To not think the UK is as bad as everyone makes out?

Of course it isn't. But many people have this obsession with whining and winging. You need to learn to ignore them.

I think it's a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy, in thst we enthusiastically embrace everything from the US, from food culture to culture war politics, whereas in Europe they seem to have more National pride. This may be because their languages are not as International and they want to cling to things like French language films and music, or Italian food, etc, and are prepared to defend it more vigorously. For example, fruit and vegetables may be 3x more expensive in Spain, but only 18% of their diet is made up of UPF crappy food and fast food, whereas for us, it's more like 50% with the resultant obesity and poor health, which made our covid recovery worse than elsewhere. Sweden have seen problems caused by people coming from places which don't refpect women and have cracked down hard and fast to protect their liberal values and society. We drag our feet and use it for political point scoring. If people who have a culture see little value in it, what's the point in protecting it? I do think it's a peculiar English thing. The Scots and Welsh are not so dismissive of their own culture.

Living standards are declining across the west and people are feeling it. I don't think that the UK is any worse than anywhere else, we are just more aware of what the problems are here! There are good things and bad things in every country.

When people say that they are a going of to live in Dubai I find it hysterical. Wouldn't want to live by their laws personally!

Countries that they’re not eligible to live and work in such as US, scandi countries or Japan. Not faultless but I think their citizens have better prospects than ours.

Also not saying being an immigrant in those societies would be easy and I think the UK is a very tolerant place (I’m an immigrant but fully integrated) but I look here and don’t see much to feel hopeful about

Living standards are going to decrease in the West over the next 20 years.

I think that is pretty much baked in, unless some magic happens.

A lot of things are wrong with the U.K. at the moment, stupidly high property prices being just one. But it’s much the same in many other countries - only the other night I heard a piece on the World Service about completely unaffordable house/flat prices for younger people in Australia.

And ditto to what a pp said about food prices. I was 😱 not too long ago at having to pay €4 for a cauliflower - at the French equivalent of Tesco, not some high-end organic shop. Why there is still (apparently) so much food waste, I do often wonder.

As for weather, at least we are spared most of the extremes, inc. devastating wildfires, and not just in the US. Friends living near Perth (Oz) had to leave their home a couple of years ago, because of a wildfire raging a very short distance away. Luckily their house was spared, but OMG, I’d hate to live anywhere with that sort of terrifying danger lurking. I’ve visited Australia twice, and both times there was severe drought - signs saying ‘Every Drop Is Precious’.
I don’t know about anybody else but I find it very scary when it - just - doesn’t - rain.

I voted YANBU, OP, and I have to admit to groaning out loud when I saw a thread here about lots of young British people wanting to move abroad, because it was so obvious that it would soon fill up with lots of people moaning about how utterly terrible the UK is and how every sane person is dying to leave.

Although I love living in the UK (and I lived in Germany for many years before coming back here), I do agree with some PP that things used to be better than they are now. The NHS is often cited, of course, and for me, the Royal Mail is another prime example. When I was growing up, we sometimes had the luxury of 'second post', i.e. two postal deliveries a day. Now I'm lucky to get two deliveries a week, and even then I'm a lot more fortunate than many other people in my area. In a Facebook group for my town and the vicinity, quite a few people are saying that they've missed hospital appointments because the letters weren't delivered until two, three or even more weeks after the hospital sent them. So yeah, there are doubtless far worse places to live than the UK, but I do feel that it used to be a lot better than it is now.

Weird generalisation upthread, by the way. 'Life overseas is far easier in many respects'? Where overseas? Everywhere? Every other country in the world? I feel like I see this kind of thing on MN quite often, as though there's 'the UK' and 'Europe', or even just 'overseas', and as though everywhere that isn't the UK is exactly the same. 'We moved to Europe and everything is so much better here!' Ridiculous.

We drive into places like Manchester, Leeds and our first thoughts are always, what a sh*t hole. Yes the glitzy centres are ok, the wealthy areas ok, but the rest is just bloody awful. Made so by the people who live there. Litter, graffiti, uncared for buildings, gardens that have never seen a flower, dirty streets, uncaring people. And you can multiply that 10 fold for London. Except that in London you see the contrast with extreme wealth and dire poverty much more.

Brits love to moan. I love my little corner of the country (Devon) but I do think we have a problem in that house prices are so high that quality of life for most people is getting worse not better. Combined with the fact that taxes are at a near record high whilst public services feel so poor, it is hard to see how things are going to improve.

I agree to a certain extent. But a lot of us ageing had the foresight not to rely upon the State supporting us and have made decent provision for older age throughout our working lives. The NHS is possibly the single greatest contribution made to the country and its people in the 20th century, however it’s success in helping millions live better and longer lives has never been underpinned by later legislation that took into consideration just how much care some older people might need. Add into this equation the number of single people raising children, the exploding number of children with SENs and other needs, and it’s a perfect storm. It’s social care, and children’s services that are crippling most local authorities nowadays, and the strain of caring for SEN pupils in schools requires many more staff than in my school days.

Manchester and Leeds and I go into both, they're clean and functional and I don't see anti social behaviour.

