So what change would people like to see in this country - given people seem to want change and are fed up with the pace of change?

[cakeorwine]

That seems to be the message from people in the recent elections.

Clearly immigration - controlled or uncontrolled is an issue for some / many people and the impact on local communities

But apart from that, what other changes do people want to see that are not being delivered?

I know that housing is a massive issue. Affordable places to live
Job opportunities in a local area
People being able to stay where they live instead of being forced to relocate
NHS waiting times, seeing a GP quickly, seeing a dentist who is NHS
Cost of living - life is expensive for many people. How can life be made more affordable for people who are struggling?
Run down town centres, too much shoplifting and a feeling that people are getting away with crime

What changes do you want to see happening?

My top 5 would be:

1. Remove the expensive bureaucracy and waste within public services, particularly the NHS. There IS enough money to fund it if those running it stopped being so wasteful.

2. Immigration policies whereby you only get a visa/allowed in if you can prove you are either a) able to be self sufficient or b) have a skill on a list of trades/jobs where we have skills shortages.

3. Subsidise fresh healthy foods so that the costs come down and tax the hell out of UPFs, fast food etc.

in theory, 2&3 should reduce the burden on public services…..

4. there’s a band of earnings where it’s not worth it because you get taxed at the effective 60% rate but your income/wealth isn’t high enough to take advantage of the legal tax loopholes available to the ultra rich. I’m in this bracket and all I did when I got a pay rise was reduce my hours because I refuse to give 60% of my earnings to the tax man. That bracket needs relooked at to incentivise people to maximise their earnings because then we have more disposable income to put back into the economy…..

5. overhaul the benefits system. It was set up to help those who genuinely cannot work and need help, as it should be. But there are too many people where using it is the easier option.

Also all of this!!

People want an end to rampantly increasing inequality; they want the cost of living to come down; they want properly functioning healthcare and public services.

Obviously voting for a party run by a privately educated tax dodging banker who wants to massively reduce taxes on the rich, stop immigration of productive working age people and privatise the NHS, is the sensible way to achieve these aims.

I’d like to see immigration challenged but not in the way most people would… I’d like to see safe channels for people to be able to apply to live in our country without crossing the sea in tiny boats. We need immigration imo.
I would like to see diversity protected, respect for trans people, assistance for the disabled and mentally unwell through PIP.
I’d like a real policy on housing. Building affordable homes and council homes not masses of new build estates where the houses cost £££ and are lived in by the wealthy.

I don't know. I'm hoping someone else comes up with the answers. I can tell you all the problems though.

I think as immigration seems a hot potato, we need to invest in automation to increase productivity without relying on importing people so much, then upskilling the existing population to work with that automation and around it. So both cost money which apparently we don't have.

I also think our tax /benefit system is ridiculous and disencetivises work mainly at the high end.

We need to find a way to tax property wealth thats more sophisticated than council tax or stamp duty but doesn't destroy the entire property market.

Agree

I want social care to be better thought through to help NHS - not thought about in a review in 5 years time
I want women's rights to be a given, not something we have to hand wring about every couple of years and waste public money defining because people in power don't want to stick to their education and biology for a paltry amount of virtue signalling
I think education should never be taxed and it is encouraging a race to the bottom and China are now buying out some of our best schools/assets which we are enabling and not thinking through
I want the government to actually pick something and stick to it - womens hubs? Nope. SEN education? Nope. Helping people on PIP? Nope. Can they do just one thing they told us they would rather that splat it all on a wall and go off on a trans tangent.

The UK is screwed. It wants decent public services without increasing taxes and it has a diminishing economy. There is a wealthy elite and much of the rest of the country is amongst the poorest areas of Europe.

I think the government needs to look at what is in place in other countries in Europe that are clean and well-maintained, have decent healthcare and education and a smaller wealth gap to see if there is anything that we could emulate. It would probably involve tax rises of course. One of my close friends is originally from Poland - it has its own problems of course but the streets are immaculate and it's easy to access healthcare.

People also need to stop finding scapegoats such as "immigration". Only a tiny amount of immigration is illegal and illegal immigrants are not pushing up house prices and taking doctor's appointments. If people have a problem with legal migration they need to look at the reasons why the UK is so dependent on migrant labour.

Focusing so much political attention on trying to find an "enemy" gets in the way of trying to deal with the real structural issues.

Related to inequality is the need to lift millions of families out of poverty. We have a hideous class system in this country which we think is normal. It's not.

