Long may the ex-pats be just that...........ex. I love every story of whinging brits emigrating to the sun to seek their own particular piece of perfection. I assume that Gerard Baker has found perfection and is willing to contribute and participate there. Good, enjoy it and stop moaning about UK PLC. Put up or shut up.

L Boyle, Horsham, UK

Absurdistan, indeed! Andrew Marr may give the impression of the original "Puppet on a String", all arms and legs moving in all directions, but his series was superb.
Baker is correct, we have too much government , are over-taxed, but we protect ourselves with good old British compromise, and not just from the absurdinations of Europe, we invented the "opt-out." As citizens, we are more independent, have more self-employed, property owners,can opt in for private health, education, pensions and elderly care We are less unionised, politicised,and religious. Most of all our citizens have the option to succeed, but also to opt-out to be kept by the Social State, but then we are not a perfect society and never will be.
Multi-culturism is not unique to Britain and a major problem in the making, if too many of our new immigrants believe in violence in pursuit of political gain. We do not need to become Absurdistan or adopt any other foreign culture, other than the one, so admired by Marr.

M Fishman, London UK,

The root cause is socialism–-a politics in which a political aristocracy and its bureaucratic minions dine mightily upon the national roast by virtue of throwing leftovers to the tame dogs collected beneath their tables.

Your ruling class is little less exacting today than four centuries earlier when British settlers began crossing the Atlantic to escape it.

It has merely traded birth for ballots.

With one CCTV for every fourteen citizens and a new Minirub (cameras in dustbins) or Minipoop (cameras in dog walks) every week or so, George Orwell must be turning in his grave.

Socialism no more cures the sick than it educates children, yet it pays ten London attorneys an annual average of $800,000 each to represent a few indigents and exacts $22 a month from television receiver owners to support a state broadcaster with an $8 billion annual budget.

The socialist seigneurs yearn to make us all surfs of the state.

And they misuse representative governance to do it.

Michael Grable, Silver Spring, MD/USA

Indeed the BNP & UKIP should see this as an opportunity, as they should, to rescue Britain from an assualt from the PC Labor/Left wing elites.

Jenny Best, Harrow, Middx.,

Spot on Gerard, we should learn something from the French! Knowing that within two weeks there will be another army (togther with the other existing armies of traffice controllers, health and safety executives etc) of 'No smoking sign inspectors' investigating behind every door in central London to see that there should not be some reason to put up a no smoking sign on its outside (or better still pay the fine). Sadly this will (a) irritate but (b) mean that our submissiveness will result int every London Street becomes a sea of red and white surrender flags to the armies of midless bureaucrats and state control. Won't someone see the light!

Hugh, London,

At the root of the "unstoppable momentum of the expanding State" is its total lack of accountability to the electorate. That electoral reform consistently languishes at the bottom of the political agenda testifies to the vested interests entrenched in Westminster.

Voters in England are faced with indistinguishable electable parties unwilling to make measurable manifesto pledges. The anachronistic House of Commons is little more than pantomime - it makes for funny viewing, until one realises it is the NHS postcode lottery or schools overcrowding that is being 'debated'.

The expansion of the state goes hand in hand with the absence of an effective mechanism to curb its power or materially alter its course. It is unforgivable in this age of technological wonder that so little is time devoted to debating and devising, never mind enabling, a system that allows individuals to vote on issues, not for parties. Voter impotence begets electoral apathy begets bloated government.

Karl Green, London, UK

'Once these contemporary idiots in government have been deposed the healing will begin and our country will be made great again, but it will probably take many years.'

Goodness Oliver. I wish I had your optimism. Many of us are just about ready to slash our wrists.

stevgillamos, Romford,

Judging from the number of friends I have who have recently emigrated here from the UK, not to mention the number of British accents one hears on the streets these days, I would say your problem is worse than you think. You seem to be losing some of the very people that are needed to restore Britain to some sense of balance. As they leave, the cultural decline will speed up exponentially until a once proud and noble people becomes only a memory. As an American who has always admired the British, I truly hope this is not your fate. I can't imagine a world without Britain.

