Saturday 25 May 2019

Cue Elgar


There is a lovely Summer atmosphere here today. The weather is great and The Bath Festival is on. People are wearing Panama hats. It's all very English.

For years I have heard people saying that they have had enough of England and yearn to move to a different country. Quite a few of my friends have emigrated to Australia for good in the last few years.

I think that when people say - as they have been forever -  that the country is going rapidly downhill, they are talking about the politics more than anything else. On that basis there has never been more reason to move out as there is now.

I have never seriously thought about living anywhere else. The grass might be - literally - greener in Ireland and the sun might shine more in other parts of Europe, but I would miss our climate. A big part of our spiritual make up is due to the weather. We are, or used to be, seen as insular because this is a small island and we value our privacy.

There is no such thing as a true Brit. Our ethnicity is probably more mixed and varied than any other country with a comparative population on a similar land mass. A big part of me is Viking (Stephenson was a family name from the Durham area), and I have no idea about the rest of my gene bank deposits.

Those tears of Theresa May's resignation speech - were they really for the love of her country or was she just tired and emotional after three years of banging her head against a cabinet?

20 comments:

  1. She was so lonely in her red suit, former prime ministers came to their resignation speech with the wife, children or husband, and she was alone, I am not British of course but my heart went out to her, it was a pain of recognizing failure I think.

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    1. Yes, she was also unsupported by her own party and cabinet, which was the main reason for her downfall of course. I always feel pity for powerful people who fall from grace so publicly, even if I do not agree with them. It's hard.

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    1. Yes. So do I. I would not want to be anywhere else.

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  3. Oh dear, this is all a bit pass-the-parcel. After our federal election this weekend there has been a spike in Australians looking to emigrate to New Zealand. But much like all the Americans who threaten to move to Canada every election, I daresay no-one will summon up the energy to pack their bags.

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    1. I personally know several people who have applied for Irish passports here. This is more for ease of movement should everything go wrong. They would be used for holidays in Europe. Perhaps we should all play a game of geographical 'Musical Chairs' and swap populations with our neighbours every 4 years.

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  4. Both of our women Prime Ministers have resigned in tears - and let down the modern woman in my opinion. It is no good us banging on aboutbeing equal to men without being able to resign from office without bursting into tears.

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    1. I think some men have been tearful in the same situation - I seem to remember one recently? I think I would under those circumstances, but then again I am not made of the same stuff as career politicians are.

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    2. I think you are being a bit hard there Weave!

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  5. I could live in somewhere in the West Country like Dorchester . It would be good to have a place in the sun like Portugal for Winter. I hate the dark nights and gales in Ireland.

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  6. England looks beautiful to me. I never see an ugly picture of the English countryside. And to have all the long, long history that you do...it must be really something. Living in such a young country as the US it's easy to romanticize England. I hope to get to visit one day.

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  7. Since the Brexit debacle, I have had a couple of British friends who were able through a parent to obtain Irish passports and did. They're still in England, but, I guess, ready for any eventuality.

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    1. Mainly holidays. They can keep their UK one as well.

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    2. Too right. One talks as if she might leave at the drop of a hat, but the reality is it isn't so easy to up sticks and go. She has aging parents who need a bit of tending to as well.

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  8. If I lived in England, I would want a hobbit house. I understand, however, they all are in New Zealand. But where else would such honest little people live!

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    1. The real hobbit houses are in NZ, but you can buy one from The Chelsea Flower Show.

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  9. I think May's tears were tears of frustration. She has been judged solely on her (impossible) Brexit dealings, and all her great achievements (employment, unemployment, NHS funding, etc) have been ignored. Maybe she should have looked more closely at the police too.

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  10. I have travelled to many places but am always ready to come home and could never live anywhere but the UK ...... I love it.
    I did feel for Theresa ..... I’m not one to talk politics here in blogland but, the EU are pissed off with the UK for voting to leave and are hardly going to give us anything on a plate. I cannot for the life of me see who is going to get a better deal and I have yet to hear any other politician saying how the are going to do better and how they are going to get it. Not one has had anything constructive to say .... it has all been about her downfall and the ambitions of others and not about pulling together for the good of the country. XXXX

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