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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Really very sad with France!

999 replies

Friendsoftheearth · 08/12/2020 06:52

I am quietly furious with France. We have been going to France between three and four times a year, every year for pretty much all of my adult life. We have spent most summer holidays, skiing and all the rest, choosing France as our destination over all over countries.

Every week I buy French cheeses, wine and truffle oils, and we are very big fans of France and French cuisine.

Even taking into account that Macron should hope and push for the best deal for their fishing industry, I still find it incredulous and insulting that they should be demanding ten years of fish, and are offering us a paltry percentage. Ten years.
They are in a total stand off regarding an even playing field, I understand the reasons for this, but honestly they are pushing all of us to a no deal outcome, that will see French fisherman with no catch whatsoever, and high tariffs slapped on all imports from France. Tourism will be destroyed as people will no longer wish to go there. It could poison relations for decades.

I am aware of the history between the UK and France, but rather naively thought we had moved on from that a very long time ago, I am in despair at the eleventh hour demands, and feel this is in very bad faith. It has really highlighted to me how little respect France have for us as a country.

I feel like I never want to go again, despite having a tentative booking for a holiday in the spring of next year.

OP posts:
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8
Walkaround · 08/12/2020 17:27

@Greysparkles

Silly OP,

You know that your not allowed to point out anything that is great about the UK.
Apparently our country is shit! And that narrative must never be changed!

Ah, you missed out a couple of words, @Greysparkles - I think you meant to say, our country is run by shits. Wink
Annasgirl · 08/12/2020 17:31

@KleinBlue

What an incredibly weird post. Did you think France owed the UK some particular loyalty on fishing rights because you go there on holiday and buy French cheese weekly?
This.

Honestly what did you think would happen with an exit? It is like a divorce. No one plays nice.

ListeningQuietly · 08/12/2020 17:31

Which country DO you live in @Friendsoftheearth
because its clearly not
and has never been
the UK
?

derxa · 08/12/2020 17:32

No French people I know are even remotely that insulting to Brits or the UK. When I was an au pair, the host father said that crows fly upside down in Scotland to avoid seeing the misery Grin

AuldAlliance · 08/12/2020 17:35

The French are taught this tactic, it is a pretty grim and an underhand way to behave though. Do you suppose their house sales, car sales and everything in between is carried out in such a way?

OMG, maybe their cheese and truffle oil sales are specifically carried out this way, too?!! Watch out in case they lob something in at the mast minute as you buy your garlic at the market.
Maybe it's time to rethink your love of France, which was fairly idiosyncratic to start with.

The UK's negotiating skills are stellar, naturally, as evidenced over the last few years.

TBH, I'm still laughing out loud at the idea that the UK's boarding schools are an asset to be proud of, when they have produced such a dazzling array of incompetent politicians with their thin veneer of learning and impenetrable layer of arrogance.
And then there's Ampleforth...

wellthatsunusual · 08/12/2020 17:35

@TheSunIsStillShining

Let's be fair: it is free to those who are not in work and don't pay taxes.
But who doesn't pay tax? Plenty of people don't pay income tax but it doesn't mean that they don't pay tax at all.
AuldAlliance · 08/12/2020 17:36

last not mast

FoolsAssassin · 08/12/2020 17:36

I’m pretty fond of the U.K. it’s just in addition to having a rubbish Government, a percentage of the population appear to be having a collective mid life crisis . The last few years have been quite surreal.

Friendsoftheearth · 08/12/2020 17:40

Yes I live in SW England

OP posts:
Friendsoftheearth · 08/12/2020 17:41

Heaven forbid one of us might actually love living here.

OP posts:
bellinisurge · 08/12/2020 17:41

Not a free health service. I pay tax and national insurance. I pay for prescriptions including my lovely HRT which is already in short supply . My choice is limits what the nHS is prepared to find with my taxes and national insurance.
Not free.

