To be fed up of the constant bashing of the UK?

Take them to Marseille, walk the back streets and then you can start the bashing. ‘Gosh, can you imagine, who would think the South of France was like this’. Then when they tell you to stop being ridiculous, you can say it ‘touché ‘.

My brother moved to Switzerland and we visit him a lot as we can stay with him for free. He left because he is hugely successful. I always feel that way too about the UK when I visit Switzerland, not so much when we stop over in parts of Northern France. Then I tend to think we are quite lucky in London.
Switzerland is currently far superior on an objective basis for the majority of the population there compared to the U.K.. Hard to argue with it really. And I live in London and have a good quality of life. The problem is really that in the 90s up to the 2008 financial crash there was a real buzz in the U.K. and it had a positive vibe. That went. Switzerland has 30 per cent foreign born largely contributing internationals now and there is a buzz there. It was like that in London in the 90s. Everyone likes feeling part of a successful country that is in a good place.

Err, because by a lot of comparisons the UK isn’t a desirable place to live in. Overcrowded and unaffordable with people working to their bones yet nothing to show for it. The NHS is on its knees - why wait more than 4 weeks for a knee replacement and 6 week wait time for cancer surgery??! It’s a shithole where you can’t get anything done yet pay through the nose to live in it. Zero work life balance among other things. Loss of soft power in the wider world, career politicians who climb the greasy pole regardless of who voted them in, the government would rather see it’s citizens shot than „negotiating with terrorists“, yadayada..

Go fly you’re St. George‘s flag but don’t expect others to see England in the same light you do. The grass isn’t always greener but there’s not much than comes to mind albeit from next day delivery (on the back of the people who work to get items to you) that would set England apart in a good way.

Tell them you'd rather be in a rundown town than live off Nazi gold.

Ask them when they are emigrating.

I am always so happy to get home after a holiday - I love the UK, even though it’s got some difficult bits and there are some problems that need working though in some areas.

also where you live is not just about graffiti or street sweeping or smashed windows. It’s about people and I have found overwhelmingly that the British and those who live here long term, make the UK more amazing than just cleanliness. We have humour and sarcasm and satire and stiff upper lip. Our pubs are brilliant, we’re friendly without being mugs. And we don’t riot for nothing or down tools after 35 hours work or strike endlessly.

yes yes, there are some strikes and I don’t disagree with most of them. But Geez. Thank God we’re not French…

I meant they’re not wrong, most of the UK is run down and pretty dirty, but if you’re on holiday somewhere as upmarket as you say you are then it’s not a fair comparison.

I live in England OP. I get fed up with it too.

On Christmas day I cooked a beautiful meal, lovely British food, then went with friends to walk the local lanes. Biting cold but glorious sunshine, Beautiful woods and valleys.
The air was clean, there was no traffic. It was quiet and peaceful. We saw deer & kestrels. I'm happy with my surroundings regardless of what others think.

"Not sure it matters but these are left leaning people too, not people desperate to criticise the country as a way of voicing political criticism."

George Orwell may have disagreed with that ;)

OP has already said they are left wing 🙄

As someone in their mid 50s I am afraid the huge drop in living standards, in international power, in respect and in public services that this country has experienced is so palpable its hard not to notice the contrast. We are a shadow of what we were 40 years ago. I can see why people would feel this way.

Having said that, constant negativity is futile, self defeating and tedious so people owe it to themselves to find positivity where they can and keep moving forward.

I think a lot of it is driven by the SM onslaught organised by the far right / Farage's lot, It's all over social media, and pumped with misinformation too.

But yeah, pretty dim to compare where you live with an elite / idyllic location in Switzerland.

Even Switzerland has down at heel suburbs of Geneva and Zurich, for example.

And are they rejoicing at the price of a beer and a meal in Switzerland?

keep calling them Nigel, or Farage… that’ll sort them. Ask them if they need another flag to hang from a lamppost to show their right wing credentials

Oh Christ! Switzerland is incomparable to pretty much anywhere else in the world!

tell them they’re sounding like raging snobs and you’re tired of the negativity. You have come away for a lovely indulgent break and they are ruining it.

you won’t be coming away with them again.

I dunno, complaining about Britain is the height of Britishness imo 😄

Northern girl here too.
Just a comment to the OP...we are not all pedantic idiots like 821, and I agree there is too much UK bashing.

Fed up of is fine, weird contribution to the thread.

OP, spend time with different people when you get back.
Constant lowering in standard of living is hard to deal with in UK but it's rarely a major topic of conversation among the people I hang out with (including family)

smallish town in the midlands

that's not the entire UK, is it?

maybe the place where they are now IS a lot better than the old town in the Midlands.

Comparison with countries which are pretty much neighbours, and not some utopian paradise, does show how bad the UK is to be fair. Our standards of living are shockingly low. It becomes more obvious when you are abroad