Is it really that bad in the UK?

[BlastedPimples]

I don't live in U.K. anymore but was over visiting at the weekend for a wedding.

So lovely to catch up with people I'd not seen for yonks.

BUT every single person I chatted to was so gloomy about the state of the U.K. All professionals (civil servant, TV producer, charity head for example) so perhaps protected from some of the poverty.

I have never heard people express such pessimism even with the approaching GE.

Is it really that bad?

We’ll see, won’t we.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13564893/Shocking-lack-NHS-care-revealed-E-nurses-laugh-not-hitting-targets-patient-waits-46-HOURS-attention-undercover-footage-leaves-stroke-expert-disbelief-unacceptable-practices.html

I hear "broken Britain" a lot. And I don't challenge it, because everywhere you look that appears to be true - NHS is broken (irretrievably, in my view), public transport is broken, education is broken, health care is broken, our rivers are flooded with sewage. And there really is no money to fix any of it.

I agree, those sort of professions are the type that are now feeling the pinch. On paper you'd think they have good salaries and should live a comfortable lifestyle but realistically it doesn't go half as far as it used to with the rising cost of living and house prices.

Yes, its shit.

My seven year old is on a TWO YEAR waiting list for a condition which can be resolved fairly easily if treated quickly but will be completely entrenched and very difficult to resolve after two fucking years. This condition will significantly and detrimentally affect his life and ability to make friendships and have a social life if not resolved.

The NHS is shit if you need planned care. Social Care is struggling to meet anything other than the most severe needs. Ditto Mental Health services. Public transport is weak in many areas and expensive. Housing is outrageously expenses. Schools are under-resourced and overstretched, especially for kids with additional needs. Teachers at my kids schools are quite open about how they cannot meet the needs of the kids in their classroom who need additional support.

None of these are inevitable problems. They are a result of choices that have been made by governments over decades ( so not just the Tories fault). Things never needed to be this bad.

It's not a great time to be British - that's for sure. Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster, as many foretold that it would be. Our economy is in the doldrums, thanks to Brexit and the excessive spending related to the pandemic, and that won't change in foreseeable future. The roads are full of potholes, councils have had to cut loads of services in things that impact people personally, parts of the NHS are struggling, lots of people can't find a dentist or get a GP appointment easily, teachers are demoralised and leaving the profession, which is impacting DC and our future as a country, everything costs more and you get less. Yes, it's a pretty shit time!

I think it's definitely a difficult time for lots of reasons, but British people do seem particularly pessimistic and negative considering that many people in the world have it objectively harder and are happier.

I always think the weather is a great example. We have undoubtedly had an unusual amount of rain this year and this forum was full of people moaning about it. When the weather began to improve and the sun came out, it wasn't warm enough and people complained. Finally we have some real warmth and already there is a thread lamenting the 'horrible heat'. It's bonkers really!

I have come to the conclusion that the UK is a bit of a compromise country and the weather typifies this. The four seasons mean that most people will endure an extended period of weather that they don't like but will also get some weather that is to their preference. It's not like Dubai or Canada for example, where the extremes would force people that don't like hot/cold weather to move to a climate that better suits them. So instead you get a significant proportion of the population at any one time of the year moaning about the weather and being unhappy.

The same goes with the welfare state (better funded than most but not the best funded), healthcare, education etc. People aren't unhappy enough to actually emigrate and I think many secretly know that they would struggle to get better abroad so instead they stay here and moan. I wish these people would be forced to put their money where their mouth is and go abroad to seek the better existence they feel they deserve. They may well be happier and it would save the rest of us from listening to their incessant moaning.

I haven't seen my GP in person since before the Pandemic. It's pretty much impossible to get an appointment.
The Tories have decimated our public services, largely because most of them will never have to use them ('anyone on a bus over 30 is a loser at life') and Brexit has made everything 10 times worse. Plus the toxic Brexit debate helped turn all political debate in this country now into a 'my dad's bigger than your dad' tribal battle.

Yes. I live in London. The crime is up. Impossible to get a GP appointment. Everything is deteriorating. The taxes are going up and your freedom is going down. I hate tories and really worry about Labour. I'm constantly thinking how I can protect my little assets and my child's future. I hate current political class for putting me into this position.

Life in the UK in general is pretty crap ATM. Everything has gone up; energy, food, services. Lots of people are currently getting up, going to work every day and have very little to show for it as most of their income is swallowed just by living.

The NHS is a state, for some conditions your choice is waiting and suffering for years or paying for private treatment. Despite the election, no one really has any answers for how they will solve the state of the NHS. Dental treatment is in an even worse state and again there seems to be no solution to ensuring people can access NHS dentists.

Most water companies are flushing sewerage into our seas and beaches.

Housing costs are astronomical. It's very expensive to buy and prices are rising across many parts of the UK. Renting is incredibly expensive and competition for rents is high. People renting feel insecure in their homes as landlords are putting rents up as their costs increase and government policy changes, but the level of competition means room for negotiation is small.

The cost of childcare is extortionate and in some.places in the UK it is limited. Summer is approaching and many working parents will be hunting for holiday clubs. Around us 3 of the main providers have folded due to increased costs and lack of uptake last year, others are offering limited days or times. One provider opened their booking on Monday morning at 9 and posted online at 10 they were completely full. They are the biggest and offer 8-4, they had 25 spaces for a town that is able to support 8 schools of which 2 are 3 form. In total there are 6 providers offering holiday child care in our town, most have only 15 spaces and are running 10-3.30. For some people they are facing muddling though the summer holidays with children in the background whilst pulling in endless favours from family, friends and other mums.

