While it means our act, Look Mum No Computer, real name Sam Battle, 37, won't have to break out the Look Mum No Points T-shirt he joked about, it is still a damning indictment of our efforts. This is despite the fact, as one of the big five, we help finance the competition. Via the BBC, we pay an estimated £4-500,000 in licence fee money annually to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which grants the UK an automatic spot in the grand final.
Even more humiliating was the fact that our single point came from Ukraine, a country that surely owes us a huge debt. We have pledged a total of £21.8billion in support to the country since the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
UK citizens have welcomed them into their homes, and around 215-260,000 Ukrainians are currently living here, with thousands more currently on social media begging for sponsorship to enter the country via the Government's Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme. On arrival, they get an automatic right to work but also Universal Credit, without needing to pass the standard Habitual Residence Test.
I could go on, but suffice it to say the UK has been very generous in their support of the country, but it couldn't even see fit to give us a decent score in Eurovision. The only plus point of this is that it at least proves the voting is not political.
Think about what the UK could do for its citizens if we withheld that aid to Ukraine – and, indeed, the aid we send worldwide to other countries. Ukraine is not alone in receiving generous UK support – it is just the most relevant country in this example.
On a smaller scale, the BBC could have funded several annual salaries out of what they spent on Eurovision this year.
Suffice to say, we are wasting a lot of money supporting causes and contests that consistently prove they actually don't like us very much. You can be unappreciative but still supportive, but even that isn't happening.
It is time the UK tightened its purse strings and started looking after its own. Pull out of Eurovision even for one year and see how they miss our money. I guarantee we would get a warmer welcome when we come back.
And rein in foreign aid, including to Ukraine and countries that simply are not supporting us, and invest that money in the citizens. The country would be far happier and more prosperous for it!
