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....

Just to point out that all the blitz spirit and life hacks as mentioned above were in response to Hitler. You know, Hitler.

That's how you think we need to handle this situation? Like dealing with a psychopathic megalomaniac?

Looking at the US, there are cities where the tap water is flammable due to a lack of environmental protections. Food standards are low because companies don’t have to prove safety, they can just sell things until and unless a lack of safety is proven - the opposite approach to that of the UK and EU. One city tried to go the route of super low taxation and everyone doing everything for themselves - the garbage wasn’t collected for a loooong time as a result, which led to a dangerous influx of bears! The lousy non-NHS system they have costs the US Govt more per head of population than the UK pays, and for worse outcomes than the UK plus only a small percentage of the US population are covered, everyone else either has to pay for private healthcare (at a far higher rate than we pay via tax for the NHS) or just go without healthcare and dentistry, and if they die, well it sucks to be them. I mean, it’s nuts. Yet many of the right here seem to think these are good examples to follow?!

with charter cities or investment zones having less regulations I forsee a P&o scenarios - sack your experienced expensive workforce & replace with cheap immigrant workforce who will work longer hours in worse conditions as less pesky H&s rules and build cheap / cramped accommodation exempt from planning rules for them to live in.

Charter cities are privately owned and operated cities where everything from health care, education… and the judicial system are not controlled by the State but by a private corporation accountable only to itself”. Imagine if a city like, say, Leeds, became a charter city. The corporation it was handed to would make and enforce the laws, determine what would be taught in schools, control access to healthcare. UK laws wouldn’t apply. Usual workers protections wouldn’t apply.

Would the workers be required to put in a few weeks each every summer harvesting crops in the surrounding fields? It's dishonest of the government to trumpet all of this as a brand spanking new British idea. Charter cities are actually modeled on North Korea.

Yes, that is the tragedy, that 52% of the population voted for this shit show. It was glaringly obvious in which direction it was going.

Actually, I don't agree, I don't think Brexit voters (the root of it all) will EVER change their mind and these voters are the ones keeping the Tories in power.

I agree about Brexit voters.

However all the seats they gained about their promises of Brexit money and levelling up are about to lose that funding and these are areas most likely to suffer most under this new budget.

I think there will be other areas that change as we've seen through the by elections earlier this year.

Even my Tory stronghold area is predicted to gain a 14% majority at next vote compared to the 67% of votes they usually get they are predicted to get 45%.

And we have Braverman. So an MP who is extremely liked by avid Tory's in this area because she's so right wing.

She could shit in the local park and they'd be posting about how shiny it is.

For the first time ever this year even some of her prominent posters who like her are questioning what the party are doing. The tone is changing.

People saying FO out the U.K., where do I go? I have no degree and just a normal vocational job. How do you leave?! I was born and raised in U.K. but I'd love to go elsewhere. I don't like what's happening to the place. I remember when a doctor would come to your house to help if you were too sick to see them, anytime of the day. Now my GP refuses to see anyone face to face unless you're literally dying, and recently they though dh was dying but instead of seeing him they just sent him up the hospital to be told he's fine just needs to do certain things to get better, which is what we thought, but doctor refused to see dh and examine him only had a phone call.

In all honesty, even before brexit many European countries had things in place to put 'foreigners' last when it came to job applications. It wasn't that easy before and now it's even more difficult.
I think Australia you have to have a lot of money to move too?

What I don't really understand is if we keep having people come in from very poor countries how can we stand a chance of sorting things out. It must be very expensive to keep constantly propping up people that aren't working and are already quite poor and untrained. I wish we could help everyone but I do think everyone in the U.K. has to suffer in order to achieve that? Also if we have the poor arriving on our doorstep everyday poverty levels will of course increase surely?

Recently there was a case where an illiterate shepherd made it here illegally but now he's applying for asylum. That cannot help the U.K. economy if we think how many of these people come here and won't really ever be net contributors or at least not for a very very long time.

Your doctor refuses to do face to face appointments unless the patient is 'literally' dying? Really?

My last post was asking @eucalyptustea if her GP was really refusing to see any patients unless they were 'literally' dying.

No I'm not scared at all.

@orangeisthenewpuce actually, I don't know even know if they see you if dying tbh, maybe not. My dh came close last year after they refused to see him and we ended up with a nice private healthcare bill and an operation because NHS GP thought prescribing heavy painkillers over the phone instead of any face to face appointment to check what's actually wrong was more appropriate so the problem got left too long. This year we've had another issue and dh got sent to hospital after a phone call with GP to be told he's fine, endless worry and the hospital agreed GP should have seen dh before automatically sending him there.

