Are things in the UK as bad as it sounds in the news?

[Lolobella]

I left the UK in 2017 and now live in Europe. I obviously still follow the UK news closely and visit, although I have no family left there.

In the last few months the UK news have become increasingly grim and concerning. I can't tell if it is just the news painting the country in a worse light than necessary, or if things are genuinely as bad as the news make it sound.

Obviously this is a tough historical moment for many countries, but the doom and gloom in UK news is just on another level and makes if sound like the country is in free fall. Poverty, strikes, crazy energy prices, failing NHS and public services.. Is it really so bad?!

Blimey you are overinvested. Dial it back.

it didn’t matter what the farmers paid because noone wanted to do the job
I wouldnt mind a bit of outdoor work, couple of mornings a week, as long as the pay was decent and it was within walking distance (cant afford to run a car & not safe to cycle in the roads)

@Soothsayer1 does not work like that. Crops are seasonal and need long hours of work when they are ready to pick.

I guess that explains why no one will do the work...only those who have no other options will do it, ie illegal workers?
Whats the solution...or do the govt crush us till we're so poor & wretched that we toil in the fields or starve?

Whats the solution...or do the govt crush us till we're so poor & wretched that we toil in the fields or starve?

I don’t know. Ask Jacob Rees Mogg.

Maybe he has the answer.

Im in the same situation as you. I've said this, and others have said it to me. It's basically a way of filling 24 hour news channels now no-ones talking about covid anymore.

We ought to have minimum wage legislation, so people could earn a decent wage.

Why hasn't anyone thought of that?

I feel that a combo of Brexit, Covid and corrupt government have gotten us to this point.

In Britain things that I’ve taken for granted all my life (ok healthcare, ability to travel around, reliable postal service, government of decent people who will do the honorable thing if they cock up) are no longer working.

At this point I feel like a hostage, can’t move to another country in Europe easily if I don’t like it, in fact this week I could not even have left the UK or traveled across it between the snow and the rail strikes, so I just get to stay here paying £100 a week to heat my home - we are being extorted.

Another bonkers comment. What even is a "martyr of the combi boiler"?

I don't do media but I think it's the case that if you or your loved ones have any health problems, this is a scary time. That's leaving aside financial problems.

I realise everything goes through cycles, but in healthcare terms, this is the worst I have seen.

What happened before was there were seasonal workers who travelled across countries and followed the crops. If you are fit and young you can make good money. Brexit stopped this for the UK.

It is awful, and I personally feel hopeless at the fact people are attacking each other instead of lifting each other up and opening eyes at the powers that be fuelling the problems

If it's not clear I don't mean the strikers, asylum seekers, people shoved deeper into poverty. None of those people are to blame - but seems they're copping the brunt of it.

I'm ashamed and embarrassed, also glad that the world can see the country for what it is atm, wish voters would take a long hard look at themselves, what they really stand for and who they're shouting at.

It is one of the Tories great successes - persuading the whole country that the other half of the country is to blame. Or asylum seekers. Or the poor. Or feckless benefit scroungers.

Everyone's so busy blaming someone else, when the blame lies fully at the door of this vicious, cruel, incompetent government.

My 50 pence worth is things are doom and gloom in the UK at the moment, but it's generally bad everywhere at the moment (EU, US, Australia) but measured by different parameters of problems in different problems in each country, so that some countries are doing better than others in some problems but worse in other problems than other countries. Covid has truly screwed the world over all in all though. Seems to have messed up the worldwide supply chain. Russia then compounded things.

Here in the UK the government has undoubtedly failed the NHS. It's on its knees. I know from first hand as I used to works in a sector that did consultancy work for the NHS and I saw how bad it is, but luckily my immediate family are in decent health so it's not affected us so much as such.

Politics is a mess at the moment though - Tory, Labour, SNP, the whole lot. No joined up thinking from them, just political point scoring and hindsight thinking.

I do think some people having problems have their own money management to blame for their own problems today however. No one seems to save for a rainy day anymore. It's spend today gone tomorrow. Anyone with common sense would have seen things would be tough in the near future after the country got into debt to pay for furlough but yet everyone went out after lockdown going on holidays, car finance, etc. Before covid even people stretched themselves too far financially on mortgages, having lots of kids, brand new car car finances, going on holidays, maxing on credit cards, having the latest gadgets instead of sensibly putting money away. We rent, have one child, no credit cards or car finance plans, and do UK holidays. We have always looked to put money away for a rainy day. This year is the rainy day and we are able to dip into the savings now things are tight. It seems a lot of people have stretched themselves too far financially to me and dined out too much during the good times instead of putting money away.

