US, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Sri Lanka, The Netherlands, Germany not one of them isn’t complaining about their government

Very proud of the scientific work going on at Oxford and Imperial - and I agree with this

How the NHS was literally transformed in a few days to work completely differently considering the scale of this was quite incredible along with the transformation of conference centres