Joseph Thornton, Warrenton, Virginia USA

Modern Britain is smothered by the deceitful hand of government that seeks to position us somewhere between the rank dollar worship of America and the rank protectionism of Europe. Because Britain lives a life dictated by marketing professionals who seek to maximise "profit" with every utterance.
We have no bottom line, no absolutes and our leaders have no popular mandate from which they can draw strength and conviction (or be ejected). I'm tempted to say that we have no soul.
Britain needs to wake up to it's debt driven consumer economy, shake off it's romantic worship of a distorted past and decide who it is...European, American or an Independent union of nations then we can stop all this pseudo soul searching and get on with building a strong identity and a worthwhile future. If we care

David Stratton, Guatemala, Guatemala

The best place to view welfarism and dependancy culture is in social housing. We must resist the tendancy to see this as a solution to lack of affordability.
As a tenant i have no bargaining power, am not allowed to arrange my own repairs and get charged a fee for making 'improvements' . I am never granted answers to my questions. My 'rent' is like a meduim sized mortgage, is wasted on all kinds of inefficiencies and media grabbing champagne events. But my tenancy offers me no long term security, becuase the rent just keeps going up. When I complained it was too high and was not sustainable in the long run I was told to claim Housing Benefit.
My Social landlord is like an oppressive husband and I'm considering emigrating to get a life of my own.

jane, oxford,

I am British and live in Germany and even if someone paid me a million pounds to move back to England, I wouldn't! A fantastic article that sums up all my views of England and why I left. Here in Germany I feel I belong. The quality of life is better, the food is great, the people enjoy life and are positive. The young are interested in Politics and trust the government. I lost hope with Britain, every year the cost of living went up while my salary stagnated. I am an English Teacher now and earn not as much as I did in England but can afford to go out, buy clothes and enjoy myself. No more Council Tax worries! Am I proud to be English? This is a question I ask myself often. The answer is sometimes e.g. when the Germans rib me about the England football team. I change into a mad English patriot, proud of every poor game they played in the World Cup, waving my flag like crazy however when a foreigner is surprised that I am English I am secretly pleased. What a dilemma.....

Melanie Bull, Düsseldorf, Germany

I invite you all to read the words of Samuel Adams, spoken on the eve of the Revolutionary War. He would not sell his freedom and dignity for the "mess of potage" that is the nanny state.

If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

I, hope the Americans never wish that posterity forgets that the British are our first cousins, that would be truly sad for the world

Sad Anglophile, Kansas City, USA

Go to the dole office on an egg

Paul, Manchester, England

And what does this have to do with multiculturalism? If you're going to object to an argument, you need to back it up, rather than going off at a tangent.

Incidentally, how did you get that figure that over half the country are dependent on the state (either through benefits or in the public sector). 20% of the workforce are in the public sector, and about 3,500,000 are on benefits, so how does that make half the country?

And I would have thought that ex-pats were probably the worst people to make judgments about what it is to live in this country at the moment.

A Richards, London,

So well said.

Sous, Bristol, England

Adam Smith, how does alluding to Afghanistan (a place I am sure we would all love to live) be considered as 'Islamaphobia'? Get a grip

Reasonable reader, London,

Depressingly, I have to agree with the writer. Rightly or wrongly here is the country that once ruled the word, and now has been reduced to a gutless, dependant state that accepts no responsibility for its actions and meekly accepts an erosion of its civil liberties under the misapprehension that we are fighting terrorism. Young people are apathetic about politics, which in itself plays right into the hands of this government of control freaks.

Authorities can walk over us, and we can find nobody who is accountable. Despite laws to the contrary, we are assailed by bullies in the workplace who victimise and harass their staff. And no more is this evident than in the public services themselves; the NHS in particular.

The incident of our sailors being humiliated by the Iranians and then being allowed to sell their stories to the gutter press really brought home the depths to which our country has sunk. Britons never shall be slaves? Too late, the shackles are already on!

Alan Davies, Aberdare, Wales, UK

Recently several students from the Andalucian Language Centre visited Liverpool. They were all young professionals in their early 30s.
As tourists they were impressed by the archituecture, museums and cleanliness of the town. They were not impressed by the people, who they found to be unfriendly, rude, and aggressive, and thye were astounded at the forwardness of the women and the overt dunkeness.

They obviously made comparisons with their own country, and questions were raised about which country is more and better developed. A country where people appreciate the advances made over the last 30 years, and where people have self respect, pride and a respect for others or a country which seems to have forgotton the benefits and advantages they have gained over the last century.
Liverpool is tendering for the City of Culture 2008. Culture means "the customs and civilization of a group of people"
I feel embarrassed, and cannot recommend that any further students visit the city.