If anyone was still wondering, this attitude is what's depressing

We haven’t even got a government any more, just a shambolic bunch of fuckwits fighting like rats in a sack.

Stands to reason if those are the people running the country, it’s not going to go well.

To add a little more context to my issue and the point I was trying to make is this:

The NHS is on its knees. We all know this. We need skilled professionals to come here. Some of the best doctors and medics I have seen have come from all over the world. I take no issue with this.

The difference is when I am employed oversees, I do not expect any handouts or to use the services of that country for free. If I want to see a doctor, dentist, need vaccinations, accommodation etc. I pay for it.

How many can genuinely say the same when they come here?

@dollytot don't know what you want me to say. Your added context is still depressing to me.

You've spoken about illegal immigrants in pp, people providing cheap labour (the bastards for being exploited by businesses!!) and also now saying other than doctors or such skills people that travel here only do so for the free ride.

While I admit Britain can be much more forgiving in what it provides people than other countries, I don't begrudge the people that come here and work and also make use of those services. Just because they're not doing the jobs you think they should be doing.

My point in my post is this exact blaming of peers means that the people that can actually FIX THE NHS get away with rinsing it more because no one's looking at them. They're looking at the 'little boats' and shouting at them.

@dollytot also ever maybe think that even those highly skilled doctors that have met your standards might feel unwelcome by the 'lazy foreigner' sentiment they witness, just because you don't specifically mean them.

You've spoken about illegal immigrants in pp, people providing cheap labour (the bastards for being exploited by businesses!!) and also now saying other than doctors or such skills people that travel here only do so for the free ride.

Where on earth did I say this?

might feel unwelcome by the 'lazy foreigner' sentiment they witness

Again, these are your assumptions.

@dollytot
"Let me make this very clear. In my first post, I was actually referencing illegal immigrants who come here and have no right to be here.

But if you want to really get into it, of course we need people who are professionals who come here and work. I am all for nurses, doctors, dentists, teachers etc etc coming over and using their skills. No problem with that.

But what I take issue is with people who come here doing jobs for very low pay"

This is what you said?

Which countries overseas are you talking about? Is it a country where the other citizens also pay for doctors, dentists etc? If so, then well done you for doing in Rome as the Romans do, but it’s also standard and nothing special if it’s the rules of the land.

How many can genuinely say the same when they come here?

The difference it seems is that the UK offers free dentist, Doctor etc. So, if people are entitled to those services for free then why should they pay for them?

And it goes back to Empire history. Where do you think the UK has derived its wealth from in the first place?! That might be a good starting point for you…

@dollytot
"The difference is when I am employed oversees, I do not expect any handouts or to use the services of that country for free. If I want to see a doctor, dentist, need vaccinations, accommodation etc. I pay for it.

How many can genuinely say the same when they come here?"

Again: these are things you've said? How many people that move here aren't here just for the free handouts isn't something I'm assuming you believe. You're implying it

Yes, and I also said that I want the government to make these jobs higher paid for British workers.

@dollytot ”But what I take issue is with people who come here doing jobs for very low pay”

Care work is low paid, but essential.
Cleaner work is low paid, but essential.
Fruit and veg picking is low paid, but essential.

The UK still needs people to do low paid work. So why do you have issues with people who come here to do those essential low paid jobs?

Lots of countries are having a tough time. I think Brexit, the combination of austerity and siphoning off of money, the Truss/Kwarteng budget, the continual blatant lying, corruption and lack of accountability make our situation much worse than it should be. Our response to covid wasn't great which led to longer lockdowns and greater pressure on NHS. Our response now has led to many losing jobs, education, health, quality of life and facing longer term issues. So many people are sick or waiting for treatment for all sorts too. It seems very divided here - anything from Brexit, covid, NHS, strikes, immigration etc. Yep it's depressing.

Everything is back to front, so you're say 'unpatriotic' if you care about your country but saw Brexit as a bad decision. You're told to take personal responsibility for covid, but then forced to work or study all day alongside people with covid. There are lots of strikes planned under this government, but somehow Labour are to blame. A loose hypothesis is presented as fact, yet countless scientific studies aren't mentioned. Much of what the government or papers say feels like it needs a running fact check. There is little - if any - accountability for the stream of blatant and deliberate lies.