So what in the UK DOES work really well? I can't think of much!

[QueenofTheBorg]

HMRC are turning their phones off in a minute
The roads are a state almost everywhere
The NHS is underfunded and broken
Schools are crumbling, there aren't enough teachers, unsurprisingly
Railways and a lot of public transport doesn't work well
Councils are able to go bankrupt, I'm not sure how or why
Shoplifting is rarely prosecuted
Rape is pretty much a non crime, the prosecution rate is so low
The police are misogynistic and don't respond to many crimes (shoplifting for eg)
Food prices are ridiculous, as are petrol prices
The cost of living crisis has affected millions
Interest rates mean lots of people can't afford their houses
There are strikes left right and centre
Prisons are nearly full
Courts are backlogged by cases anyway
There's not enough support for anyone with mental health issues

Nothing seems to work does it?

Or are there some things that work amazingly well in the UK? If so, what?

Is this years of Tory underinvestment in infrastructure? Some of this I think is due to the Ukraine war but not all of it. What do you think?

I'm loving the positivity here.

Having lived abroad I find it perplexing at times how much Brits slag off their own country.

The grass isn't greener!

We have a really good safety net. Very little street homelessness/rooflessness. Apart from failed asylum seekers everyone is entitled to enough Universal credit for a roof over their head and food. We don't have any slums or shanty towns or trailer parks as permanent accommodation or people living in their cars.

The UK has a fabulous history of feminist activism. So many of the key thinkers are/were based in the UK. Women are more equal here than most of the world.

There is a lot of cultural freedom. Free speech etc not just in law but in custom- we can wear what we want, do what we want within reason and society is accepting of difference.

Disability rights are great. Legal protection and lots of accessibility to services and facilities.

The climate. No natural disasters. Our houses will mostly stand for centuries.

It's easy to set up a business. There is little red tape.

We have embraced new technology- especially deliveries & banking.

Everything we cook in ovens.

Our kitchens- sometimes 2 ovens/agas/ranges not so uncommon. Huge fridges/freezers. Lots of worktops & gadgets.

Kettles.

Toasters.

Mumsnet!!

I don't know where you live but here we've had yellow water followed by a lot of gastric issues and TWICE in the last year had water bottles given out because sewage flowed into the mains water. We will be paying extra for this service in the next few months.

@cordeliachaseatemyhandbag, I agree with most of that but not this bit.

We have a really good safety net. Very little street homelessness/rooflessness. Apart from failed asylum seekers everyone is entitled to enough Universal credit for a roof over their head and food. We don't have any slums or shanty towns or trailer parks as permanent accommodation or people living in their cars.

Do you live in a city? I live in London and recently spent a few days in Birmingham. Rough sleepers are now a permanent fixture in the centre of London, and we saw many in Brum as well. This has gone up a lot in the last few years, having dropped under the Labour government in the 00s.

I also think there are a lot of people who are effectively homeless as they are sofa surfing or moving from one short-term let to another. Some people on low incomes do buy mobile homes as a solution, even though those aren't supposed to be permanent dwellings. We have a huge housing problem which is not being addressed.

I have a long term health condition and the nurses I see are amazing. If I leave them a message, they will call me back within 24-48 hours and will fit in extra appointments if needed.

I agree about the NHS being in a dire state but there are small pockets of it that are absolutely fantastic.

Our homeless charity is having to shut down after nearly 50 years - there's literally a tent on the side of the road as you come in to our town. Homeless people begging all the time for the last 10 years. Used to be buskers on the street corners.

Agree and would add:
-- RNLI
astounds me the risks those volunteers take.

I would love to agree with the suggestions of 'seaside' and 'countryside', but the sewage discharge in our rivers and sea has changed all of that for me.

Someone has pitched a tent on the grass next to the car park at the seafront where I live. I assumed it was cheeky wildcamping but apparently had been there 3 weeks....

Another guy is living in the park in a van. This is a poxy small town, not the big city.

Sucks.

The mention of the RNLI made me think of our local air ambulances. I don’t have first-hand experience of them but they seem to be very good. They co-ordinate their helicopters with those of a neighbouring county, and these days they have a helipad at our local hospital. I think it’s awful that the air ambulance service doesn’t get any government funding and has to rely on charity donations.

Such a very interesting thread.

Between all the posts here on this thread, we are describing a pretty decent place to live. Please don't lose sight of this. Most things work, most of the time. And when it doesn't work, if we make enough noise, attention is paid. But people come here to post when they are stressed and need to vent frustrations anonymously without upsetting the routine equilibrium of their own life. It distorts the reality negatively. There is no Utopia.

We're Scottish and my daughter works everyday with hundreds of different people of different nationalities.
She says that us Brits are the most passive-aggressive by far!

We're good at swearing, apologising, and not getting shot.

We all know we aren't living in a 3rd world country. The problem comes when you see how far behind countries we have fallen in the last 14 years; the avoidable political choices that have made millions of people's lives harder for no discernible reason. The fall in living standards, rolling backwards on homelessness, the NHS and public service cuts, the lack of progression... We shouldn't be here.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/what-have-fourteen-years-of-conservative-rule-done-to-britain

Milk (dairy is so good!)
BBC Radio
The Royal Horticultural Society
English Sparkling Wine (new, and so so delicious)
Dry wit (that isn't really a thing elsewhere)
Classic tabby cats
Legs of lamb

Not much loving the current growth industries of racism, huge cars, disposable vapes and litter.

Air ambulance England don't actually want proper government funding IIRC, though they do receive some NHS cash for specific jobs.

Being an independent charity rather than part of the NHS means that they're immune from cuts/efficiency/cost saving measures, and in particular they don't have to prove that they provide QALY value for money comparable with fitting stents/HPV jabs/insulin pumps: a comparison which they'd struggle with.

They do receive Gift Aid in proportion to the public's/sponsor's willingness to donate, which is a pretty sizeable share of their budget.

Garden centres.
National Trust.
Country pubs.

Public transport where I live.

@TempersFuggit yes that wonderful charity that is basically a migrant transporting facility. The migrants get to sea and call them!! I used to contribute to them but have stopped it. Just another example of farcical Britain

The last post is a shocking slur on the RNLI and its brave volunteer crews. Reported.

Last year I spent 3 weeks in hospital with pneumonia, followed almost immediately by pleurisy.

Despite all the horror stories, I received excellent care, starting with the ambulance crew who arrived and blue-lighted me in.

I am still profoundly grateful.

Agreed.

The UK is world leading in many areas of science research.

Some of these answers are a bit rose-tinted - libraries and pubs have both been closing down at an alarming rate for the past decade.

The film and TV industry treats a lot of people who work in it like shit - try talking to an average scriptwriter (rather than someone famous who has executive control) about the amount of work they expect you to do before commissioning/paying you, and then the unreasonable demands once they have.

And as for football - yes, the Premier League has the reputation as being the best in Europe and insane amounts of money involved, but look at the hissy fit the clubs had when they were asked to sign an agreement to allow some of that wealth to filter down to support grassroots football. And that's before you consider the way that the UK government has courted all the overseas investment eg state-owned clubs. They are all money-grubbing arseholes.

Oh absolutely this! And banking in UK light years ahead oF banking in Spain, France (seriously- bank opening hours 9 til 2???)

Can you explain your thing about banking opening hours? They're seriously declining in the UK now. Branches closing down completely all over the place. Saturdays opening hours no longer a thing. Counters closing at 3.30pm. Can't open or close certain types of bank account just by going to a branch on spec now. Whole rigmarole involved in it, booking appointments a few weeks ahead etc, even video ones for some types of account. Bloody ridiculous.