It's been exactly 5 years since I became a British citizen, back in 2015. I applied for citizenship soon after I got married. The Netherlands doesn't allow dual citizenship unless you're married, and I wasn't giving up Dutch citizenship.

I applied for citizenship for two reasons: 1. So that I could vote in UK parliamentary elections

In these five years, the UK has changed drastically. Instead of being a pragmatic country, we've seen it slide towards authoritarianism by a government let by an incompetent chancer, who tries to shows he's a "man of the people", but instead is really only in it for himself.

Brexit, the handling of the COVID-19 crisis, the dismantling of the judiciary, and our democracy

I love living in London with its culture, pubs, and restaurants. I love the UK countryside. I detest what is happening politically, with Brexit, and the slide towards an insular Island nation, with fewer and fewer opportunities for its citizen.

I hope that in another 5 years, things will have turned around a little. I'm afraid that when people finally realise what harm has been done, it's too late to return the UK into the place that I fell in love with at the height of the London 2012 Olympics.

We'll have to work hard to sort out the United Kingdom! But for now: Cheers! Slàinte mhath! Iechyd da!