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

'taxation is greater' in the sense of ordinary people yes, public sector spending higher, mostly due to the manufacturing industry being ripped out of the UK and a health crisis meaning more people not working, can't work, and more temp, short term jobs.

The tax burden has shifted from the very wealthy to the middle class and working class since the 80s and never shifted back.

The bottom 10% of earners have an effective tax rate of 44%, which is more than twice as high as those in the top 0.01% (21%). The top 0.01 % own 10% of this countries wealth

Says the poster with the username number blah blah blah posting on a popular forum🤔

Most MN are too hidden away in their suburban bubbles on their six figure salaries to realise just how bad things are.

That’s the point though.

The pure filth isn’t just pockets here and there. It’s tidal wave of filth, decay and feral behaviour, everywhere.

I don’t think it’s fashion to notice how bad it has got in some areas and not like it. There’s no point denying it.

Starmer has to go.

Talking of that though a post was shared on Facebook a few days ago someone did a poo down the side of someone’s house 🤢

But yes exactly that. There are pockets are pure filth and pockets of ideal and then most places are somewhere in the middle.

Its fashion to hate the uk more so England.

Yeah and people using rivers as toilets due to the lack of indoor plumbing.

Why are some people intent on over-egging the state of the UK? It's bad in parts, like everywhere else.

Yep. Plus of course the fact that funding is from Westminster and based on a contentious formula.

I live in South Wales. There are areas of deprivation and we have the issues that are plaguing everywhere else in the UK. But I like it here.

The last time I needed a GP appointment I got one the same day. Blood tests and another test the day after, further tests two weeks after that. One of my friends has terminal cancer and is getting excellent NHS and social care.

The distinction between private/public spaces and public spaces is noticeable.

Take Manchester, the city centre is, in parts, grubby, littered, real problem with aggressive begging and homelessness. Amidst it all is Spinningfields, a privately owned district with public access, which is soulless but immaculate - clean, well kept pavements and planting areas, feels safe, hardly any litter.

So many tin shack house here making meth clearly.

😂😂

@BirraMoretti yep - we came back for family reasons related to elderly parent not because we didn’t like it - however we are still reasonably ok as live in Bath which whilst it certainly has its issues is a veritable bubble of niceness compared to most other places I’ve been - went back to my east midlands home town last October- first time in 22 years - good grief is all I can say. Copenhagen is I think a really good place for a family trip

@Crikeyalmighty we visited Copenhagen recently and it was so lovely - and so depressing to come home and compare what it’s like here - litter, feral people, poor public services. Everything just feels so unloved and the air of hopelessness and aggression is really noticeable. I hate it.

The bits of wales I’ve visited always seem quite nice and tidy but then again I’m staying on dedicated holiday sites and walking that area/shops so not down the residential streets.

I don’t agree with renting air bnbs that could be a full time home.

Those 20mph randomly take the piss a bit though 😅 also did not enjoy following three logging trucks 😱 final destination style

Wales is still primarily ruled by Westminster. The Welsh government doesn't override majority of UK national laws, just a few areas having devolved status. Of course the Tories are to blame for what happened when they were in government, Wales wasn't exempt from their rulings.

We're in Wales labour always. We have the same issues. No Tories to blame here.

You could easily be describing my area. Ordinary working class neighbourhood till 10-15 years ago when half the third world turned up

@Boredlass the problem is most Labour controlled areas have more issues ‘that cost’ than the average Tory or Lib Dem area- so a lot of this is down to local authority funding or lack of it

@lifeonmars100 wow that sounds awful - we pay a bloody fortune to live where we do and are lucky to be able to do so - going back to my original home town last October had the same feeling as you describe - not quite as bad but still totally crap and I thanked my lucky stars I no longer lived there for last 34 years

