Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Count your blessings. Apparently this is one of the secrets of being happy. I do it every time I come back to the UK from a few days abroad.

Last week I was in Ethiopia on an all party expedition to, amongst other things, see how we can help improve their democratic practices. This is a large country new to democracy and although our own system in the UK is far from perfect, we have been at it for 800 years and have a few tips to pass on. As Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world and receives £70 million aid a year from us, it is important that they spend it on becoming stronger and not on lining the pockets of a few. It is an ancient and proud nation, but most of the population don’t have two pennies to rub together.

But they are friendly and welcoming and we all know that even if you have little by way of material wealth, it is still possible to be happy. Many of them are. But as I scratched my mosquito bites and pondered the local food, I rejoiced at every mile I that brought me closer to home.

We all like to have a good whinge about our country, but the truth is that most things work over here, the infrastructure is impressive; it rains a lot but we never die of thirst or hunger, some politicians do daft things but ministers don’t award contracts in exchange for bribes; we are free to say what we want, live where we like and do what we want. When the tyres touch down on the tarmac of Heathrow, I am always glad, and very proud to be British.

Ah, but more and more Brits are leaving our shores to live abroad, I hear you cry. True, over 200,000 will do so this year. But if the trends of the past few years are continued, did you know that over 75% will come back within 5 years and resettle in Britain once more? Surveys show that they miss family and friends but also the British way of life.

This is a great country, built on Judeo-Christian principles, its freedoms hard won by our forefathers. Many challenges face us and we make sure we do not lose our British-ness, but I cannot think of a single country that is a better place to live.

posted by Nigel on Tuesday, October 31, 2006