To be depressed about how expensive but shyt the UK is

Not that easy when you’ve had a Tory government for years telling lies about Brexit peddling xenophobic ideology (completely out of step with how the modern world works) and running everything into the ground- NHS, education, public transport, seas&rivers, housing….The lack of giving a shit re the environment, poor, the disabled alongside this predated imperialistic view of how great the uk is based on very little doesn’t make it an appealing place.

When the only greatness people can point out is that we’re not being shot at you know there are big problems. We can only hope labour makes some inroad with turning things around.

Not only complain, but also refuse to do anything to make a change.

It's quite the skill we have!

We are in the uk and the nhs is no longer free as the incredibly long waiting lists mean more and more desperate families are having to pay ££££££ to access the treatment their children need privately and I’m not just talking about MH. This is getting worse. Year on year as more and more things go untreated and are left to get worse more and more families are being pulled into it. Some of us are having to support elderly parents too.

Re un. The threshold for full
loans is low and what students who aren’t on maximum loans can borrow doesn’t cover living expenses. It doesn’t even cover all the rent so parents again have to stop the gap.

It is unsustainable and coupled with a whole host of other issues does indeed make the uk expensive and shyte.

Sorry to hear you have MH issues and children with medical issues. It must be tough coping day to day and especially with little ones who need medical care.

However, please can I point out that healthcare in the UK is free. Or do you mean you are living in the UK but have no access to the NHS?

Uni fees - why are you paying those? UK nationals can get a student loan and fees are not paid back until they start earning a certain amount. My girl is now paying hers back, but the amount is piddling.

It must be tough if you don't access to these resources and I really hope you get to see the relevant people for yourself and your children, but I dont agree it makes the UK shit.

I have just returned from Italy. We were there for much of the summer and believe me the place has gone to ruin. There are weeds everywhere, rubbish, poverty and decay on an epic scale.

The roads are terrible and there is a huge problem in terms of quality of life and the infrastructure is falling apart.

Yes they can buy tomatoes and pasta at cut price, but honestly the southern Mediterranean have clearly got bigger problems than us in terms of their economies.

Met an expat couple who live in Italy yesterday (back here for a funeral) and they said the cost of living over there is tiny compared to here. They couldn't believe how expensive it is here now to eat out, or even buy food in a supermarket! But I don't know how wages compare over there either....

Also listening to a radio show from the USA last week - the locals were complaining that costs of living over there had spiralled out of control. But they quoted the horror of paying 4$ a gallon for petrol!! And they said you could buy a 3 bed detached house for $250K which was just unaffordable for young people - the English presenter did point out that in England that would be amazing!

I suppose it's relative to local salaries - but it does make you question why some things here are now so pricey. We are told that cooking oil has doubled due to the Ukraine situation - but it's still half our price in Italy.

All a bit odd.......

British people really do love to complain! 🙄

@askmenow no it didn't- it started with Thatcher selling off social housing- declaring 'no such thing as society , only the individual' etc

Which city/town are you living in that has no buses before 9am to get folk to work or school?

Some of us paid in plenty. I was a higher rate taxpayer for over two decades, my bloke for longer than that, neither of us will ever access social care, we’ll pay for it if we need it.

And now you’re accessing pensions, healthcare and socialcare you didn’t pay enough into so it’s swings and roundabouts.

We put in a fair bit - 34 years in my case - certainly more than any other generation, apart from our parents.

Yep we absolutely don’t bother going out any more. Who wants to spend ££££ for shitty chain food which is pretty much all there is. I want individual interesting well cooked food instead of microwaved shit made it the same factories and sold everywhere.

Well considering many boomers were babies at the end of the war and the last payment was made in 2006 they didn’t do it by any means alone.

Research says otherwise

https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/news/article/5727/new-research-shows-bus-services-outside-london-have-plummeted

20 mile journey is £8 here and there are no buses getting anybody to work or school before 9. Buses are continuously cancelled last minute and barely run the 1 an hour they’re supposed to. And don’t get me started on trains. A 2 hour trip is £70!

Exactly! Baby boomers paid off the massive war debt owed to the Americans which gave people living here the freedoms we take for granted.

