Problems in the UK are real

Maybe when he lived in the UK he did not notice the continual digs and abuse of France and the French in the press, on TV, from comedians, and in everyday conversation.

We noticed it because my French wife had to put up with it almost every day, sometimes to her face. It was as if people did not notice they were being Francophobic, so embedded is this kind of
unpleasantness. She was relieved to come to live in her country, where we have not noticed much negative feeling towards the UK, more a kind of respect for things British.

Anyway, gangs and use of knives is on British TV and in the press almost every day now, so it is hardly surprising it has been picked up by foreign media. True, “unsociable goings-on” are not exclusive to Britain, but post-referendum and austerity it has got a lot worse, and will probably get worse still when Brexit actually happens.

Christopher O’Hagan, Sarthe