ListeningQuietly · 08/12/2020 17:43

@Friendsoftheearth

Yes I live in SW England
A turn of phrase which proves my point

enjoy your French food while you can still get it.

SabrinaThwaite · 08/12/2020 17:43

@Friendsoftheearth

Most of the Scottish islands voted to leave. Many scots are passionate leavers, and we all know how Wales feels. So thanks for trying to correct me, but I did intend to use the word British and not English. You just can't bear the truth can you.
I’m calling bollocks.

Scottish islands all voted REMAIN.

And very happy to correct your ignorance (or disingenuousness?).

bellinisurge · 08/12/2020 17:44

Pathetic that you think not liking Brexit means hating the UK. You really need to read up on what democracy is.

raskolnikova · 08/12/2020 17:44

@Greysparkles

Silly OP,

You know that your not allowed to point out anything that is great about the UK.
Apparently our country is shit! And that narrative must never be changed!

There are lots of good things about the UK. I wonder how many of them will survive Brexit.
bellinisurge · 08/12/2020 17:45

And here's what the Queen thinks about Brexit. In case you missed it.

Really very sad with France!
ListeningQuietly · 08/12/2020 17:48

SAbrina
you are correct. the OP is wrong.
Here is the Brexit vote data
www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/oxford-and-brexit/brexit-analysis/mapping-brexit-vote
Not One Scottish Constituency voted Leave

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 08/12/2020 17:48

@SionnachRua

You do appear to be getting stupider with every post. You understand that a (slight) overall majority for leave across the UK is democracy in action...but you fail to see that an overall majority to stay in Scotland, and in NI, is thwarted democracy?

I'm really enjoying how a 52% total Leave vote is treated as a brave nation rising up and the 48% on the other side are ignored. Meanwhile 38% Scots who voted to leave seem more deserving of a mention than the 62% Scots who voted to stay. An interesting dichotomy. Grin

Its actually quite impressive

In a ‘oh for fucks sake, seriously?’ Kind of way

Walkaround · 08/12/2020 17:49

What do I love about this country? I love it because I was born here. I love it because it is familiar to me. I love it because I know its history better than that of other countries. I love it because speech is relatively free. I love it because it has afforded me, personally, plenty of opportunities. I love it for its scenery. I love it for its variety. I love it because I can navigate its systems more easily than those of a foreign system, because I can see it without rose tinted spectacles for its faults and its strengths. I can’t do that with other countries, because I don’t know them well enough.

I don’t love it for the diminishing opportunities and poor decisions made in recent years. I don’t love it for the blatant lack of integrity of our current leadership and media.

bellinisurge · 08/12/2020 17:51

"London is the most incredible city in the world"

Yeah, it's great. So is New York.

Walkaround · 08/12/2020 17:51

I also loved it for being part of the EU.

TheSunIsStillShining · 08/12/2020 17:51

@wellthatsunusual
who doesn't pay tax:

  • kids - obviously
  • ppl on benefits
  • pensioners
  • genuine medical benefits (who can't work even if they would like to)

The 1. and 3. will and have paid through their nose through NI. The last is not an issue. The middle is the freeloader part.

SabrinaThwaite · 08/12/2020 17:52

@ListeningQuietly

SAbrina you are correct. the OP is wrong. Here is the Brexit vote data www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/oxford-and-brexit/brexit-analysis/mapping-brexit-vote Not One Scottish Constituency voted Leave
I know that LQ, you know that, but our little friend is struggling with basic facts (and syntax).
chomalungma · 08/12/2020 17:55

@Friendsoftheearth

Heaven forbid one of us might actually love living here.
The UK has many good qualities

There are other things that other democracies do better than us.

Quality of life is much better in other countries - and that's something that needs addressing here.

But people who dare question the way the UK does things quite often get told that they don't love this country, they are unpatriotic and they should move abroad then if they think that's so much better.

I love the country I was born in. But I can see its faults and I know that we can be better than we are.

bellinisurge · 08/12/2020 17:57

Op, is English your first language. Because it's a bit ropey.