To be so ashamed of my country and being British?

[KenDodd]

For so many reasons recently. I feel so, so sad about what has happened to our country.

YANBU to feel that way
YABU to feel that way

@Chocolatedeficitdisorder not all of us voted for brexit either...doesnt mean we should all be ashamed to be english because I'm certainly not. what a hideous generalisation, extremely offensive to suggest that we are something that you "should be ashamed of"

Not that long ago we were 'Cool Britannia'.
In the UK, yes. I don't know any other country where that UK-invented slogan was used.

Coming from the UK but having moved abroad almost 30 years ago, it sometimes seems to me as if the UK see-saws between big-headedness and self-loathing (potentially both due to a lack of collective self-esteem), and can't keep quiet about either of those feelings, broadcasting its own achievements and failings loudly to anyone willing to hear. Other countries that are not so "open" about either their national pluses or the negatives then hear the UK spouting on about how shit Britain is and take that as the absolute truth, or hear the UK spouting about how great Britain is and find it amusing.

Not ashamed but there are a lot of issues that we face, mostly the ones rwalker mentions.

There’s also some positive sides, we are an attractive place to live for many who travel here.

As for ashamed with being English re pp. no not that either.

Ridiculous

@Chocolatedeficitdisorder not all of us voted for brexit either...doesnt mean we should all be ashamed to be english because I'm certainly not.

I didn't say you personally were ashamed, I'm trying to point out that the people who say that they are ashamed to be 'British' are blaming the wrong people.

It's not being 'British' that got us into this mess, it's the way that the majority of the people of England used their votes in 2016 and again last December. The people of Scotland have voted for completely the opposite to England but we're being included in the blaming and shaming. We didn't earn in and we don't deserve it.

I feel very alienated too OP.

YANBU

@Chocolatedeficitdisorder
Can you please clarify that your country is England, and it's the English that you should be ashamed of.

you also go on to say you wouldnt be proud to be English right now. that isnt saying the people who voted brexit should be ashamed (again, that's in your opinion, I didnt personally vote to leave but I know many leavers who stand by their vote) but rather "the english". that is a sweeping statement and seems to me like an opportunity for you to put across your dislike for us as a country.

you yourself didnt earn it no and just because some of us are English doesnt mean we do either - we dont all have the same opinions or thoughts. there are twats in every country, Scotland included.

I know of Scots who voted for Brexit...........just saying.

You need to go and take a good hard look at yourself chocolate. You should be ashamed of the chip on your shoulder you have.

You do not represent me or any Scot with your bigotry.

You definitely identified a backwards trend. I feel the same. I am quite saddened by the reactions I get from non-UK friends who live across Europe and the US, 10 years ago they were always keen to visit and loved London, now they mainly express how sorry they are that I live in the UK. instead of asking if they can visit, they ask why I don't move away. To be fair this has a lot to do with my kind of work, since Brexit the opportunities here a re shrinking very fast in my industry.

YANBU I do too.

1. The 'It will never happen to us so we'll do nothing' attitude of the Government throughout Feb and most of March. Then the blind panic and the rushed and wildly inconsistent restrictions when reality hit. No adequate provision of PPE or any sort of realistic testing regime.

1. The 'Good old Boris - he's doing a great job' mentality of most of the population (certainly round here). Most politicians of any quality resigned when Boris became PM because of his autocratic but completely incompetent attitude- leaving us with the likes of Matt Hancock, Michael Gove and Priti Patel.

1. The hypocrisy of the NHS clapping thing by a nation who voted in a Government who actively campaigned to reduce spending in real terms on the NHS. The fact that we want a good health service without having to pay for it through higher taxation.

1. The inconsistency of the lockdown. Allowing people to cram together on an aircraft but police stopping families sitting together in a park or young children running about.

1. The police's attitude generally. The lack of any sort of intelligent and reasoned response. And not just one none too bright copper but a Chief Constable suggesting that police should monitor shoppers' purchases.

Don't get me going

No one has to read the papers. You could always find a ‘better’ country to move to when the virus is over. Not sure where though

@2010Aussie that's ashamed of the English government, not ashamed to be english.

dont get the two confused

you also go on to say you wouldn't be proud to be English right now.

I wouldn't be. Your majority voted for brexit and again, back in December when there was an opportunity to vote for a coalition which would have proposed a 2nd referendum, your people came out and voted for Johnson and his government.

I sat up that night and watched in horror as English constituencies voted over and over for Tory MPs in the knowledge that brexit would follow, and probably a no-deal brexit at that. If more of you could have held your nose and voted Labour - the chances are that brexit could have been stopped and a new government could have been sorted out later.

