Things are looking bad all round and, for Britons, there is an election, too!

Some periods go down in history as desperately bleak — times of war and plague and natural and man-made catastrophes.

It is tempting to wonder if we are going through such a phase right now.

Britons have voted by the narrowest of margins to sever their links with the mature societies of continental Europe and go it alone in an increasingly inter-dependent world.

IMMIGRANTS

The words “Little Englanders” come to mind, along with the suspicion the real reason is fear of foreigners, as represented by immigrants queuing at our gates.

Americans have installed as President a dodgy businessman and former TV star who has expressed outrageously xenophobic and racist views, whose policies would befoul a Planet Earth already seriously endangered, and whose next dangerous step is a mystery to all, including, one suspects, himself.

The loonies in North Korea keep firing off rockets and threatening to attack whoever insults their fat, little, beloved leader.

TERRORISTS
Computer hacking has reached the point where governments are accused of attempting to manipulate the democratic processes of rival nations, Russia being the leading suspect.

And psychopaths who think God will welcome them to paradise provided they blow themselves to bits while simultaneously slaughtering a lot of innocent children actually exist in the world today.

Look at Manchester and the 22 young people murdered there at a pop concert by a British-born malcontent.

SNAP ELECTION

This week in Britain, we face a snap general election, an effect of the so-called Brexit decision to exit Europe.

At the time of writing, the Conservative party led by Prime Minister Theresa May looks set to roll over the Labour party and its controversial leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

A goodly number of citizens seem to despair of the lack of alternatives and anecdotal evidence suggests they are adopting an attitude of “A plague on both your houses” and planning to boycott the vote. That would be wrong.

DEMOCRACY
I will always remember a Zambian telling me after Kenneth Kaunda had been dethroned in a rare multiparty election: “We voted him out and if we don’t like the new lot, we will vote them out, too!”

He said it with glee. A bit naïve perhaps in a continent of coups, but that man loved democracy and we should not devalue it by turning our backs on the ballot box.

***
It’s against the law in this country to use your mobile phone while driving, yet police spotted a man doing online banking in his car on a motorway near Birmingham, while Norfolk police stopped a woman who was phoning about her lost puppy.

Other culprits included the driver of a school minibus with 10 children on board and the man driving a 7.5-tonne lorry around a roundabout.

During 2015, some 22 people were killed in mobile-related accidents, and last October, lorry driver Tomasz Kroker, who killed a mother and three children while distracted by his phone, was jailed for 10 years.

STRINGENT PENALTY
But the message is not getting through.

Although the penalty for using a phone while driving was doubled last March 1 to £200, more than 6,000 drivers were caught using a phone at the wheel in the next four weeks.

“The key message isn’t sinking in,” Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation said.

“Driving needs our full attention. Hands need to be on the wheel and eyes looking out of the windscreen not down at a phone screen.”

***
Another depressing aspect of life in the UK is the decline in our National Health Service, the main problem being people are living longer and the demands are greater.

Getting an appointment at one’s local practice is difficult.

If you want to see a doctor that day, you must telephone early and because so many people do, the phone is almost constantly engaged.

HUMAN WORKFORCE

If you don’t get through, you have to try again the next day.

Even if you’re lucky, the consultation is not supposed to last more than 10 minutes, thus not surprisingly, an increasing number of GPs are complaining of overwork and quitting.

Figures show that in the first three months of this year, the number of family doctors leaving general practice outstripped the number joining the profession.

A leading practitioner said: “The next government must ensure we have a properly staffed service.”

***
Sarah was about to go on a blind date scheduled for 8 pm and, as she always did, she called her friend Raquel first: “Give me 20 minutes and then telephone, just in case it’s awful.”

It was awful and Sarah sighed with relief when her mobile went at 8.20.

After listening for a few seconds, she turned sadly to her date and said: “My grandmother has fallen sick and I have to hurry to her bedside, I’m so sorry.”

“That’s all right,” the date said. “In another 10 minutes, my dog was going to get run over.”

[email protected]