The Continental View by Theo Rebergen: Help! We are shrinking!!

Did not want to bore you with the fact that I was right with my predictions about the economy 15 years ago and that I was right that it will take 5 years to recover.

Finally the IMF and politicians admit that we will have a shrinking economy for a long time before it can turn around. Hallelujah! And anyhow, if we had money, what should we buy? The latest Apple stupidity called iPhone5? Which is almost the same as 4 or 3, only that some features are even inferior?

Back to the purpose of this column; how does life in Sussex compare to the continent.

So I travelled again to France, Holland and Germany and the good news is that you can stop moaning; life is still a lot cheaper in the South-East as on the continent.

The food and petrol prices are a lot higher on the other side; I also had a good look again to the news over there and it is quite a shock to come back to the doom-and-gloom UK news painting a future so dark that half the country must be suicidal. I heard there was a traffic jam at Beachy Head heading for the cliff edge.

Problems with the NHS, care homes, expensive child care, cuts in benefits, shrinking pensions, not enough police, teachers on strike, loan sharks ripping off people, Lance Armstrong cheating (he is not even British, leave this sh??? to the Americans).

It is almost impossible to find something positive or funny in the English news but thank god you have “Have I got news for you” or “Mock the Week” where they revamp the news to cheer you up. For the 1st time in my life I like TV ads; the great Meerkats make me forget the depressive pictures from a hospital soap. Why a hospital drama on prime time; no wonder there is a shortage of nurses. I recommend deleting all TV channels except DAVE; it could save your live.

As a Dutchman I cannot believe how they (and you?) keep going on-and-on about Andrew Mitchell and his bike incident with a policeman; in Holland he would receive a medal for biking to work. Politicians are allowed to park their bikes in their offices guarded by a policeman, so the opposition can’t nick it.

They would be stoned if they show up in a chauffeur driven limousine. Mitchell has apologized, who cares what he really said to the copper and let him get on with his job; they are also only human beings (are they?) like us, let’s all look in the mirror and get a life.