So yes, while I know that lots of individuals didn't want this mess, plenty of your families, friends and colleagues caused it to happen. I don't hate English people, but I would be ashamed to be part of a country who put their xenophobia above the well-being of a union and all the people who live within it.

No one has to read the papers. You could always find a ‘better’ country to move to when the virus is over. Not sure where though

wouldn't it be nice to have the freedom to live and work within lots of different European countries without any barriers?

Oh wait...

What intrigues me though is how the country has been shuffled into sides, 10 years ago someone might vote Conservative and be centre right and someone might vote Labour and be centre left and there were lots of people in the middle who didn't agree on everything but had a lot of common ground

I think it's being going on a lot longer than 10 years. From the end of WW2 to 1979, there was little difference between the 2 main parties in how they managed the economy. Both followed Keynesian principles, to the point where it became known as "Butskellism" after Butler and Gaitskell, the Tory and Labour chancellors.

When Thatcher was elected, she adopted the monetarist approach of Milton Friedman and slashed public services, despite (and contributing to) massive unemployment. She dragged the political spectrum way to the right, and much of the Labour party followed.

Blair was a centrist, and went some way to reinstating state support and public service provision. He didn't undo the damage done, but just mitigated it. The paradigm shift continued and we have a new normal, far to the right of the normal I grew up with in the 60s and 70s.

Yabu to say you are ashamed to be British but not unreasonable to be sad about what has happened.

I'm very proud of how my home country has handled this mess, the British government would have done well to look at how they did it, they and their neighbouring country led the way.

@Chocolatedeficitdisorder as I stated before, there are tests in every country, scotland included.

twats*

There was an identical thread recently.
I feel sad and worried how Britain has come out of this so badly.
However I dont feel personally responsible, and right now, I'm way more concerned about how/if the situation can be improved rather than wondering what other countries think of "us".
And (it doesnt make it ok that the British gov weren't prepared) I have definitely seen other countries complaining of lack of PPE so that is not a unique situation.
This was a pandemic of epic proportion that couldnt accurately be predicted. Our government made mistakes but it's not a competition with other countries. Hopefully we might learn from others but I would hope folks in other countries take no pleasure, or laugh that its had such a catastrophic effect in Britain.

I think you’re giving too much stock to this whole sense of “belonging” to a nation and therefore feel ashamed by the actions and decisions of others that you disagree with (who happen to be a majority).

I think you need to do what is best for you and let the idiots remain idiots. You’re not going to change anyone’s mind. I, personally, look at this as an opportunity since these folks cannot clearly see what’s about to happen

Here we go again. If you don't like it, it's up to you to change it. I am seeing acts of astonishing kindness and thoughtfulness every day, people I am proud to know applying themselves in any way they can, mostly through their work and how they assess where we are and what needs to be done, but also personally as people care for relatives and neighbours. I'm very proud of the people I know and the contribution I make through my work to this country. I really cannot understand this mentality about just moaning and contributing to the mess.

Well go elsewhere then OP.

You hate where you live enough to come and wail about it on an internet forum. Put your wailing to better use and make plans that you see as positive going forward.

Let's hope though that you don't find out that the grass isn't always greener elsewhere.

It’s this government’s slowness and previous lack of investment in essential services that has pushed up the death toll.

My DB and partner have lived in Germany for over 30 years. Is it perfect? Far from it. But what I hear from my family’s experience over the last few months couldn’t be more different to ours. Within 2 weeks of lockdown my DB had €9,000 put into his bank account. He’s self employed and that has been a life saver. 2 weeks and they’d got that sorted! Over the weekend DSIL started feeling unwell. On tuesday (one day after phoning for advice) a guy in full hazmat gear came to their house to take a swab. Yesterday she got the result back.

Everyone is required to wear a mask to the shops, on public transport. They had protective screens up in supermarkets and chemists within days of the lockdown and had got 2m distances marked out. Why can they do all this? And why couldn’t the UK?

Micro but what has this got to do with a nation? This is as a result of the decisions made by those at the top. We cannot influence those decisions.

We can just all do what we can to support our family, friends neighbours through the pandemic.

If in May 24 we vote this government back im again......then I may totally lose hope.

Then leave OP. You doubtless have skills that other countries would welcome so move somewhere else if you feel so ashamed of being British. Similarly, there are lots of bright, hardworking potential immigrants who would love the opportunity to come and live and work in the UK. Negativity will become our biggest enemy over the next couple of years and the UK is better off without people like you.