6 minute read
WHY IS GREAT BRITAIN NO LONGER GREAT?
Nora Johnson Breaking Views
IN a parallel universe, I write about the state of Britain week after week just this, nothing else until everybody’s bored rigid with the mindnumbing monotony of it. Finally it’s just me in an empty room, repeatedly questioning what’s gone wrong until the end of time. Fortunately for everybody’s sanity, you only have to read me ranting on about it all just this once. Now. I promise!
We Brits are good at boasting we’ve got the best in the world: NHS, BBC, police, football, parliamentary democracy, army etc. You name it we’ve got it. But rather than admit that the British army, say, doesn’t have the same resources as its American counterparts, we’ll retort: “OK! But the SAS are the best special forces in the world.” Maybe it’s a coping mechanism for being an exglobal power?
Let’s examine a few of these institutions. First off, the NHS. Its sacred cow status has caused its service and efficiency to decline even further with bureaucrats who are unaccountable and have more commitment to keeping their jobs and the unwieldy bureaucracy than to improving the patient’s lot. We’ve all heard wonderful stories of people saved by the NHS that can’t be denied. Likewise we’ve heard truly shocking, dreadful sto
Consular Matters
MANY foreigners are thinking of having EU citizenship to avoid the inconveniences of extending their Spanish residency.
There are several possibilities to apply for Spanish nationality, depending on your situation. I will explain to you the options:
Citizenship by legal residence
Obtaining nationality by residence requires the residence of the person in Spain during the required residence period, depending on the case, legally, continuously, and immediately prior to the request, as well as compliance with the requirements of good civic conduct and integration.
The general requirement is a legal and continuous residence in Spain for at least 10 years prior to the application. There are several cases when the residence term can be reduced:
Citizenship by option:
1) Those who are or have been subject to the custody of a Spanish citizen.
2) Those whose father or mother was originally Spanish and born in Spain.
3) Persons for whom the determination of filiation or birth in Spain occurred after the 18th. In this case, the right to citizenship exists for two years since the determination of filiation or birth.
4) Those persons whose adoption by Spanish citizens occurs after the 18th. In this case, the right exists until 20 years old.
The other option is to apply for Spanish citizenship by the law of democratic memory. By this law, the following individuals can apply:
1) Those who were born outside of Spain to a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, who were originally Spanish.
2) Those who were born outside of Spain to a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, who were originally Spanish and, as a result of experiencing exile due to political, ideological, or beliefrelated reasons, or due to sexual orientation and identity, have lost or renounced their Spanish nationality, may opt for Spanish nationality.
3) Children born abroad to Spanish women who lost their nationality by marrying foreigners before entry into the 1978 Constitution.
4) Adult children of Spanish nationals who are recognised as their original nationality through the right of option.
Marisa Moreno Castillo Consul for Denmark and Senior Lawyer at Just Law Solicitors. www.justlawsolicitors.com • contact@justlawsolicitors.com
ries of hopeless, abusive, incorrect, lazy care, leading to suffering and death.
As for the BBC, I’m increasingly finding its news broadcasts unwatchable for its gushing presenters with their silly, false hand gestures, simpering pieces to camera, ghastly ‘namechecks’, and delivery as if to a retarded threeyear old. Even more work, then, for my mute/fastforward button.
And, finally, the police. The recent scathing Casey Review of the Metropolitan Police reminds us yet again of the institutional racism at its core. Commissioned in response to the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens, Baroness Casey’s report reconfirms that the Met remains institutionally racist, but goes even further. It also accuses Britain’s biggest police force of being institutionally sexist, misogynistic AND homophobic.
What a sad indictment of these depressing times. But time to get used to the fact Britain is rapidly changing. Uncontrolled immigration. Incompetent politicians (some of whom lie yes, you, Boris). Incompetent police officers. The BBC run by obscenelyoverpaid supremos. A health service on life support despite huge increases in ‘managers’ who couldn’t run a village fête, let alone vital NHS Trusts.
Medical staff on strike who prioritise their needs over those they’re supposed to care for such as the gravely ill resulting from lack of treatment during the pandemic. Overpaid, overpensioned publicsector bosses who couldn’t organise a youknowwhat. Where’s it all going to end?
And isn’t this year’s Chelsea Flower Show but a reflection of the current UK? An analogy. Wild, overgrown, out of control, choked with weed, forlorn, a shadow of its former self, impenetrable. Weedkiller, anyone? A general election perhaps?
And a final word on the UK honours system. Tainted by unfairness, cronyism and corruption, it must be made fit for those truly deserving of national recognition. Honours are for courage, selflessness and going above and beyond. Not for backscratching, timeserving and bungs.
So, why is Great Britain no longer great? Answers on a postcard please.
Nora Johnson’s 12 critically acclaimed psychological suspense crime thrillers (www.no rajohnson.net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, audiobooks, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.
Many of our readers have commented on the fact they are missing the Grumpy Old Man articles that were part of EWN for so many years. Unfortunately, Mike Senker hasn’t been very well of late and therefore had to stop writing for a while although he has promised he is still quite grumpy and will submit new articles as and when he can. In the meantime, we have dusted off some of his always amusing observations from past issues for your entertainment.
Why is everything so expensive?
WHY is everything so expensive these days? I saw a book recently called ‘How to find happiness without money'’ - it cost €20! I have grey hair and was advised to use a special shampoo. I looked it up online and it was £30 a bottle. Are they mad?
My first mortgage was less than that a month and I struggled to pay that! Of course you don’t have to pay that much. You can go to the supermarket and get a bottle for a couple of euros but I think there is just a big keg somewhere and they use the same stuff for shampoo, body wash, dishwashing, carpet cleaning, car wash and flea shampoo for dogs!
I was in the airport the other day and had a cheese and tomato baguette which is just a poncey name for a big roll. It was £6.50! I’ve seen more cheese on a mouse trap and the slice of tomato looked like it had been shaved off and was cleverly hanging out the side to make it look full. £3 for a bottle of water! It’s just a liberty. But it’s a captive audience so we pay it. I remember years ago I was in Dallas and wanted to go out for a steak so I asked the concierge where a good place to go was. “Do you want a $50 steak or a $100 steak?” he asked. “What’s the difference?” I enquired. “$50”, he said, “the steak’s the same but one place has carpet on the floor the other sawdust.” We went with the sawdust! Get my point?
It’s the same here in Spain. I went to a restaurant with some mates and was told it was nouveau cuisine. Not having a clue what that meant at the time, as this was a few years ago, I ordered something with prawns as a starter and up came a lettuce leaf with a prawn on it. I sort of treated it a bit like testing the wine. By the time the waiter had served the other three people I looked up and said, “Very nice, I’ll have a whole portion please.” “That was a whole portion sir.” “Err, no I don’t think so and definitely not at €25 a pop.” Needless to say to say it went downhill from there. The bill came, it was a few hundred euros and I was starving. I told them, in no uncertain terms what I thought of them, and told them there was no way their place would last. Sure enough three months later it was gone and now is a successful ‘eat as much as you can’ wok place. Full every night!
