I've said before we need more genuine access to grass-roots news from other countries (Europe in particular) ... once you get past the selective reporting of just their cherry-picked successes and see a more holistic view of what's going on across the board then many of the things we're encouraged to see as purely British struggles are, in fact, common across the board.
K
Having spent at least 2 of the last 9 months in Dublin Ireland (4 separate trips) staying with the father in Law, I can without question confirm that other European countries are suffering the same issues as the UK, some more extreme eg housing shortages, others not quite so acute eg inflation and food shortages, but without question common areas across the board. Obviously, different political, economic or social issues are at the forefront of the public conscience., but there is nothing like walking into a common supermarket chain like eg Tesco for all to be revealed. Whilst Ireland may have a budget surplus, basics like free education and health care are not available to all and fundamental like lead still being present in the water in some Dublin suburbs and sewerage releases into the Liffy and Dublin Bay are not uncommon. Although the Guinness is great and the 'craic' is mighty. there is nothing more comforting than heading back to the UK.
