Anyone else scared of what the future holds for this country?

[AdamRyan]

Trigger warning I guess for news avoiders.

I've been feeling very uneasy since the Brexit vote but it's now tipped into outright terror that a huge catastrophe is coming and I can't see how we can avoid it! Hopefully people can make me feel better....

So:
*energy bills going up and government borrowing obscene amounts of money to cap it

• also paying for the proxy war on Russia
• also still paying off covid costs
• companies struggling as not enough staff, lots appear to be on the bare bones and I suspect we'll see bankruptcies soon as they can't meet contractual obligations and have to pay out
• No plans for fixing staff shortages
• medicine shortages
• empty shelves in shops
• pound is tanking
• everyone striking as staff can't afford cost of living
• basic public services (transport, NHS, rubbish, roads etc) unreliable
• power insufficient - risk of black and brown outs
• inflation going up so interest rates rising too - increasing pressures on households
• more people using food banks and more homeless
• No trade deal with USA, out of EU so not benefitting from preferential energy deals they are negotiating with e.g. Norway
• Then to top it all off, climate change, droughts, storms, flooding getting increasingly more severe

At the same time, despite spending as if there is a magic money tree, the government is cutting taxes primarily on rich people and refusing to publish the maths so we don't know how much their actions are costing!

I'm genuinely fearful for the future of the country as well as the world! Cheer me up please....

🤔
That's a very different statement to everyone I know who works for the NHS in real life. They are all exhausted and scared the system is going to collapse.

I was at the poll tax riots where they burned the effigy of Thatcher.

Remember the poll tax?

Oh, I'd also like to say I love the UK and I'm also personally much better off from today's shitshow of a mini budget
But I hate seeing homeless on the streets, seeing our high streets empty and depressing, seeing friends and family struggling, being unable to get medical help for my SEN DS despite having the money to pay.
I also hate how divided we are as a country and how unempathetic so many seem to the plight of others. Its depressing. And not what I think of as British values.
Even if we get a change in government I worry the damage done in the last few years will be irreversible.

Also, the exchange rate!!! Wtf!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63009173

"Between Brexit, how far the Bank of England got behind the curve and now these fiscal policies, I think Britain will be remembered for having pursuing the worst macroeconomic policies of any major country in a long time."

I always wonder why people think it's that easy.
I have kids at school, extended family living here - and I also love so many things about the UK.
My kids are doing well and likely would contribute to society here the way DH and I do.
Don't be too quick to wish people away, the NHS, etc would crumble without its workers.

Too many public services and private businesses top heavy with incompetent idiots who are paid a lot of money for doing a shit show of a job.
If this were sorted we might have a stab at a half decent government, NHS, police force and education system.

Onthefencesitter

Thank you for taking the time to answer at length, but I still don’t understand why a British person would have a very different experience moving abroad than a Canadian or someone from Norway?
Is it that they would be considered less employable for some reason?

Shadypines do you completely deny that the problems in the public sector are related to funding and budget constraints?

I would add the suffragettes, holiday pay and a hell of a lot if things we take for granted but weren’t before.

The U.K. has a long history of protests and putting pressure on government to get a fairer deal. And it worked.

The difference between then and now is that the Unions have been decimated (thanks Tatcher) and people have been convinced it doesn’t work - as you are proving.
The reality - when you look at history - is showing a different picture Imo.

Too many public services and private businesses top heavy with incompetent idiots who are paid a lot of money for doing a shit show of a job. If this were sorted we might have a stab at a half decent government, NHS, police force and education system

Ive read that a few times now and no, that’s absolute nonsense. Who’s going to swoop in and run these organisations properly? You?

I too am very worried, I know so many families who are struggling and just can’t take any more financial pressure. There is a generally gloomy atmosphere everywhere and it all feels really grim. I graduated in the middle of the last financial crisis (the next one is brewing), now with Brexit and the fallout from the pandemic, I do worry about the future. Not just for myself as a single woman approaching middle age, but mostly for my DS and the younger generations who will come of age in the next decade and be expected to pay for all of us as we get older.

Today has made me more fearful and I was already pretty fearful

We are becoming a semi third world country as someone said eventually ending up on a par with somewhere like Turkey

I haven't read the whole thread. I've lived in Europe for a number of years and even if some aspects of life in certain countries aren't great, healthcare is so much better, free healthcare is there but for a really reasonable price you can have a dentist or doctor appointment within a week and have good treatment, so I honestly don't understand why people get so worked up about saving the NHS.

I lived abroad quite a bit before I had the kids. If they weren't in school, I'd be gone again. I can't see much good about this country anymore. We're all stressed a F**k, can't afford to destress and work all week for what?
I remember working abroad. We worked to live. Here, you live to work. The number of recent stabbings of young kids is also horrendous. The schools are in dire straits, as is the NHS. I am seriously worried about one of us getting ill.

Not sure how you think the IMF would help. Part of the Washington consensus that imposes neoliberalism policies far worse than tory policies on developing countries. Usual conditions include privatisation, for us likely the NHS. reduce the state, and often lead yo riots and greater poverty.
Remember in America the Democrats are about as right as the tories here, with republicans being further right.

I think we can stop giving them money. They all have their fingers in so many pies, under so many layers, it’s not really possible to find out where they get it, but shopping at small, independent businesses is the only recourse I can think of now. Ironically, I can’t now afford it, although I used to do it ten years ago.

@Pyewhacket what a stupid post- wouldn't be such a bad post if we were in the EU and many people actually had more options to vote with their feet. In case you haven't noticed unless you have incredibly in demand specialist skills for work or enough money to effectively 'buy' residency then leaving , rocking up somewhere and expecting to stay is nigh on impossible, especially if you need to work or out kids in school
Etc , plus pay for healthcare. We did actually leave pre withdrawal agreement but have come back- not because the UK is amazing but because the conditions to remain are a pain in the arse if non EU and now have a father who now needs someone around a lot more than when we left . You are deluded if you think many wouldn't sod off these days if it was easy to do so .

@Pyewhacket I'm sorry I don't think that's the case, I'm pretty sure emigration figures to Spain between 2010 and 2020 will be higher than Australia-

Australia is a huge move- one that's hard to reverse around too. It also has very specific immigration criteria- you can't just move there because you fancy a change of scene - we could Spain or Germany or France etc

I have actually lived in three different countries including the UK. Never thought I would see the day the UK is poorer than Poland for the average person either. Time will tell.

Absolutely. When you think eastern European men would travel here to work and support their families in Poland etc with better financial security than they'd have staying on Poland etc as family units.

I've also lived and worked in 3 European countries.

Pyewhacket is a Brexiteer. This is what they voted for. This is what they wanted.

The U.K. has a long history of protests and putting pressure on government to get a fairer deal. And it worked.

Asterix are you going to organise some protests?

We need to get out on the streets

The time is NOW

The Russians are waking up to Putin.

Eventually people in this country will wake up to the Tory's.

Many have stirred - soon they will act.

I think they'll have to.

👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

It sort of has a 'might as well be shot for a sheep as a lamb' feel about it, economically speaking ?
If you know the economy is going to be fucked for a while, and you are likely to lose power, then helping your friends and increasing your own interests is the morally repugnant fiscally sensible thing to do ?