Reality of life in UK under current government

[Melisha]

I think people need reminding of what life is currently like in the UK and did not used to be the case.

1. Potholes galore. Every time I drive I am trying to avoid potholes.
2. Our local river keeps getting sewage discharged into it.
3. Our local beach is no longer safe to swim in because of sewage.
4. We have more street homelessness than I have ever seen in my life time, and I am old.
5. More local food banks than ever before.
6. More litter and less street sweeping.
7. Much longer queues at A and E and queues of ambulances outside.
8. Long waits for operations. I have been waiting 16 months for a gallbladder operation.
9. Shoplifting way up. I live in a well off area and yet have seen people blatantly shoplifting in front of staff. I never saw this ever until a year ago.
10. Rape practically legal as conviction rate is tiny.

Please add your own.

and will this change under a Labour government, time will tell, how much time?

Raining almost every day.

@Unphased You have zero ambitions for our country? Bloody hell.
Big business and ex Conservative major donors are giving to Labour because they are the only ones with credible policies to bring about a strong economy.

Labour have been in power here in Wales for a long time. It’s not better.

I really do want the best for this country, but there is just so much to sort out, which will take time, what exactly are the credible polices Labour have for growth?

May heaven preserve your innocence, my child.

I am not a general Labour supporter. I have voted conservative. I am not voting Labour generally. I am voting for Starmer's Labour.

@BrigadierEtienneGerard I understand economic policy. I understand what Labour are proposing and that it will improve the economy. I also understand that everything the Current conservatives have done have fucked up the economy.
We need a strong economy to have good public services.

No hope
Much higher taxes
Crumbling schools
NHS falling apart
Impossible for young people to buy their own home
Shit Brexit deal
Jacob Rees Mogg, Andrea Leadsom, Suella Braverman

waiting over 12 months for a wheelchair that has been ordered for my foster child. it is still not ready because they are waiting for parts apparently!
There is a 26 week wait just for an appointment at present ! And just getting vital equipment my children are entitled to is getting harder and harder.
And don't even start me on the shortages of medication that is vital to keep them alive ! Every month is a stressful wait to see if we will get life saving epilepsy meds or not.
It has always been hard to care for disabled people but now it seems to be getting nigh on impossible.

What are these policies that will improve the economy, serious question,

Yeah, seen plenty homelessness. Called two ambulances that didn't show for at least 5 hours. No dentist. Took over 6 months to fix two broken teeth - went private in the end. Left in perpetual debt. It took me over 7 months to get seen by a 'specialist' via the doctors, by then it was too late to operate/fix a tumour. Totalled myself by cycling into a pothole. Best friend (who was/is relatively well to do) relies on a food bank to support his family.

I agree, there is loads wrong with this country, how long will it take, if they can, to make a noticeable difference?

I've seen enough labour run councils to worry about central government and the bollocks they'll make of it.

It won't get any better.

They'll tax you more to create civil service jobs. (last time 500,000 under Blair)

Sometimes there's a need for a few civil servants. Some might answer a phone for HMRC.

People being found dead in A&E whilst waiting for many, many hours to be seen.

Tories: This is good because it cuts down on the numbers of people needing to be seen.

Patients in A&E waiting in severe pain without any pain relief.

Tories: This will incentivise people to go private.

Patients soiling and wetting themselves without any hope of being changed.

Tories: People need to learn that A&E isn't there to provide social care. They need to pay for a private care assistant to accompany them to hospital.

Disabled people in the community having to spend the day in bed, unwashed because not enough staff to visit them and get them up and changed.

Tories: They shouldn't be so lazy, lying around in bed all day. They need to get up and find a job.

Vulnerable people killing themselves because they can't get PIP, disability benefits or psychiatric treatment.

Tories: This is good, it will save money and cut down on the numbers of people waiting to be seen.

People living in damp, mouldy accommodation whilst landlords keep putting the rent up.

Tories: If the tenant dies from lung disease or goes into hospital, it'll save the LL having to take them to court. They can put the rent up and find another tenant quickly. Win win 😃

People working full time unable to afford accommodation or food. Having to live with parents, in cars, tents or caravans.

Tories: They should have worked harder at school and secured a higher paid job then shouldn't they?

People walking into stores, taking what they want and leaving without paying.

Tories: This demonstrates initiative and strength. Just the sort of people we want in our Party!

Children and youths assaulting people, including their teachers and remaining unpunished.

Tories: Good. Teachers need punishing for being weak and ineffective.

Let me take potholes. You are saying that there used not to be so many potholes in the roads. Is that the fault of 13 years of Coalition and Tory governments? Are there any other factors?

There are more roads than ever, new ones being built every day. There is more traffic weighing the roads down, than there ever has been, on the roads. Are lorries heavier than they were, say 40 years ago? I don't know. Certainly, agricultural vehicles and their wheels are much bigger and heavier than 30/50/70 years ago.

If Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have got all the potholes mended in 3 years time I'll say, "Well done", but I won't hold my breath.

@upinaballoon have you been abroad recently? It is not like this in most other countries.

I’ve raised my children under this government, (22, 19, 15) and have seen the education system get more and more squeezed. I’ve seen the health service get more and more short of money, particularly mental health services. The demise of sure start centres which were proven to save money.

I’ve delivered food parcels to women (with children) who suddenly can’t work because they’ve been diagnosed with cancer and have to wait 5 weeks for any universal credit. Truly, I’d be ashamed to vote for a government that brought in measures like that.

I’m in Wales, moved from England two years ago. So I am living under a Labour government already and the dentist situation is far far worse here, ask anyone. My kids desperately need dentistry, there is no help.

Yes!

No dentists. Despite being an NHS worker I can't get registered in over 5 years I have waited. I am on low wage and can't afford private. No benefits for NHS staff.

No, the last time I went abroad was a package tour to Italy in late 2020 and I didn't drive. I was in a bus. How many of the 'most other countries' have you been to recently? Which ones?

I am not a died-in-the-wool Tory. I was thinking of factors which contribute towards road decay. Great Britain is quite crowded compared to many other countries. Our roads probably take more hammer by comparison.

I lived through the 1970s. I think that Keir Starmer understands that he must not promise what he cannot deliver. I am told that taxes have never been so high. I do not know about all the other taxes but I know a little about income tax. It has been 20% for me for several years, and I told a friend about 5 years ago that I wished the Tories would put it up a little. Back in the latter half of the 1970s, when Labour was in office, on the days when I had employment in the midst of the dole days which had been caused by them not having enough money to employ all the teachers they had trained, the tax rate was in the very high 20s. Maybe that will be the same again soon.

@Realduchymarmalade I have voted for Labour and Conservatives in the past. I am not interested in defending Labour. I am supporting Starmers Labour and their manifesto.

1 in 3 under 5s living in poverty (according to Save the Children) and 1 in 4 nationally across all age groups. 1 in 3 in parts of the north in particular.

I can’t believe this is reality in Britain in 2024. And I can’t believe this has been allowed to happen and why anyone would vote to keep the tories in. I put the blame squarely at their feet.

@upinaballoon you pay more in taxes now than you would have back then. We are taxed in many ways.