Cool Britannia has certainly lost its lustre in recent years.

First the Brexit referendum that saw voters narrowly favour leaving the European Union following a barrage of mis- and disinformation from right-wing media and Facebook bots.

Then the botched divorce negotiations with Brussels in which Britain tried to have its cake and eat it.

And in the meantime a series of particularly inept leaders in Downing Street, starting with David 'Russian roulette' Cameron, the tragic Theresa May, then a pathological liar in the form of Boris Johnson, economically challenged Liz Truss and finally Rishi Sunak, a man who tried to even the keel while refusing to call out those who had taken a hatchet to Britannia's hull for the past decade.

None of this went unnoticed in Europe and beyond. Nor did the reports of Britain's economic decline, growing poverty and lawlessness, sewage-filled beaches, ailing universities, a health system floored by COVID and underfunding, a disintegrating public broadcaster and immigration chaos. Where once those warnings came from Italy, France (or more distantly Germany), now Britain was held up abroad as an example of what can happen to a society when political corruption is tolerated and democracy goes off the rails. The Queen's death only added to a sense that the UK, as most people knew it, was finished. Even Parliament was crumbling!

Why does all this matter? Why should Brits care what the rest of the world thinks of them?

Because being a country that's highly regarded for its system of governance, universities, culture and global outlook is immeasurably valuable. It draws talented immigrants and foreign investment. It ensures respect abroad for UK diplomats, tourists and entrepreneurs, many of whom will have faced either commiserations or jokes about their country lately.

Can Keir Starmer's inevitable victory in last week's general election turn things around? As D:ream said, things can only get better. But the Labour party also has an overwhelming mandate for change. If it seizes the moment then Starmer's government may be able to swing the mood from despair to hope. If Britain can overcome its Brexit funk at home it will only improve relations with the rest of Europe. Anglophiles in Berlin, Paris and Brussels - of whom there are many - will happily put aside the pain of Britain's 2016 snub if they feel that London is serious about rebuilding bridges with its allies on the continent.

The UK's new Foreign Secretary David Lammy has already made a start with his flying visit to Germany, Poland and Sweden this weekend. Similar efforts by his Conservative predecessors were met with thin-lipped smiles, particularly in the case of David Cameron.

No doubt the hard-right Reform party under Nigel 'I'll take my EU pension and campaign for Brexit' Farage is going to do all it can to agitate against rapprochement with Brussels and Berlin, pushing the next Conservative leader to double down on insular, anti-woke, anti-science policies to try to recapture votes on the hard fringes. Signs are that a big majority of the electorate weren't buying it at this election.

Maybe some mutual love and respect between Britain and its friends can help ensure it stays that way.

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