United Kingdom - 76.89
35
“Unfortunately, in Britain, in 2022, being offensive, something which is 100% completely subjective, is a crime” - Mark “Count Dankula” Meechan
The United Kingdom, while ostensibly a country dedicated to freedom, struggles with it in a number of aspects. The United Kingdom has some of the strictest hate speech laws in the world, which were recently tightened. In Scotland, hate speech uttered within the privacy of one’s home is still punishable under the law. The curriculum in Britain is some of the most regulated in the world and the country maintains a surveillance system on par with Russia. Despite being a strictly regulated surveillance state, minorities in Britain (especially Muslims) still face hate crimes. Also of concern was a dispersal of a vigil for Sarah Everard, a woman raped and murdered by a police officer. Of Europe’s major constitutional monarchies, Britain grants more power to unelected nobility than most other countries. Brexit, Britain’s divorce from the European Union, has been a consistent headache that has largely failed to deliver on its promises and has only damaged the country’s economy, swamped its borders, and soured relations with its neighbors. Britain’s global power has been dwindling and its position as the world’s dominant military and diplomatic superpower has largely lapsed. Britain’s future is uncertain as Brexit continuously fails to deliver.
Human Rights - 83
The United Kingdom has fully abolished the death penalty. The United Kingdom participated and aided in CIA torture of suspected terrorists. Several cases have also been reported of mentally ill prisoners being mishandled by British police. British police have also embarked on (often violent) mass expulsion campaigns of homeless encampments. Migrant detention facilities in the United Kingdom are plagued by inhumane conditions. Migrants are often held outside in tents without ventilation or heat. COVID spread very easily in British migrant detention centers and the government did little to stop it. The United Kingdom possesses one of the most advanced surveillance systems in the world. The government is known to monitor social media but (generally) does not make arrests based on social media posts. Under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, communications companies are required to store the metadata of users for twelve months and the government can access this metadata without a warrant. The United Kingdom is alleged to have access to any electronic device in the country, and peaceful protestors have reported being followed by police and surveilled. The United Kingdom guarantees a full gamut of LGBT rights. Abortion is legal to preserve the physical, mental, and financial health of the couple and in cases of fetal impairment.
Democracy - 76
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, limiting its score to 95. The Queen is the head of state, while the prime minister, who holds most executive power, is elected by parliament. The Queen holds few real powers and the prime minister is usually the leader of the majority coalition. The lower house of parliament, the House of Commons, is directly elected and the upper house, the House of Lords is appointed by the Queen. Positions in the House of Lords are usually hereditary and without term limits. The House of Commons holds significantly more legislative power but the House of Lords still has critical veto power. Elections are freely and fairly managed. Despite calls to implement one, no campaign donation cap currently exists. Britain is in an effective two-party system, as the Conservative and Labour parties have been dominant for decades. Smaller parties, namely the Scottish secessionist Scottish Nationalist Party and the left-leaning Liberal Democrats, hold seats but fail to gain a majority and due to the increasing dominance of the Conservative and Labour parties they no longer need to be included in ruling coalitions.
Freedom - 56
The United Kingdom has some of the strictest hate speech laws in Europe. The use of “threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behaviour that causes or is likely to cause another person harassment, alarm, or distress” is punishable by seven years in prison. “Encouragement of terrorism” is also illegal. The Communications Act further criminalizes sending electronic messages deemed of an “offensive, indecent, or menacing manner.” Scottish hate speech law has been controversial, especially for a broad and poorly defined provision banning “stirring up hatred” and a recent law that removed protections for hate speech uttered within the privacy of one’s own home. British hate crime laws recently drew controversy after Scottish Youtuber Mark “Count Dankula” Meechan was arrested on hate crime charges for training his girlfriend’s pug to perform a Nazi salute in response to certain phrases in a Youtube video. The clip was viewed over three million times and Meechan was arrested and charged with hate speech. After a lengthy and highly publicized legal battle, Meechan was found guilty and fined the equivalent of $1117. The United Kingdom maintains one of the most sophisticated surveillance networks in the world. Under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, telecommunications companies are required to store users’ metadata for twelve months and the government is allowed to access it without a warrant. In addition, the government is known to monitor social media but does not make arrests based on social media posts and the government is alleged to have access to any electronic device in the country. Peaceful protestors and activists have noted being followed by police and surveilled. Further, the government has repeatedly attempted to implement Automatic Facial Recognition (AFR) technology, though