Catherine Groome, Alameda, Spain

Your wrong. Lots of people in Britain care. We elect governments to run the country because we have other things to do but no political party save UKIP wants to do it any more, So we write letters, moan, and get back to our lives while our elected representatives look busy but pay themselves ever more money for doing ever less. Ironically virtually every poll shows that we want our government to run our country not the EU. So if the Conservative party promised to hold a referendum on, for example 'whether the British government should be the sole law making body in Britain' or promise that their government would be the sole law making body in Britain, they would win the next election with a landslide. But they just do not have the confidence to run the country anymore. As for Labour, their goal actually is an EU takeover because it is the only way they turn Britain socialist because we would never vote for it.

R Mason, London, UK

... and stifling working practices on our economy. These days I see a country that is implementing policies, actually doing things, that are positive for everyone, and if that means interventionism when indulgent types want to 'do as they bloody well please' or whatever, then very well. Still, What makes Britain not the craven, pathetic people mssr Dewar is ashamed of is the manner in which we know en masse when the govt is being ridiculous- vis a vis this egg business. I'm sure there were a ne'ry a few wry smiles when that farce first came down the wire. Common sense is still very much with us, and there's pride to be found in the way we use it. Cheer up Mr Dewar, there's life in the old dog yet.

Stuart Clough, Sheffield, UK

Britain is not allow alone. In the U.S., many people use their votes in the hopes of expanding government involvement in all of our daily lives. Many believe that the government should provide for all from cradle to grave, the nanny state. They find willing politicians who believe that the average citizen cannot make decisions regarding their own lives. Carefully crafted speeches use individual interests to prorogate an attitude of entitlement. The government, and its employees, perpetuates this in order to extend and preserve its influence. I find the entire ideal not only offensive but destructive. Government dependency destroys what an individual could have become and many willing accept this. Some have thrown off this yoke and shown by example how to improve one's situation through hard work and dedication. Unfortunetly their examples are ignored due to the chorus of voices calling for what they believe is their fair share. We are sliding into mediocrity.

S. Canute, U.S.,

What is the point of railing against Europe?

We have no say in the diktats coming from Brussels/Strasburg but neither do we have much say in our own government's conduct. Did we vote for ID cards, CCTV, uncontrolled immigration and all the other chicanery foisted on us?
Ridiculous as are some of Europe's pronouncements they are no sillier than a lot of governmental or quango outpourings.
European corruption? Look at the waste, expenses fiddling, honours for sale charges, cronyism and snouts in troughs in Westminster.
The cultural rot is not so much the fault of Europe as the result of failure of British government policies and loss of personal integrity of so many British politicians.

And where are the 'great and good' who see what is going on? The people who might be able to usefully protest?

Silently stuffing their mouths stuffing with gold.

Tricia, E Sussex,

Jasper, you miss so many important points. First, I have NO responsibilty to help those less well-off. That is not the responsibility of the state and it is not my responsibility. It is the responsibility of the less well-off.

By attempting to "help" the less well-off, you enfeeble them (refer to Hayek's "Road to Serfdom") and damage vibrant, functining economies that provide opprtunities to everyone. Additionally, you permit the pool of those considered "less well off" to grow endlessly.

The state needs to get out of the way of EVERYBODY, both poor and rich, and smply permit everyone to care or themselves, in whatever way they can. Having said that, there is a very small percentage of our population that is completely incapable of carng for themselves (the mentally ill, the physically impaired, etc). I would prefer to live in a society that did not require state intervention to assist these folks, but you could make a case for state intervention . . . for just them.

Bruce, Salt Lake City, Utah

Good article and answers my question of yesterday to another case of the state proposing some new piece of insanity "can somebody tell me what is the point of trying to live in the UK?" - Thankyou Gerard, I shall be leaving as soon as possible.

MGB, Carmarthen, Wales

I fully support this banning of eggs in public, which is for the good of the people of Britain. Their silky flesh-coloured curves are an affront to decency, and morally corrupting. Why else are they shrouded in cardboard in the supermarket? The right place for enjoying an egg is the privacy of one's own home, and certainly not on the television where children and women might be watching.

I hope the government will now turn its attention to other blasphemous foods, such as the suggestively squeezable grapefruit.

Anthony Charlton, Swindon,

Sadly, Gerard, I have to agree, and because I do not wish to live in a Nanny State, nor to be spied on and distrusted by my own government, I left. You that are left are welcome to it. I am not proud to be British.

