80
EU citizens in UK get letters telling them post-Brexit residency rights were given ‘in error’
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2026
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What we need in the UK is electoral reform. We have the same problems all of Europe has, but in the UK they're massively exacerbated by not having proportional representation. Germany and France have big problems with right wing crazies too - AfD and Marine Le Pen for example. But these countries have proportional representation that at least helps keeps the crazies at bay. For now at least.
The big difference is that in the UK, under "First Past the Post" voting, our version of Trump-light - Boris Johnson - got absolute power with just 43% of the vote. And there is a very real risk someone far worse - Nigel Farrage - can too.
But lets also not kid ourselves European countries are doing well. Germany has a pretty weak government having switched to Merz recently from Scholz, and yet another fractious grand coalition. And France's parliament is currently totally dysfunctional, split 1/3 each between Left, Right and Centrist blocks, with Macron a lame duck and a very worrying presidential election coming up. Poland and Hungary are two countries that have just pulled back from dark precipices, but still have experienced autocratic populist regimes that have gutted their civil society and it's a difficult road to rebuild them. Italy is in the hands of a right wing populist right now, and that seems to have been normalised.
The constant narrative seems to be only the UK is in a mess and it's because they left the EU. I'd say, look more closely at national politics in many European countries and it's clear Brexit is just a symptom of a malaise many countries are experiencing. Citizens in many European countries are unhappy, and that is reflected in the parties that are vying for power.
Totally agree with you that we all have problems. In Denmark, we voted to leave the EU long before Brexit; our government then narrowly pulled it back with a number of exceptions and a new referendum. Also, we had a rise in right wing politics and anti immigration sentiment very early on relative to other European countries.
I also agree with you that first-past-the-post is a huge issue that the UK should tackle, and it's not talked about enough! Our electoral system in Denmark is also flawed, but I do think the representation system we have feels more democratic.