Is the UK so miserable as everyone is saying?

The American newspapers like to get a bee in their bonnet about the United Kingdom, especially when things are not going right. "Broken Britain" seems to be the favourite headline at the moment. Is this true and, if so, why? First of all, Britain is a beautiful country and one of the best to live in happily. But there is no doubt that currently there is a sort of malaise around which is hitting a lot of people. The Labour government appears not to have a clue about how to boost the economy and make everyone want to work and prosper. Every attempt to improve the economy has largely failed. Huge political mistakes were made early on in the Keir Starmer government and the country has yet to recover from them. Now, everyone, from the rich down to the poorest, are afraid of what Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is going to do to confront the $20 billion hole in the finances. What she should do is put income tax up by one per cent but she won't and can't do that because the Labour Manifesto prior to the election which they won so comfortably, promised not to raise income tax. That was stupid, politically and economically. No government should ever close options. The alternatives will be hugely unpopular and probably unsuccessful. Then there's the small-boats scandal with thousands more migrants popping over the Channel onto English beaches every week, and nothing seems to stop them. Huge sums of money have been paid to France to police the Calais beaches and prevent gang leaders from pusing off the next migrant-packed boat. Yet still they come. No one has an answer to this crisis. Hotels are full of asylum seekers, protests are rising. It's all totally out of control. The Conservatives were hopeless about resolving this issue, and now Labour is also all over the place. Nothing has been effective. So the poor economy and the small boats, and the lack of jobs for all the students who have just graduated from university with no hopes of a decent career have soured the whole population. So, for once, the US newspaper headlines are pretty right. However, this is still a great country, with fabulous people, gorgeous countryside and an awesome history. There is always room for optimism that things will turn out all right eventually. That is what miserable Britain is counting on.