Adrian, Donegal, Ireland

What an excellent article - we shall never hear this on the BBC but then its not newspeak.

The current choreographed pantomime over the EC Conference is chilling. I seem to recall that we successfully resisted last time out and it cost us our rebate - I wonder what Blair will hand over this time.

Expect strong and vigorous debate on the BBC generally centered around the concept that anyone who does not like the EU is anti European and clearly votes BNP. No menton of the fact that half the budget is spend on agricultural subsidies which effectvely keep Africa in poverty or that corruption is so deeply entrenched that the EU accounts have no been approved for ten years,

Simon J Jackson, Bristol,

Thank God for Gerard Baker!

He tells it like it is! What the hell is wrong with us?

When are we going to be allowed to take responsibility for our own health and our own education?

Edward Pickett, Guildford, England

Mr Baker's excellent article summarises why I am retiring to Flanders and France ,after 20yrs in the Orient.
I had given up eggs and smoking but have decide to take up consuming both ,again, in the face of this appaling nanny like ,petty fogging ,arrogant interfering patronising tidal wave of unnecessary rules and regulatons.Is it any wonder record number of true Brits emigrated last year.
Multiculturism is deeply damaging oxymoron which is together with absurb levesl of political correctness rapidly ruining Britain.
Absurbistan indeed.

RG James, Brasschaat, Belgium

After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the government then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence: it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."Alexis de Tocqueville

william lancer, london, uk

Is Britain in terminal decline or simply going through a bad patch? It hardly matters if that "bad patch" is going to last decades. I returned to UK in 1993 after 20 years in Japan, but returned in 2003. I see myself as a borderline political refugee, as I certainly didn't leave Britain or return to Japan for economic reasons. And since I left, Britain has become a far worse country to those with any level of political consciousness. I've vowed never to set foot in Britain again, but the act of writing means I haven't total let go. Note to self: Let go!

Andrew Milner, Yokohama, Kanagawa

Very nice article.

I have to say that looking at the responses to this story once more confirms what We in the U.S. have known for a long long time:

Britain is swirling the drain and has nothing to teach us.

It will not be very pleasant to be the Last Democracy in the world, but the British people have done it to themselves.

A shame.

Daniel B., Oshkosh, USA

I don't think Gerard gets Britishness at all. Most of us are cheerfully not bothered...

Brian Hughes, Cheltenham, UK

Once you accept multiculturalism we set in motion an inescapable and an absurd embrace of the paradigm that all religions, all cultures, all art, all literature, all rituals, all dialects, and all habits are equally legitimate. Chesterton was right- he who believes in everything believes in nothing. Multiculturalism was wrought by uncontrolled immigration including sects and groups that are inherently unassimmilatable. The burden of colonialism are like vicious chickens have come home to roost.

Stanislaus Pulle, Thousand Oaks, United States

Marr, multiculturalism and the expanding state mixed with eggs to create a libertarian omelette. I agree with much of the sentiment, but please let us have some thought and analysis to try and understand why; otherwise we are all left like hopeless bystanders. We are able to relate the tale of the car crash, but incapable of preventing it.

Simon Lapthorn, Chicago, USA

This is an astounding insightful article. Gerard has put his finger on what is going wrong with this country. As the government becomes more powerful and reaches further into people’s lives, the people accept less and less responsibility for their own actions and those around them. At the risk of sounding like an advert please read James Bartholomew’s “The Welfare State we’re in”. It opened my eyes to exactly this problem, really fascinating read, that explains how we got into the welfarism that so pervades this country now. I do not believe politicians are inherently bad, even socialist ones! I believe however that they are terribly wrong and that well meaning, over-bearing welfare has actually made the poor poorer. Sounds strange I know but do some research you’ll soon start to realise what I mean.

Hugh Mackenzie, Aberdeen, UK

'Mistakes were made but nobody made them' (re. capture of sailors)

You can bet your bottom dollar that had this been the private sector the Health and Safety Executive would have come down on them like a ton of bricks.

Just for starters the employer would have been charged with the almost indefensible 'failure to ensure the health and safety of its workers' and 'failure to conduct a sufficient risk assessment'.

But we have a bipolar country now and one wonders why anyone carries on in private enterprises, the more so that their gains are subsequently taken by the state to maintain its unstoppable addiction to spending other peoples money.

