That her words about the UK really depressed me?

[NaturalScone]

Talking to a Swedish colleague this afternoon, not had much of a chance to in the past and we ended up discussing the news.
She mentioned how peculiar our politics were, how we have such a massive wealth divide (as we all know) with little encouragement for people from all walks of life and backgrounds to have equal opportunities. By this she meant how Uni education is funded over there so nobody is in debt, which means many more young people are able to chase professional careers, without massive debt.
Also, the work ethic, how people in Northern Europe are encouraged to prioritise health and wellbeing as well as work, and how well housing, health, etc work over there.

I stupidly mentioned Boris J and she said he would likely already be sacked or various offences. I also didn't know that many European monarchs had to either self fund (?) or had most of their palaces belonging to the public.

Are we going backwards here? It left me feeling pretty depressed. I see people on here all the time saying we are so lucky here, but I think the bar is set really low compared to much of Europe. And now we are less connected to Europe, many people here only judge our standards by the US, as if the EU is somehow 'foreign'.
It all sounds a bit scary if I think about it, we do seem so easily led by a one-party representational media/press (right). And whilst I am not generally partisan, I do feel weirdly uncomfortable. She even said the tories were set to abolish channel 4 and soon the BBC because they were too neutral. I find that fairly terrifying and wonder where we re headed. I previously considered Brexit an issue of immigration, but to be honest I now wonder if that was a red herring and the true motivation was to get us clear of having to take on EU worker's rights and values.

I usually look for the positives in what we've got, because it feels better than admitting things are that bad, but now I just don't know. And not much I can do about it either!
Something does feel harsher and more divided nowadays, and politicians are able to do anything without fear of reprisal. The UK press is incredibly dire! Do other people see this?

Not from Sweden, but from the nordics. I think it's one of those things where anyone can take positive examples from one country and negatives from another and draw a comparison that will heavily benefit the other one.

I obviously don't know personally about Sweden but based on how my friends talk and reading news I'm not convinced health care and housing is working fantastically. Lack of university debt it true but I happen to appreciate the UK system of lower qualifications than you can study. Getting a generic masters degree for a relatively basic job? Nah. I do think there are a lot of things that have gone down in the UK but the inflation is not an exclusive to UK and I can think of a few things that have gone down in my home country. But I can very well explain how UK is a sithole in comparison or how it's significantly better. Depending on how I'm feeling.

@Andouillette
Fairly sure the DM's political editor isn't running this story because of what 2 tories said.
They are running it in a attempt to divert from the Tories problems at the moment & they reflect the morals of their leadership.

The DM also know what their readers want to read, as i said earlier the toxicity comes from us, the public.

Then there is Nadine's and Bojo's identical tweets "condemning" the article... yeah right, neither give a fuck about misogyny or sexism in Westminster.

With the Dacre person reappearing I find it unlikely they are trying to divert anything on behalf of the Tories. The DM appeals to a very right wing readership, disgustingly so at times, as you rightly say they know what their readers like but they are no friends to the current Tory leadership!

With the Dacre person reappearing I find it unlikely they are trying to divert anything on behalf of the Tories. The DM appeals to a very right wing readership, disgustingly so at times, as you rightly say they know what their readers like but they are no friends to the current Tory leadership!

The current Tory Govt is as right wing as the party as ever been, far more so than Thatcher (who i did vote for in my younger days) more in common with Le Pen... NATO aside, most Tories would support her manifesto.

As as far as i can see, the DM are backing the 'party.. no pro Starmer headlines yet!

Yeah, you're a white Swede so I'm sorry but the racism a non-white person faces in Sweden is beyond what you could even imagine happening in London. But yeah, you're white and probably protestant so all good then.

But for others, even if you're successful, highly educated and learn Swedish - you'd be the token immigrant at many events. Such a segregated society and not very inclusive compared to London.

I think London is a great place to bring up children. Well, if you're lucky enough to have a prosperous career here that is. I'm lucky that we are lucky and the culture, tolerance, etc that I can teach and show my DCs in London, are second to none. I find this very important. More so than having a brand new kitchen every 5 years...

Am I the only one SO tired of smug Nordic/German people who insert themselves everywhere? You'll be talking about a problem in your country (I'm from Southern Europe) and they'll immediately gasp "ermahgerd in MY glorious country, butterflies float out of your ass every time a government official sneezes".

Shut up, we all know you lie about a LOT of things and would rather cover up issues than be one-upped by a foreigner.

Never mind a bit of over generalisation 😂but I understand your point. I can assure you that amongst themselves, Germans like to moan about everything that’s wrong with their country.

Still, objectively the UK is not in a good place.

The Germans I know do seem to be pretty happy with the way things are in Germany and with the government there, even if they don't vote for them. Apparently there are actual grown-ups running the country, who aren't just in it for themselves and a couple of their mates.

👏Yes! And as my name says, I'm Swedish and I couldn't agree more. If I leave this island to live elsewhere, I'd be going to live in Southern Europe. To live in a place with some soul is more important that being superficial...

(Oh, and Northern Europe has a lot of problems, but by not admiting to them, they apparently don't exist...)

I don't see that it matters where the friend comes from. The point to be considered is a foreigner's view of the UK.

I think it is important in this case as, sadly, many of my fellow countrymen are incredibly smug and think that Sweden is heaven on Earth and that the "Swedish way" is the only way. They have this crazy idea that everyone would really like to live in Sweden and be like a Swede... 😂As if.

The Danes make the Swedes look modest.

It's heresy to even slightly question the 'Danish way'.

The Danish way IS superior though, to be fair. 😂 And I’m just a close neighbour.

Everywhere has its problems but the UK is in a bad place. It becomes clearer what a mess things are in when you visit other places. Or if you interact a lot with European friends or colleagues. Some of you may not realize how bad it has got because they haven’t left the country in a few years so have nothing to compare to.

If Scandinavian countries had more sun and warmth I’d be leaving the UK in a heartbeat. I lived in Norway pre children, but I hear from friends there that it hasn’t changed very much. The quality of life when I was there was much better than the UK. Although it was very expensive for discretionary things like meals out and entertainment, housing was much more reasonable in cost relative to the UK and better quality. Difficulty finding a dentist, massive bill hikes, massive potholes, being unable to get prescription drugs, would be unimaginable.

‘Some of you may not realize how bad it has got because they haven’t left the country in a few years so have nothing to compare to.’

Totally agree with this. I have friends who keep telling me how great the NHS is. That’s because they’ve never experienced the German health system. But apparently criticising the NHS is a very, very bad thing and they are properly offended when I do!

Denmark does have a nice feel to it, I remember when I visited that people would talk about how they’d like to live in London.

It was a while back, but I do know the draw to a big city like London. My friends and I did big moves as it was attractive.

I see it thriving now with so much activity - mn feels removed from it, wrt the negative