@SallyWD when you say ‘class system’ do you mean the gap between the rich and poor?
I think most countries have that.
What would be your solution to reduce inequality?

NHS dentists, I can't afford private and can't get an NHS one.
Universal Basic Income
More focus on community, volunteering, cleaning the streets, making green spaces safer
More visible police
More part time and flexible jobs available
Less greed from care homes, so people don't lose everything to pay for care
Invest in public transport
4 day working week where possible

More and more people feel left behind. House prices, utilities, health care all being allowed to favour the wealthy and the providers of these services. Vets are a recent example. The private company IVC owned 10% of vets in 2013, it now owns 60% and is becoming a monopoly. So it it is with other providers. We are being used as cash cows and no Govt seems prepared to take on the challenges of stopping these companies. Crime seems to be on the increase since there is no real fear of being caught.

The stupid woman who won our local mayoral election used her victory speech to bang on about immigrants. To me that is not what local government is about, that is a central government issue (though I accept there will be some degree of overlap). I was cringing for her as she referred to Farage as " our great leader". My priorities are the very antithesis of current popular opinion. We need our society to be inclusive, caring and welcoming of diversity.
SEN and disabilities are not overdiagnosed or a fast track to a big income/new car/never having to work again. People need proper support not to be pilloried and vilified. Parents of children with SEN are desperate and waiting months or even years for help.
Universal credit is not for for purpose. It doesn't provide any incentive or help to improve your position in life, leaving you trapped in low wage jobs, rented accommodation and dependent on benefits for life. It is the result of Tory ideology aimed at keeping the poor in their place. Under the previous system parents/adult learners could go to university without the risk of serious poverty. You could save a deposit to buy a house, move to a better rental, invest in a small business etc. If you were offered a few extra shifts or a chance to earn a bonus and prove yourself at work you got to keep the money if it was below a certain level. People will argue about "taxpayers money" on this one but there needs to be long term thinking that if people are given the tools and a bit of carrot rather than stick to improve their life they will cost less overall. Yes you can't just hand out £1000's but the odd few quid here and there means everything to someone who is close to the edge.
I'd like to see the equality act kept (it's at risk if reform are elected at the next GE) and I'd like to see lone parenthood added as a protected characteristic. If marriage, which in general is completely optional, can be included then people raising children alone deserve the same protection.
There needs to be more money for education. School budgets are unbelievably tight. Teachers cannot do the best job with so few resources. There are not enough apprenticeships and training opportunities for those who are not suited to a school type route or are trying to change route later in life.
Affordable housing is a priority.

Executive pay clamped down on

Wealth taxed (workers are taxed constantly!)

Bosses of water companies punished for pumping sewage into waterways (jail if necessary)

Academies not being allowed to pay excessive wages to top bosses - put money on front line where it benefits pupils.

Housing built - everyone should be entitled to a warm, safe home

Yes. No more lying and getting away with it.

Law and order : a return to 'proper' policing, who are visible and accessible - with a minimum height and fitness requirement, to have a presence, and not just PSCOs who do not do a lot but look good and merely tick a 'community' box.

Zero tolerance of petty crime: littering - including cigarette butts, spitting, antisocial behaviour.

Local government: Get rid of any extra layers of expense, namely police commissioners and area mayors.

Health and Social Care: a total re-think and overhaul. Return health care to a national health service and not local trusts, etc.

Infrastructure and travel: re-nationalise railways; create nationalised reliable, convenient, accessible and affordable local transport systems.

Illegal immigration: If France can say 'they can't return to our shores once in the Channel', then we can refuse to have the illegal boats land on our shores too. Start being a sovereign nation and have the bottle to say 'no', including to the ECHR.

Legal migrants: Welcome!

Asylum seekers: These should be processed in the first safe country where they arrive - processing centres staffed by multi-national agencies, with officers appropriate to where people want to seek safety. Processing would be quickest and fast tracked for those arriving who have not thrown away identifying documents.

Any foreign national will automatically forego a 'right to family life' at the first strike - any criminal activity at all means they have disrespected their host country, so they will be repatriated on the first available plane/boat. The family will have the choice to remain without the criminal, or to join them.

Housing: so much to do - a start would be compulsory purchase of buildings standing unoccupied, including warehouses, etc. Large warehouses could be converted to flats.

So many 'what ifs' and 'yes, buts' and much fine tuning needed, but the above list would at least be a start toward mending this broken nation.