But my post isn't to argue about the state of my GP, only that it does appear there is a lot of strain on the system that wasn't there before. When we know there aren't enough resources to go around how can we possibly keep taking more people into the country. Regardless of income or who they are or what they do. Surely we need to be targeting the correct people for the resources that are lacking like many other countries do.
And also to ask, does anyone know where people FO to if they want to leave the U.K. I'd like to but I don't think it's as easy as getting on a plane and not coming back.

The NHS is under so much strain because of our ageing population & social care crisis. We now have more over 65s than under 15s & although life expectancy has increased healthy life expectancy hasn't. We actually need immigrants particularly as so many work in the NHS.

And also to ask, does anyone know where people FO to if they want to leave the U.K. I'd like to but I don't think it's as easy as getting on a plane and not coming back.

Luckily my parents are immigrants so my family has European passports so it depends on the person.

I think the prob is that Maggie Thatcher encouraged a service based economy so we provided banking and investment and insurance for the world.
What she didn't take into consideration was the corruption that happened in banking (RBS anyone?) so the upshot was that was seriously damaged - whilst the bankers sauntered off the taxpayer paid for it.

So we were in trouble even then 2008, we haven't recovered from that due to Covid and Brexit.

But my DCs are mid 30s now and they and they're former classmates and uni mates are all doing very well. Well paid but demanding jobs. A large chunk of the economy is doing fine thanks.
Plus we have really low unemployment - so a lot of people are doing ok.

We stopped investing in manufacturing industry - I'm hoping that we can build that and improve and expand our many successful companies.

I don't think we're done yet.

It's the development of so many new tests and examinations - ultrasound and various scans, blood tests much more accurate and available for everything under the sun, heart bypasses safe enough to be done on 80 year olds.

I think some publicity should be given (on phone in programmes for example) to encourage older people to make sure the money is there or the plans are there for when they are no longer able to manage their life and home.

@rockyg yes but surely that's not a 'U.K. only' citizen that would be the situation for someone with dual nationality which obviously would have always applied before or after brexit and also someone with dual nationality will probably find it easier than a non citizen who has simply moved to a country to find employment.

Someone on here said get on a plane and leave unless that PP didn't realise it's only people with solely British citizenship who can't leave that easily.

I think the prob is that Maggie Thatcher encouraged a service based economy so we provided banking and investment and insurance for the world.

Yes & her policies is why businesses rather than investing in workforce encouraged profits back to shareholders.

We never really recovered from 08, which is part of the problem.

I'm struggling to see how you are not in the top 3% and yet you can afford private school - so where does the income come from? I know many people who have been disappointed with our local schools and some have a similar experience of their kids being severely assaulted but they could not afford the private school option.

I think some publicity should be given (on phone in programmes for example) to encourage older people to make sure the money is there or the plans are there for when they are no longer able to manage their life and home.

I actually thought the h&s tax for all workers was a good proposal. I think we need it & the burden does need to be spread.

@eucalyptustea that poster was clearly an idiot. But as I said it does depend on the person, I'm a Londoner, virtually everyone I know is a 2nd gen immigrant like me. Obviously we will find it easier to FO than others.

I can't speak for the way the world is going, but I am not 'scared' about the country because there are always swings back and forth. Sometimes it takes a good lot of noise to get a ruling party to get the message.

A ruling party once introduced the 'poll tax', and subsequently withdrew it. Sadly, there was a good aspect to it which was lost in the subsequent rearrangements.

I'm sure this isn't you, but in real life everyone I know with this attitude is always the first the criticise male asylum seekers for abandoning their country when they should stay and fight for it.

I know I literally don't know a single nhs worker, teacher or social worker who would ever vote conservative.

I live in a Labour stronghold and in clearly in a left-wing bubble but sometimes i wonder who actually is voting for them!

We're doing the same - DH has applied for his Irish passport. When DD has finished A'Levels, we plan to emigrate to Europe. We have encouraged both our children to learn languages and to think about living elsewhere. This govt is run by hedge funders and billionaires - just look at its links with think-tanks such as the Institute of Economic Affairs (who keep their funding opaque). The thought of charter cities is spine-chilling. BBC news is not able to report the facts squarely because it too, is dependent on govt funding.

@rockyg the whole of the U.K. is not in London. I don't know any dual citizens. I would like to leave. I feel like dual citizenship have a lot of advantages over someone born here with no choice. Other countries do not allow this. They allow dual citizenship but not for locals to be disadvantaged.