To think our towns and cities are just so run down lately, and our standard of living has decreased significantly?

So why are you blaming "people who don't speak a word of English/ have an active hatred of British culture can be ushered into private lets at my expense" rather than greedy landlords?

That's so interesting as we went back to Southport this weekend for the first time in nearly forty years (I was born there.) It had certainly changed an awful lot, was thinking of it when I saw this thread.

I think people are only now realising just how fucked England is. British exceptionalism has hidden this reality from us all for many decades but streets full of rotting rubbish and shoplifters tell a very different story.

Not now though - the most recent Tory governments legacy doesn’t involve low taxes, and that’s not what’s to blame for crap services.

I have more need to go out and shop when I wfh than when I am in the office.
I just want to run home and stay therr untill next office day.
When I was fully wfh I went to town every weekend but it was shit.
Vape shops, barbers and nail shops, gambling places and that run down cornershop surviving on drugs sale.

TBF the high street doesn’t help itself.

I’ve been trying to buy a pair of trainers. Been to four shops and they didn’t have any in the style I like, in my size.

This experience is far more efficient online.

I was in Buxton recently, bleak, tumbleweed kinda place.

@MistressoftheDarkSide Dark Angel!

I don’t feel safe in my local town anymore. I can remember as a teen getting my first job I’d regularly go in to town alone to spend my wages 20 years later I wouldn’t dream of it.

The problem is Thathcherism could only work once..there's only so much council housing to sell off. Only so many public services to sell off (including water and gas). Only so much north sea oil to profit from. Low taxes destroy public services which then require high taxes to try and fix. Unions crippled helped undercut wages and now everyone is skintnor needs tax credits to pay the rent.

We're paying for it all now.

Yes

Yes, Thatcherism. Cut taxes, especially the upper rates.

Yes wonderful fly tipping

always Someone else’s problem

We are indeed. Then when all the steel works, car factories, mines, energy companies and British Rail were sold off... what assets has the UK got now?
We were told that privatisation would mean competition and cheaper and more efficient services. I've never known the rail network be so bad.
In my city there was a good stock of well maintained council housing. All sold.

Low Taxation?

Do you really believe that?

That immigrants are living it up and given everything?

Seriously?

Agree.
Online shopping has killed the high street

Councils are struggling. They have had a real decrease in their budget in real terms and have an ever increasing adult social care bill to pick up. I think people forget that adult social care is not just the elderly but also adults with disabilities, learning disabilities and mental health. Councils are also being completely ripped off in many cases by private companies in the adult social care sector. As someone who works in the sector I think people would be shocked to see the sheer costs of some care plans.

I grew up in a lovely town which is declining but I am not surprised. House prices have pushed young people out. There is holiday homes on every street pretty much. The few houses which come up for sale barely last a day or two before they are snapped up over the asking price.

We moved our town 20 years ago. It was a shit hole then and is a shit hole now.

I worked in retail 30 years ago, we had security guards then. We frequently had shoplifters, for some reason they went after the cheese and bacon mainly.

Things aren’t majorly worse as far as I can see.

The problem is Thathcherism could only work once..there's only so much council housing to sell off. Only so many public services to sell off (including water and gas). Only so much north sea oil to profit from. Low taxes destroy public services which then require high taxes to try and fix. Unions crippled helped undercut wages and now everyone is skintnor needs tax credits to pay the rent.

We're paying for it all now.

Windrush generation then Asians then miners, dockers, single mothers. Always another scapegoat.

Sometimes that’s because they have been accused of inappropriate behaviour. There was a local security chap accused of touching a 13 year old girl so now he has to wear one to keep his job.

As pp have said, it's online shopping and wfh.
People used to have to go out of the house. I used to love going into town and looking round the shops.

It's not the fault of the individuals it's the fault of policy which supports the industry of funnelling taxes into private landlords' pockets and simultaneously driving up property prices far beyond the reach of most of the country's workers. All we pretty much do is work and pay basic bills now, that's why business isn't growing because very few people are able to spend on anything other than a roof and food. There are other factors too but housing/rent is the one all-encompassing issue.

I don't think it is scapegoating immigrants to point out that there are large numbers of unskilled single young men entering the Uk illegally, month after month, who are then housed at great expense in local authority accommodation and hotels. LAs are struggling with social care as it is.
That isn't immigration
Immigrants who come here to integrate into our culture and make a positive contribution are great assets to the UK.
Unfortunately there are those who detest everything about the West and want things like their own legal system and systems, instead of conforming to British laws and customs, which isn't appropriate.

That really resonates with me “an air of menace” it’s completely correct, no one dares say anything to others bad behaviour as you’ll likely unleash really aggressive behaviour
such a sad situation as a country.
where I work there’s a small express supermarket opposite and I can watch all day long people just blatantly shoplifting young and old alike and staff and told not to intervene it must make morale very low