Same here, I live in a rough area, it used to be what I would call "rough but lively" with lots of community stuff going on, raised my child here and it was fine, lots to do if you had a little one and it was clean, scruffy but clean. Of course austerity took its toll, the already less affluent areas are hit harder, faster and deeper by austerity. These days where I live is vile, today I am psyching myself up to go to the local supermarket. My walk there will take me past an off-licence which always has a large group of drunken males outside who leer and call out obsenities to passing women. Fortunately I am older and not on their radar but it still incenses me. I have complained about it numerous times to the council and suggested that they revoke the shop owner's alcohol licence but a year on nothing has been done. I will pass numerous flytips, groups of what I guess are jobless males who sit on the walls outside semi-decaying HMOs spitting out sunflower seed shells all over the pavement and shouting at passers by. I will dodge ebikes, scooters and push bikes powering down the pavement even though they are meant to be ridden on the road. Heaven help you if you challenge anyone as you leap out of their way. I did once and got a mouthful of foul abuse. Speaking of which a friend of mine asked a group of males who spend most of the day outside her corner shop to move so she could get through the door was told "go fuck yourself you old bitch cunt". When I get to the supermarket I have the choice of walking in via the back way past all the crack users or the front way past all the drinkers. I try to go before 3pm as by that time the fighting will have started. What really angers me is that young children are exposed to this blantatly illegal and anti-social behaviour on a daily basis as they see it on their way home from school. I used to report stuff to the police and the council but nothing changes apart from it getting worse. The local banks have of course closed down and one has homeless people bedding down in the doorway, they even had an open fire there at one time and were cooking on it! We have some ok cafes but you can be in there having a coffee and beggers sometimes come in and hassle people. I have even seen them walking into the road and knocking on car windows and asking for money. It feels desperate and scary

It’s labour run where I live and every single time people vote for them despite them doing nothing to improve the area. Potholes everywhere, police non existent. It’s a joke. I’ll never ever vote Labour and no, I will never vote reform either.

I think the real issue is widening inequality in our society. At the same time as our population has aged, the wealthiest have become incredibly wealthy. One of the reasons people are not having children is because they feel they can’t afford it. Perhaps the issue is not so much that there are more older people, but that more and more assets are concentrated in fewer hands, leaving most of us to scrap over the crumbs.
I don’t agree that the private sector is by definition better at running businesses. I don’t think the public sector was worse at running water companies than the private sector have turned out to be. I don’t recall there being poo in our rivers when I was a child. Some things should not be privatised, and I think basic state infrastructure is one of those things.

All very true. I live in a wealthy area and the volume of families jetting off on 3 or 4 expensive holidays a year, living in huge posh houses, driving very expensive cars, is enormous. While down the road in poorer towns teachers and nurses are struggling.

Part of the problem is we have too many shops that aren't needed.

My small town had far, far too many high street retail spaces for the modern world. It was based on shopping/buying as a major hobby - not something we should encourage. We should be trying to shop less and consume less. We don't need endless crappy tat shops or charity shops, or reams and reams of clothing stores for people to mindlessly browse.

We need the service providers you can't buy online. Restaurants and cafes. Hairdressers. Pharmacies. A small shop selling small/low value items where its not worth the cost or environmental impact of delivering - stationery, sweets, birthday cards, magazines.

I've love to see some every day food suppliers that aren't trying to target high margin/luxury. Our local butcher is extortionately expensive, drives round in a brand new range rover and has a huge house. I'd buy from a butcher if it was more every day and sold basics like beef mince, sausages and chicken fillets.

However I also think there's been a decline in the things we do need - community/public services. A library, doctors & dentists, opticians. Sports facilities/centres. Event spaces/small theatres to promote local music/drama/dance/comedy etc.

@CrispEater2000 yep - it’s like YTS for adults. Thing is in theory I can see it’s good to get people back to work and in the routine of it - the problem is most business owners would simply use it as a constant source of cheap labour and just keep replacing. After all ‘business’ (on the whole) is in it to make money , not deal with societal issues