MarkS, Leeds,

I live in Italy and have done for the last thirty years. I fled England for it's bad weather, high taxes and the impossibility of finding any sort of help when seeking a carpet layer, an electrician or a plumber. When I arrived here I was horrified to hear that the government dictated when the central heating was turned on or off, the police could stop and search without any justifiable reason and a load of other strange invasions of my civil rights. Over the years I've watched England from a distance and apart from the Falklands war, when I felt great shame at being English, and great sorrow for the British at being so easily deceived, I have felt an increasing admiration and envy for the British life style. Even Mr. Blair's lack of any ideaology, let alone that of a left winger, has not daunted this. In a Europe plagued by financial difficulty England does give the opportunity to work, housing is available, the schools and hospitals do provide resources, though faulty. I love Britain

louisa punturieri, rome, italy

"we ban egg consumption along with smoking? Goodbye England. Welcome to Absurdistan."

Sorry! These are highly uncharitable short-sighted conclusions and remarks. I agree with Gerard Baker that the government pokes its nose in too many places and in too many ways. Let us not fight it out instead of coming to "absurd" conclusions.
Regards,

Krishna R. Kumar, Udupi, India

Those with the resources to live without the help of the state, those who contribute to and read papers such as this, are likely to decry its expansion. They do so because their taxes help those less fortunate than them have a chance at a life that is not made entirely of destitution. From this position the state is a hindrance because it forces you to fulfill your duty to those less well off. Selfishness disguised as a liberal concern for liberty from the 'nanny state' is ugly.

Jasper, London,

Absurdistan is right, when you consider the mad attention to Correctness and inability to distinguish worth from irrelevance.

And hurrah for mentioning that presenters of factual programmes, especially those involving beautiful scenery, will persist in sticking their faces where their voiceovers should be;

a dahn, Bangor, N I

Great article - couldn't agree more. The latest in my long list of disgust in Britain came when my daughters school athletics was abandoned for "Health and safety reasons". Yes people, it had started to rain, and we all know that rain precedes imminent death don't we? What really upsets me is the state (politicians,teachers etc) are brainwashing our children to believe in absurd things and it's impossible to stop. I'm leaving the U.K a.s.a.p.

Neil, Birmingham,

"The worst thing is, nobody in Britain really seems to care. "

Lots of people care, but it's the devil's own job finding politicians or journalists to listen, never mind represent us.

Alex Swanson, Milton Keynes, UK

You call it Absurdistan.

I call it Soviet Yobistan.

Bernie, London, UK

Great piece, Mr Baker. You forgot to include, however, the latest news to come out of Absurdistan. As of July 1 smokers won't be allowed to foster children under the age of five. Once I laughed at such stories, now I just breathe a deep sigh of relief that I'm no longer part of it

Nick Mortimer, Paris,

Why use the suffice '..stan' for your article? Couldn't you just say Land of the Absurd? Or Great Absurdon? Instead you chose to use Absurdistan similar to muslim countries such as Afganistan, Kurdistan, Pakistan.

I could have perhaps understood your reasoning if this was an article was in some way related to muslim countries but cearly this article is not about that,

The only reason I can think for you to use this is that Islamaphobia has entered your psyche at such a level
that you no longer have any relational explanation for eroding away at a culture that is suffering from a brutal occupation because of us.

AdamSmith, London, UK

I share a dream with Europe.

A modern age of enlightenment, led by a council of European nations.

The world doesn't need a fractured broth of nostalgic, nationalistic ideals (and trust me, there are the equivalent of daily mail readers in every country in Europe).

It needs a strong, wise, courageous leader.

Europe is the future.

Mark, England, Europe

has Mr Dewar, (as penned above) written Blairs legacy?
Best wishes to Mr Dewar
And gerald Baker hits the nail on the head when he says
@mistakes are made but no ne makes them'
again Blairs legacy....those who remain annonymous after wasting billions on failed (aften computer based) projects-
and the contrators who having failed to 'produce' within those failed contracts- suffer no financial penalty- simply awarded further contracts...
The size of the 'back handers' to govt. ministers etc etc must be staggering

mike, oxford, england

Sad, but accurate.

All trends, however, are reversible. Britain has been governed by idiots before and for the majority of it's history our population has been servile becuase they were serfs. Once these contemporary idiots in government have been deposed the healing will begin and our country will be made great again, but it will probably take many years.

