Since there is no way for us Europeans to talk about our politics here, this thread seems appropriate. Let's discuss our issues, our grievances and our love to be European (and British). 

Europe, the greatest place on Earth to live. Let's rejoice to be European (and English, Welsh and Scottish). We are truly blessed in our union. Let's come together folks and discuss all that is good and bad about said union. 

Let have somethingnlight as a discussion starter. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/29/germany-legalising-cannabis-europe-britain-tough-drugs

"Germany is a significant addition to the growing list of countries defecting from the drug war consensus that had held for more than half a century. More than half a billion people now live in jurisdictions establishing legal adult access to cannabis for recreational use"

Old news but one that is interesting. I was wondering is there people on here in other EU countries that feel their country might follow suit soon enough?

First order on the menu. I don't believe those rioters in the UK now are Far right and it's causing the situation to get worse from them being labeled so. It's a very sad situation all around but it's infuriating to see these people demonised and labeled as the big bad other when George Floyd's riots were seen as people letting out their anger. Same situation here, different response by the media and government.

It's the failure of the Governemnt and previous administrations, not the people. The people rioting, in the same way people rioted for zgeorge Floyd, are venting their frustration. Also the same way as in 2011when they burned half the country down over the death of an innocent black man, they weren't labeled Alt Right or far right back then. The SAME people. 

Also, I wanted to discuss with someone, would the EU be able to keep our health public had NATO and our defence through it wasn''t there anymore? Do you think if we had to pay for defence in a Cold War like scenario would we still be able to exercise so much of our social policies like free health care?

I think you should the title to "European politics: UK riots" so that you can restart the conversation that got shut down earlier. Here is why I said before the other thread got locked;

No, they're all not far right, but there are many racists among them, no doubt. The riots are disgusting, and the twitter misinformation debacle that allowed certain figures to benefit from decades long deep seated frustrations in the country is scandalous. I am still not for restricting social medias and for absolute freedom of speech, however, when the owner of X and its employees come up with algorithm that amplifies his tweets by a 1000% compared to the average user, and he uses that to spread misinformation then we have a problem. Who else is getting their tweets magnified and who benefits from this? this is a question needs to be asked and answers need to be sought, not to restrict freedoms but to level the playing field.

The uk, is stuck between right wing bigots who point to real problems with no intention to fix them, a a left wing idealists who dismiss any concerns people have about mass and illegal immigration, cultural clashes and willing to lose elections over this, fake, idealistic stance. So, we end up with an inept government for 15 years that turned the country into a mess of homelessness, low birth rates, low paying jobs, castrated policemen, dysfunctional health system with illegal migration crisis on top. Jeremy Corbyn could've won in 2019 but he chose to put idealism first and dismiss the Brexit vote and any concerns about immigration, so we got 5 more years of tory incompetence. If you don't want people to end up listening to scum bags like Tommy Robinson, then drop this lethal idealism and address the issue, have the freaking conversation or you will lose come next elections and things will continue to get worse.

I'll add that I, yes, do believe there is two tier policing in the country but I don't see how these riots help any body.

Well, we need somewhere to talk about and this forum currently has no other place. I am frankly scared by the situation and how things are escalating. I need people to talk to about this. 

I agree, this is on the Tory's too, the Governemnt did nothing but promise cause of the election coming up and now this is where we're landed. It seems like civil war or a revolution could happen at this point and they they insist on making it worse by demonising their people. 

What do you mean by two teir policing?

Our police is a joke, justice is never served unless it's convenient for the political class to be served but no is doing anything about the crimewave facing the country and affecting the regular people every day. Years ago, some have turned the UK into BLM battle ground when it's really an American issue, the police here is too nice to the point of being useless, nonetheless, disorder was allowed. 

Disorder was indeed allowed. I'm shocked too that these Riots are spreading into Northren Ireland and noone did it as an excuse to start the age old nonsense there. In fact it brought the unionist and loyalist together. Do you think this is worse than 2011? I remember they nearly tore the country down back then. 

Tober had an excellent post that was previously deleted. Perhaps he can repeat it, given it summed up my thoughts.

Hopefully this issue passes quickly. I'm being told to avoid public transportation and to work from home.

I don't know much about UK Politics, but I have seen a noticeable trend in the US that when an immigrant commits a crime, anti-immigration factions immediately use it as a call to arms. "An immigrant committed a crime so we must deport all immigrants due to their intrinsic danger" type stuff. Yet, 100s of white Americans can commit crimes, even specifically political terrorist attacks, and no one in those factions will bat an eye or call out white Americans for their intrinsic danger.

I see no value in this type of rhetoric. It is searching for an incident to justify an often racist or xenophobic cause.

That sucks man. Sorry to hear you're in the think of things. Do you think you'll be targeted or are you staying away just to be safe? It's such a shit situation all around but doesn't look like it's gonna die down soon after hearing the Governements response to demonise the people. It'll only make them more angry and ready to out up a fight against authority. :(