The issue we have in this country is short-termism. Politicians only thinking about the next four years. Companies and shareholders expecting quick returns rather than forward planning, investing in the country.
Just look at Thames Water...sold abroad, stripped of funds, taking massive board member wages, CEO and shareholder payouts and now coming to the public with a begging bowl. Regulation should have stopped that!

Much of the Country's downfall started with Tony Blair... throwing open our borders to the EU accession countries and thus driving down UK wages. UK companies employed the cheaper labour rather than train our own people. Other EU Countries did phased admissions for incomers..

Then Blair stated he wanted 50% of school leavers to go to Uni. Many of those were of borderline ability, did useless degrees, left saddled with debt and have little hope of ever repaying it. And as a result decimating the numbers of kids going into the "trades". So now there's a shortage of tradespeople.

And we now have those "borderline ability" people running the country, our Government, our public services and institutions etc etc... Very average people, of average ability and devoid of ideas.....

We just don't have stand out people anymore, the movers and shakers.

Sorry I have to disagree with this.

On the next street to me, we have buses running every 10 minutes back and forth towards the nearest city. A short 5 min walk away and I can get the tram which is also every 15 mins (every 7 mins in rush hour times) into the city and beyond.

In my local town, I can get the train to 2 big cities in either direction. Then up to the north to Manchester/Sheff/Leeds or to the east coast. If I go to the other city, I can switch to Brum, London, the South.

The bus fares accept contactless and cost £2 for a single journey. If you hop on and off throughout the day, it calculates your daily journeys and caps it at £5.30 and the money is only taken 24 hours later from your bank.

There's also a big park and ride for drivers on the outskirts of the city with an additional hopper bus to both the hospitals. And for the young uns, those electric bikes dotted everywhere.

They are mainly on time except for things like a tram breakdown (they will put on a bus for you) and sometimes there might be an accident and you have to wait a bit - but same as if you are in your car, that's life.

It is just not true that public transport is appalling outside of London. Come and have a look in the midlands

@PersephonePotts we have to pay extra for that too.

Mine is similar and now I have to pay an extra £60 a year to have my garden waste taken away. Disgraceful

I have to say, I’m noticing how crap restaurant food is these days. I’ve had one good meal in 2 years and I eat out often (Ruby’s Pizza in Liverpool which I could live in as it’s amazing and cheap too). If me DH and 2 DC go out for food, we won’t pay less than £80 for 4 meals drinks and probably desserts unless we do a great spoon or fast food. It’s always so disappointing, and I can normally make it better at home. I’m really sick of pay £100+ for subpar food expensive soft drinks delivered by grumpy and surly waiting staff

@TrumpIsACuntWaffle yep mine is £310 a month

There is a local property tax in Ireland. Depending on your local authority, and how much your house is worth. What used to be rates, I suppose. You have to pay it for the year in advance. I pay nearly 465 Euro on an annual basis, and get absolutely nothing at all in return for it. Nothing whatsoever.

There are no council bin collections near the house. There is a private company which is erratic, for E22 per month for ordinary and recycling . The house is in the country and was newly built, so we had to pay to connect to electricity poles, and we had to dig to create our own water supply, and maintain it at our own cost. Library 7km away, and you have to pay anyway. The road is paved, but no footpaths and the road/ motor tax is for that anyway. No street lights. So, nada.

Try £250 per month council tax

Oh and public transport is appalling outside of London. It costs a fortune and they’re always overcrowded and never on time.

Agreed. I’ve had amazing experiences of the NHS over the years but also absolutely terrible ones. Last time I went to A&E with my child for a pulled elbow, we had to wade through drunkards laying on the floor of the main entrance completely out of it with sick bowls beside them. I then witnessed a mum tripping over a sick bowl and falling in the vomit. It was honestly like a third world country. Also took them 5 hours to see my DS so they could twist his arm back into place which was a two minute job.

The education sector is completely fucked, particularly from secondary level up. Some schools are so short of teachers, they’re having to put three different classes into the school gym and have one supply teacher them all different lessons simultaneously. Not even kidding, this is in Yorkshire. I’m a HE lecturer, don't even get me started on the state of the HE sector right now.

Then there’s the fact no one has a dentist and thousands of kids are in hospital having teeth pulled as a result. Mental.