Being British in 2021 can be a gloomy affair. Restricted to our homes, cut off from the EU and excluded from most of Europe thanks to an ultra-contagious mutation, the reality of our island’s existence has rarely bitten so hard.
One could hardly imagine a deadly pandemic arriving, and yet it coincided with appropriate symmetry with Brexit: a crisis created by our own.
It has left many young Britons – at least those lucky enough to claim dual EU citizenship – planning an escape. As a graduate from London with a Danish boyfriend who is soon on his way home, it is a tempting opportunity. The pandemic has put the brakes on every move for now, but the possibility is irresistible: Copenhagen is calling.
Why leave?
Britain has hardly been a bastion of stability in the last five years, but in the last 12 months it has exceeded itself. The government’s catastrophic pandemic response has left a squeaky health service – chronically underfunded for many years – to fight one of the world’s highest death rates. Moreover, a bot-job Brexit deal negotiated at the eleventh hour has left no one satisfied and many are facing financial difficulties.
There is never an easy time to take the exam, but a crowded job market exacerbated by a mismanaged pandemic, and Brexit uncertainty is hardly a fruitful reason to look for work in. And the reality is that once the pandemic is brought under control, Britain will find itself more isolated. and alone than ever.
Europe’s best and smartest students and entrepreneurs choose to settle somewhere else and given the choice, why should I not? My girlfriend had also considered taking her master’s degree in London, but why pay the astronomical fees after Brexit for international students when she can study for free in Denmark?
My primary motivation for moving is to follow her, but the economic and political factors are hard to ignore. There is a clear and obvious difference in both systems and expectations between Denmark and the United Kingdom, but the past year has also revealed a deeper and more worrying gap in the government’s basic competence.
The promised land?
There is a common trope that Scandinavia with its radiantly happy inhabitants is a modern Nordic utopia. The picture is probably incorrectly placed, and I am not under the impression that the streets of Denmark are paved with gold.
I know that Denmark has its own problems, from social inequality to right-wing extremist politics and racism – but with good employment opportunities, a stable economy, a well-functioning welfare system and an effective response to the pandemic, it offers an enticing alternative to life in Britain after Brexit.
Maybe it’s the case that the grass is always greener, and it almost certainly is. But as soon as the pandemic makes it possible, it’s something I find out for myself.
Source: The Nordic Page