Oliver, Edinburgh,

Actually the British are rather well-liked in Continental Europe. The idea that the EU is trying to ambush Britain in some way is ridiculous. It's true Britains are often considered difficult in EU negotiations, but not half as awkward as the French. And on a personal level British people are far more welcome in Brussels than say Americans. The UK's domestic problems are not the fault of the EU and wouldn't change even if Britain pulled out. But Britain certainly isn't a mockery in Europe. If anyone had reason to sneer, it would be the French after the drubbing they took for not going into Iraq, yet in no French paper have I seen any crowing over the fiasco Britain has got itself into. European political commentators tend to be more mature than their English counterparts.

Tthe Poles have only recently come into their freedom and have every right to bang their fist on the table. Good for them.

Marie-Louise, Brussels, Belgium

An enjoyable article except for the last bit. I refer to the Eurosceptic dig which I hope was not the main point to which the bits to which we would all agree, led.
We must not be fooled into believing that a vote at a general election puts us in charge of our destiny. If we can't trust our Government to negotiate with our neighbours what are we doing leaving it in office?
Europe is now so small that we can drive accross it in one day and if we don't combine in a rational way we will be overrun by........

Bob, London, UK

We have become a country in which a captured sailor cries because he is deprived of his IPOD by his captors. If this lot were in power during the 2nd World War we'd all be speaking German by now. I'm fed up of hearing about human rights being invoked over trivia and endlessly being told what's good for me. I was on holiday in Italy recently at a resort that catered mainly to German holidaymakers. They were loud and out for a good time but strangely enough it didn't involved vomiting, fighting, sex in the open,
or threatening behaviour mainly because the British were in the minority. It has got so bad that I pretend to be German on holiday.

carole, London, UK

Marr said that it as the "greatest piece of luck to be born British". But he's wrong - being born British is not an oucome of random chance, or luck, but a result of having a long line of ancestors, also born in Britain, from whom one is descended. This descent also carries with it the inherited duties and obligations of our forebears, to protect, improve, develop, maintain and guard our island home. These roles throughout previous generations have given us a pre eminent, proprietorial role and the sole right to be called "British".

Proud to be British, nottingham, uk

Too many chiefs and not enough multicultural ethnic subjects seems to be the problem. The solution is to reduce the former rather than increase the latter.

dr venables preller, Warminster, UK

Couldn't put it better. It's too late now, the inmates are running the Absurdum and they won't be gainsaid. There are no words left, and little point in trying to explain to those who have allowed it to happen - they cant 'ALL surely have welcomed it? Those unfortunate enough to live there haven't noticed it happening one click of the ratchet at a time and consequently are unable to to see what it is that those of us who have spent years in other places object to so viscerally. I'd love to love the place. But that's no longer a credible option. My personal well of excuses for it ran out long ago. Shan't be back, barring the odd obligatory visit to see family and friends - and for the burials of those consigned to see out their days in that pathetically and unnecessarily created version of purgatory.

Bill Brown, Normandy, France

As an outsider(Irish,in fact),may I add that what Mr.Baker says about the indifference of the citizenry of the U.K.,and the ever greater encroachment on fundamental freedoms,does not stop at its porous frontiers.
In my country, having notionally thrown off the ''Saxon Yoke'',we have,since 1973,been most assiduously bending the knee to Brussels whenever possible.The King's Shilling has been replaced by the Commission's Euro.But we will be granted a referendum so that we can,once again,sign up for even more bondage!

Louis A.Healy, Enniskerry, Ireland

Returning to Britain at long intervals is like watching a flower wilt in time-lapse photography. As with the slow but inexorable growth of a tumor, the changes leap out if seen infrequently. Though in historical terms the rot goes fast, very fast, it is not easily noticed day to day.
The moral fibre and backbone of the country has been sucked out of its people by this feckless labour government.
Britain is now obsessed with self created problems exacerbated by a philosophy of cultural relativism, a policy of multi culturalism and a liberal left elite who appear hell bent on destroying any remaining evidence of British history and tradition.

Ernesto Forchetto, Gijon, Spain

The Brits have always had a tendency to be subservient, hence the Royal Family and the structure of the aristocracy and the whole class system. Do not fret, it is just change we do not like, but to be subservient to one is no different than being subservient to another. Ex Pat

Peter, Pinehurst, nc. usa

As I understand it, recent judgements mean that the prisoners of our soldiers must be granted their 'human rights', whilst our senior citizens in care homes are not privy to such protection.

