I read Mike Watson’s article on Finland, and was astonished to see someone tell it like it really is here (I moved to Finland believing it was a progressive dream. It hasn’t turned out that way, 4 November). My partner was left a house by her late mother, and we moved here in 2009 to look after that house. It’s in a small town on the coast of western Finland, a Swedish-speaking enclave. It’s a pretty town and the air is astonishingly fresh if the local paper mill isn’t spewing in our direction.
I didn’t expect that 16 years later, neither of us would be able to find work. Nor did I expect a blatant copyist of George Osborne to be in power. What Mike said is even worse if you’re unemployed. My partner has been in the charmingly titled “rehabilitation” for 13 years. Does this help her find work? She goes to what’s effectively adult daycare and knits. I as a foreigner, and most others like me, have little to no chance of ever finding a job. I worry immensely for all the kids of immigrants and refugees. How will they manage?
For all of the talk about Finland being a green country, life outside a major city is often very difficult. There are no local buses, and things are often maddeningly bureaucratic. Mental health problems here seem to be way more stigmatising than they were back in the UK. But I can only go on the area I live in and the experiences of those I know.
Please don’t mistake my grumbles for not loving the place. We swapped a draughty flat in Bristol for a home we own. I’m a type 1 diabetic and the care for that is in my view world-class.
Damian Rorke
Jakobstad, Finland
• Mike Watson’s Finland is not the one I know, having been a regular visitor for about 50 years and married to a Finnish lady with a home there. Hospital waiting lists? Last summer, I was admitted, examined and expertly treated within the hour. Similarly two years ago. High food bills? No higher than in the UK, taking the exchange rate into account. Homelessness? Never saw any. On the contrary, in Finland you will find evidence of general prosperity, good comfortable housing, modern infrastructure, and a well-disposed and well-educated population. I challenge Mike to find any such place elsewhere. Finland well deserves its top rating in country comparisons.
John Boyd
Stanton, Gloucestershire
• The gist of Mike Watson’s article about Finland appears to be that the country seems to be not up to his vision of the leftist paradise he dreamed of. I only moved from Scotland to Finland two years ago, so can’t say how much worse it is than it was in 2018. Indeed, even since 2022, prices have gone up, there are cuts to public services and you have to wait to see a doctor (for non-urgent care) a bit longer. But this is still nothing compared with what people in the UK experience – and the quality of services (and food) is still much higher.
Many people idealise Finland, but it is not unique. It’s just like nearly every other country that seems to have smaller or bigger economic hurdles and, yes, this usually means the rise in the popularity of the populist right.
But Mr Watson’s article paints an incorrect picture of the Finnish political landscape. Unlike in Britain, the Finnish political system is built on compromise. There is no single dominating party, and even if there was, proportional representation – rather than the British first-past-the-post system – means that it would be very unlikely for such a party to obtain a solo majority in the parliament. As parties – often of very different views and values – are forced to cooperate with each other, it means that the most radical ideas are smoothed down in the process of achieving a compromise. And even the right is still moderate by European standards. Compared with post-Brexit Britain, even today’s Finland is a true paradise on Earth.
Tomasz Oryński
Helsinki