In some parts of the UK, it has rained and been grey 3 out of 7 days of almost every week of the year since october.

If you are a woman, rights to women only spaces are been infringed upon. Women's safety is largely ignored. There are some in power or who are about to be in power who believe anyone can decide they are a woman and therefore trample all over women's spaces. Some healthcare trusts would prefer to call their female patients "people with a cervix", "people who menstruate", "people with a womb" rather than call them female. This is hugely undignified for women.

Even with an upcoming election, there are so many people who do not feel heard or represented by the parties. So many people are disenfranchised. Then there is the huge swing to the right parts of Europe are seeing happening.

I have never heard people express such pessimism even with the approaching GE.

That's because there are no good options for vote for. Labour are about to get a landslide apparently, but I don't sense any real enthusiasm for Starmer, Rayner, etc. It isn't like 1997, when people were actively voting FOR a Labour govt, this time Labour will win because people are voting AGAINST the Conservatives. But we all know that things won't get better with a different government and personally, I know my family will be a lot worse off under Labour.

Yes UK has gone to shit sadly we have had years of both labour and tories equally fucking things up and then spending time in power blaming the other.

We are over run with illegal immigrants that seem to think the UK is their golden ticket to freebies despite leaving many safer European countries to try and cross the channel to the UK I think that's personally getting a lot of peoples backs up right now when we are struggling with housing crisis healthcare and food banks it shouldn't be like this many people work hard and yet wages barely cover the bills these days.
You've only got to look at the news to see the effects this is having many areas.

Too many companies have been allowed to keep charging excess amounts despite being ££££ in profit.

I can see why those who can are leaving the UK something I'm closely keeping an eye on for my own family if things continued to decline.

Every thing is really expensive, even food. And don't think of buying a house that needs work - labour and materials are astronomical.

I thibk it is. NHS falling apart, people put in dangerous/negligent situations as not enough staff. Have to approach getting a GP appointment like mastermind and try and think of ways to fool the system that will just constantly say nothing available or call 111 as all appointments taken up by chronically unwell and health anxiety patients. Roads literally crumbling and potholes on every road. Motorways dangerous due to introduction of smart motorways that they're now trting to reverse engineer. Immigration seemingly out of control, stoking racism and intolerance. Feral gangs of teens in every large town or city causing trouble. No one takes responsibility, everyone out for themselves. You can see this in shops and public transport where everyone thibks its fine to blare out their phone calls and whatever they are watching. Major train stations like Euston often completely fail.

I really think we've hit a low point as a country and a society and for the first time in mynlife, I'd rather live somewhere else.

Wages have stagnated for decades but many didn’t notice as low interest rates boosted assets so people felt rich. Now that facade has been stripped away. A lot of the issue is due to housing costs but I’m not how you fix that.

Pessimism and cynicism are national characteristics, so I’d never expect much jollity, but, yeah, things haven’t been great lately.

They have more ideas than the Tories who are now a totally busted flush.

Not from UK so don't feel I can comment but there is a really interesting show/podcast on the abc ( Australian Broadcasting Corporation) called "Who Broke Britain? ". I have watched episode 1 called " Austerity". Episode 2 is just out as well discussing Brexit. Just a thought as it seems very well researched but obviously from a non-UK point of view. Only 18 minutes each episode. May have some new info for you.
I have a sad feeling that most of the world feels a bit broken at the moment. The 2020's do not seem like they are going to go down as glorious times worldwide unfortunately.

When I compare it to 15 years ago, yes, it really is that bad. If I lived elsewhere I wouldn’t consider moving back here.

No, British people just like to moan. I'm on a low income and have multiple health issues, kids, live in social housing and getting by just fine. My kids are enjoying school and getting a good education. I have no issues with getting medication or access to good healthy food.

Lots of us said this would happen in 2016 and we were spot on but labelled ‘project fear’

my family is doing great. high earning, educated, healthy, opportunities for my children. I have always voted with others in mind who unfortunately voted against their own best interests, so really what can you do?

Yes it’s really that bad. Healthcare system is broken, dentistry is pretty much non existent unless you can afford to pay privately, public services have been cut back so much they can barely function, mental health services stretched so much that people can’t get the help they need and food is so expensive that an increasing number of working people have to rely on food banks to eat. On top of that there is raw sewage being dumped in the rivers and seas.

There's always been a strange malaise about the UK. You have to get out to see it. But one thing that has definitely changed for the worse is how impersonal it's become, and how wedded everything is to The System.

I was back last year as a family member was very ill. I visited him in hospital. It was lovely and he was being very well looked after in a gleaming, new-looking NHS hospital.

On my way in I saw someone had dropped an ice cream in the stairwell. On my way out I saw that someone had put out a warning sign but hadn't cleared up the mess. Two days later I visited again. Sign, and the dried, brown ice cream were still there. It's very symbolic to me: a simple job is replaced with a bizarre workaround because Reasons, and that's the UK today.

It’s the worst I’ve ever seen. Even the credit crash didn’t feel as bad as things are now : (

We aren’t war torn, I think people are being dramatic.

It's a bit grim, we're very over crowded and all our services are suffering as a result. Too many people for the current infrastructure.