I would see the idiots who passed these laws with their heads on traitors gate.

Bill Bird, Wallasey, Wirral

Absurdistan as a concept was invented by Vaclav Havel, which you haven't mentioned in your article.

Adela, Peterborough,

What say do we have? A 4-5 yearly option at the balllot box to vote for any party you like as long as you want to be a true patriot of Europe (not Britain). Hard luck if you actually want to make a real and lasting change by voting for 'None of the above'.

The EU now appears to be a westernised version of the Soviet Union. Perhaps in 80 years time it will like the Soviet Union implode under the weight of its own bureaucracy.

If we want a change before then I fear the only option is a revolution, hopefully a peaceful one.

John, Yeovil, UK

R Dewar- Sir/Ma'am given your stage of life, I found your comment quite heartbreaking. Perhaps it might make you feel better to know that I'm young and feel precisely the same, as do many of my peers. The only solution I could come up with was to emigrate. I looked for a country where I would find a sense belonging and that had an admirable, confident people unafraid, indeed enthusiastic, about asserting their culture and values. In a great irony I find myself in the heart of Europe, but feel more at home and proud of my adopted nation than my former. I'm not sure what is the most painful aspect of Britain's predicament; the state of country or the lack of any action to change it? A good article Mr Baker.

Richard, LOWI, Europe

Since the egg story, I've enjoyed my boiled eggs more than ever. Are we sure this is not an exercise in reverse psychology? The egg industry has had its best advert ever:-).

David Warner, Milton Keynes, Bucks

Oh dear. This is depressing. And I have been thinking about a return to Little Blighty. But surely it can't be as bad as the US has become? Surely a Leviathan government and zombie population is better than Guantanamo, torture, detention without trial, vote-rigging, managed media, unprovoked aggression / invasion (OK that would still be true of the UK), minimal / no health service for a large part of the population, no public transportation, no sidewalks, and a bizarre inability to turn a corner in an automobile faster than 10 mph?

Michael Ibison, Austin, Texas

When Labout came to power the number of people leaving the UK was falling. Now they haven't only reversed this trend but currently there are twice as many leaving as there were back then. And the people leaving are just the people they want to stay - doctors, nurses, teachers, scientists, entrepreneurs, etc. When I look at the stupidity spouted by government departments and way people who contribute to society, in a positive way, are treated I'm just surprised more people aren't leaving.

K Phillips, London, UK

its things like this that ad credibility to parties like the BNP who, despite their racist undertones (which i deplore), speak some sense when it comes to common sense

patrik bateman, london,

Here, here!

oldasiahand, Manila, Philippines

Mere hours ago I was discussing the same topics with a European group here in Germany. Though it pains me to say it, this depressing outlook may well be our fate unless we can galvanise more like-minded people into action for change.

Nick Smith, Hellengerst, Germany

I gave up years ago and now live in Pakistan.

It might be be the maddest place on the face of the earth...nobody bats an eyelid when you load the offspring on to the roofrack for a spot of motorway commuting...nor objects to five to a motorbike all sans helmet...but there is a sense of cheerful anarchy that is long gone from Perfidious Albion.

It might be poor as a church mouse, mired in every sort of corruption, dangerous in ways even I have yet to appreciate, close to being a failed state and not a place where you can get a decent bottle of plonk - but the people are perversely proud of their stumbling shambling wreck of a country.

I cheered to the rafters when Blair won back in those heady days of 1997, and my (Pakistani) wife and I cracked a bottle of champagne in the middle of the road at 3 a.m....and now?

I'll be back for my pension...so long, and thanks for the memories.

Chris Cork, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Excellent, Gerard.

Long term expats as onlookers certainly see all of the game and pretty depressing it is too, I'm sorry to say.

I fear the rot is now irreversible.

Stan(expat), USA,

I am old and ill, and with luck I shall be spared the final ignominies of a broken people in complete submission to a vast and tyranous power. During the course of my life I have moved from gung-ho patriotic pride in being a Briton through doubt and bewilderment, to shame; I can hardly bear to be British any more, for we have become a craven, care-less, subservient and pathetic people, a mockery in Europe. I cannot bear the shame, so I look to death to rescue me from it.

R. Dewar, High Wycombe, Bucks.