We need a better deal for young people. leaving Uni with massive debts, often not being able to find graduate jobs or afford housing is a bleak prospect. No wonder many young people have lost hope and suffering form poor mental health.
I want to see immigration sorted out. I know there are no easy answers but it is completely out of control. People say new immigrants don' get this and that but every day in my job I see that they do- people who have been here just a few short years working in low paid jobs then getting social housing and benefits.
I do not want to see seriously disabled people left worse off by benefit/ welfare reforms but seriously people need to see that the system needs to change. I think the proposed changes go way too far but there needs to be a serious debate on the best way to make sure those most seriously in need get the help they need wheras those that clearly are taking the pee are held to account.
Get a grip on crime. I've lived in the same area most of my life. It is now full of vapeshops and turkish barbers, gangs of off road motorbikes tearing up our country park, thieves on the prowl trying car doors every night, work vans being broken into. I've never known it so bad.
Finally we need massive social house building. The private rental market is shocking. Kids and families, well everyone really needs security and community. It does no-one any good to constantly be fearful of being evicted and having to constantly move.

My WFA restored and my unused pension pot excluded from my IHT calculation on my death.

I am not holding my breath. Labour took them away and I can't see any party who might possibly restore them.

There are rich and poor in every country but our class system is something else. It permeates everything and we're so used to it we don't even notice. The second someone opens their mouth they are judged (often negatively) by the way they talk - they're perhaps seen as posh, or common. Everything people do is seen in terms of class, from their chosen holiday destinations, to the names they give their children, to the food they eat, to the hobbies they have, the books they read, the TV programmes they watch, the clothes they wear. There are silent judgements being made all the time.
I've lived abroad three times and this doesn't exist to the same extent in other countries. Yes they have rich and poor, some people are seen as a little more refined. However there's not a rigid class structure. My DH is foreign and says he really notices how people here seem to hang out with people from their own class and often don't even understand people from other classes! It's like the different classes exist in their own worlds.

@SallyWD thank you for answering my question.

My DH is foreign and says he really notices how people here seem to hang out with people from their own class and often don't even understand people from other classes! It's like the different classes exist in their own worlds.

I’m sure this is right except when there is another common denominator - for example, for those in the horse world horses are the common denominator as opposed to class, or in an orchestra music is the common denominator and so on.
I think in those cases people mix more readily.
As you say, people are often negatively judged when they open their mouths so I suppose like mixes with like to avoid criticism or sneering.

Horses and orchestras - tend to be class specific though - it’s not an even mix of classes

Indeed.
And you asked what I thought the solution is to this problem. I really don't know. Revolution?? Haha, just kidding. It's so ingrained in our culture that I don't know where we can start trying to change things. Successive governments have tried to deal with inequality but it's just getting far worse.

The main issue for me is to sort out affordable housing for young or single people. They are building like crazy here but none of the affordable housing options are actually affordable locally on local wages. I have children in their 20’s still at home because the cost of private rental is ridiculously unaffordable if you want any kind of life other than paying for a roof and the deposits needed for buying at also too high. Shared housing schemes seem to be in favour of everyone other than the person using it. All the repairs and maintenance but none of the security of buying. Plus new builds all seem to have service charges that can change on a whim.

The other issue would be making sure wages pay the basics for a single person on minimum wage wage. That gives people incentive to get better jobs etc as they will actually improve their life style. Either that or the universal income where everyone has their basic needs met and all earnings improve life style and money gets plowed back into the economy. It would mean (ideally) there would be no need for other (income related) benefits, school meals, food banks etc. people would have the same to use wisely for their needs.

There's lots of ideas on here so far - and some contradictory ones.

Inequality and a feeling of being left behind is definitely a thing - a lot of the UK feels left behind compared to other parts of the UK.

I would look at housing and employment, especially amongst younger people.

Youth unemployment is at 14.8% - that' 16 - 24 yr olds not in education, employment or training - and I wonder how that is spread both geographically and age wise.

Housing is unaffordable - massive waiting lists for council properties and Housing Associations. This needs real investment and in the right areas.

I do think the idea of cottage hospitals or "recovery" hospitals is a great idea - get people out of hospitals but provide a place they can recuperate before they can move home.

There are many wealth people with income that seems to be treated differently to people who have salaried jobs with income.

Look at tax dodging. Crack down and be seen to crack down.

Utilities NOT for profit. It’s not worked. At all
Same for academies
Same for nursing homes
Costs loads. Piss poor standards. Money flowing to stakeholders often overseas.
ridiculous state of affairs