I only go into Manchester for meetings. I come in at Piccadilly and then stay at whatever hotel is deemed cheapest. It get to them by walking through Piccadilly Gardens and the area round there. I see a lack of cleanliness, substantial anti-social behaviour, and people who seem to be homeless. A couple of hotels used to have security people in their foyer that asked you for your details before you were able to enter the hotel or return to your room.
But, I come in during the evening and leave during the evening. I probably miss the hours of the day when the area has been cleaned and all that's happening is part of the usual working or commercial hustle and bustle.

See, I do disagree with this. Many European cities are filthy and graffiti covered. Yes, it's not drawings of dicks like it is here but it's still graffiti, everywhere, and dog shit.

You think the UK has more dog shit than other countries?!

That has not been my experience.

THIS.

We also have HUGE influence from foreign powers who wish to destablise the country, look at the riots in summer, so much online whipping up anger was from outside the UK, look at Musk, he's happy to bankroll any party that will shake the system up. I think part of the reason he's fallen out of love with Farage is he's worked out Farage is not a revolutionary , he just wants to do want Trump did with the Republican party , take over the Tory party and lead it.

It used to be a badge of honour in this country to be reasonable and level headed, (Or at least to act like that) now its reversed to have a strong opnion on everything, never give in and never listen to someone else's view.

The Far East is quite good actually. Women don't have many rights in the Middle East and US.

There’s not that much wrong with the UK, but there’s a good deal wrong with some of the people who live here. Personally, I would say life is better nowadays if you live in the North, and anywhere is better than London unless you have a great deal of money. London is nice, but it’s expensive and full of lots of people who cannot really afford to live there, and have a decent life. Same goes for a few other big cities as well. Away from A&E, and elective surgery, the NHS still functions brilliantly for Cancer patients, other truly life threatening conditions.
If the people who lived here looked after themselves better, looked after their children and old people better, weren’t caught up in Consumerism, weren’t obsessed with class, made considered decisions around how and who they voted for, were kinder and more tolerant towards each other, and truly welcomed those who have a lot to contribute to society then it’s a very good place to live. You do get small pockets, villages, streets where people look out for each other, but all that fills the news is the bad stuff. Terrible for those living it, affected by it, but away from the bad stuff, there are a lot of lives being lived happily, fulfillingly and giving and getting along nicely.
It’s a whole lot nicer than parts of the World where women are second class citizens, where fighting, true poverty, corruption is rife.

I feel a lot of it is the cost of homes
My dh and I had ordinary jobs and could afford a mortgage in the 80s and 90s with a deposit that wasn't a kings ransom to try and find.
People today are working just as hard and owning a home is out of reach ( where I live anyway and it's not even that posh! )
There isn't much to aspire to for so many people , no wonder they are fed up

Exactly this. It depends on personal experience. I've never experienced the excellent healthcare that you have. My Mother-in-Law's experience is much closer to yours.

There are substantial regional variations. There can be substantial variations in the same hospital, same dept. different wards etc. I don't have an UC facility in the area, the waiting times in my local A&E regularly turn up in the Daily Mail and my Trusts are in the Top 10 of the sorts of lists where you'd prefer your rankings to be nowhere near that.

We all pay for the same health service but the differences in what we receive can be truly eye-watering. It shouldn't be down to what feels like serendipity.

I think that the quality of life has got much worse over the last few years. Our governments don't seem to be willing to make tough decisions that other countries do eg. Spain who have said that non-residents will not be able to buy property. Vauxhall used to be predominantly social housing which has now been replaced by huge empty apartment blocks owned by overseas investors a pension funds. Normal people with normal jobs struggle to buy a house or have a good quality of life while at the same time the number of well-paid jobs is reducing. The pressure on children is huge because there are so many of them being pushed towards these few well-paid professions where there are only so many vacancies. I also think that we have all become more selfish and greedy in this country. The Covid pandemic seemed to bring out the worst in people. I think that we all need to look at our own behaviour and how we live ourselves. I see people dropping litter without a thought or shouting at people in shops. There is a huge amount of entitlement eg people demanding a prescription for paracetamol instead of spending 40p to get some.

Very good post, thanks.
25 years ago, exactly, couldn't believe how lucky
I was to be able to settle here. No financial reasons or problems, just my country of origin wasn't enough for me.
Now, looking for a tiny tunnel out again 🙄

I'm am immigrant & have lived in the UK very happily for 30 years. I don't think I would live anywhere else.

It has changed hugely in that time - but then again the whole world has changed. The idea that anything stays the same is an absolute nonsense.

Before I came to the UK there did used to be a stereotype about "whinging Brits" - I've only just rememered this. I think this stereotype is the source of much that is wonderful about Britain especially the humour.

But yes people like a moan. I don't know if Brits moan more or less than anyone else though.

I am not happy with the UK atm, agree with the previous poster that it is shit compared to 20 years ago. I think maybe there was so much hope previously and an upward momentum and now it feels like a race to the bottom. There is a lot more poverty, general cost of living has spiralled. Obviously, there are many more worse places to live, but the hope seems to have gone.

YABU, OP.
Sorry.
I absolutely hate it here and don't have much to want for, either.
I would go back immediately, to "Eastern Europe", namely to Prague, where I come from, into
a brand new, beautiful apartment, where life is much better than here for ordinary people (with some money).
Before anyone says off you fuck then, personal reasons (close old relatives) make it not doable.
Hopefully one day, if they don't happen to outlive me.