such attempts have repeatedly been struck down as unconstitutional. Despite strict hate speech laws and an extensive surveillance network, hate crimes against Muslims remain rampant, hindering their ability to freely worship. Muslims also report discrimination in public and harassment by law enforcement, especially women whose faith is more visible. Prevent, the UK’s anti-terrorism program is accused of being Muslim conversion therapy and has been criticized by Muslim religious leaders from the moderate to the fundamentalist. Anglicanism is the official religion but freedom of religion is guaranteed. This guarantee is generally enforced under the law. Police have violently suppressed peaceful demonstrations seemingly arbitrarily for allegedly violating COVID lockdown measures. A vigil for Sarah Everard, a woman raped and murdered by a police officer, was violently dispersed by police for violating COVID lockdowns. Northern Ireland police violently dispersed several BLM demonstrations with the same justification. The curriculum in Britain is some of the most regulated in Europe and changes to these regulations are highly partisan. Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch declared that teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) was partisan and illegal. The Department of Education issued guidance for educators not to teach anticapitalist rhetoric, calling it an “extreme political stance.” The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act of 2015 has broad provisions and requires schools to direct students away from terrorist or extremist groups, often resulting in suppression of student activism. Only drugs specifically mentioned under British law are banned, meaning that several synthetic drugs are largely unregulated. Guns in the United Kingdom are very closely regulated. Bolt-action rifles and shotguns are legal. Semi-automatic rifles are very closely regulated and near impossible to obtain. Handguns are effectively illegal in all capacities. Guns purchased before the United Kingdom’s new firearm laws went into effect were not grandfathered in and were instead confiscated.
Economy - 85
Health - 93
Britain has a life expectancy of 81 years and an infant mortality rate of 0.36%. 27.8% of Britons are obese and 7% are malnourished. The NHS is a strong, universal healthcare system but is often maligned and regarded for its backlogs and abuse by users. The system does not have adequate lockouts for abuse by patients. 99% of Britons have access to clean, running water.
Corruption - 83
British police are infamous for their displays of favoritism. Bribery is sometimes reported in construction permits, especially those in the construction sector, which are infamously corrupt. Public contracts are sometimes difficult to obtain without bribery. Both major political parties have recently been embroiled in corruption scandals. Lobbying remains a major issue in Britain.
Competency - 78
The British government has continuously failed to correctly implement Brexit. An inherently flawed but not unsalvageable idea has been repeatedly fumbled, resulting in a British economy that shrunk more than almost all of its contemporaries. The British economy shrunk nearly triple as much as the American economy and twice as much as the German economy during the COVID pandemic. It shrunk approximately one percent more than the French and Italian economies. Prices of goods in Britain have been going up, Britain has soured relations with its neighbors, and swamping British border and immigration control that were not prepared for new requirements for immigration. Despite incredibly strict hate crime laws by European standards, hate crimes remain rampant in Britain and the government has repeatedly failed to protect the rights of the country’s religious minorities, especially Muslims, to worship freely.
Future - 59
Britain’s future is uncertain. Brexit has been poorly managed and while the country’s economic future independent of the European Union shows some promise, both continued mismanagement and the major economic hit that the country took during the COVID-19 pandemic do not bode well for the British economy.
Actions Abroad - 55
The United Kingdom is the leader of the Commonwealth of Nations and provides large amounts of foreign aid through the Commonwealth to its former colonial holdings. The United Kingdom is also a major military and political leader in NATO. Brexit has resulted in messy relations with EU countries, namely France and Germany. The UK is also in the midst of a decades-old cold territorial dispute with Argentina over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Despite this, the United Kingdom and Argentina maintain generally positive relations. The UK has participated in or aided American military efforts that have resulted in severe loss of life and spread chaos across the countries that they took place in, including American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as NATO measures in Libya. The United Kingdom sells arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The United Kingdom received a five-point penalty for possessing legal nuclear weapons.
0.3% of Britons live under the international poverty line while 22% live under the national poverty line. 4.34% of Britons are unemployed. The United Kingdom has a low economic disparity. Minimum wage varies both by age and employment status (apprentices earn less than fully-fledged employees but are still subject to a minimum wage) but the lowest is $6.01 per hour. The United Kingdom boasts a strong universal healthcare system through the NHS. The NHS provides free, high-quality healthcare throughout the country but is infamous for its backlogs and abuse. The British economy shrunk 9.8% in 2020 and grew 1.4% in 2019.