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?

@lavenderlou I think people want an end to the small boats of illegal immigrants carrying mostly young, unskilled men.

I dont think people have a problem with controlled immigration attracting skilled and needed workers - doctors, nurses, care workers etc.

Sadly there are plenty of people who do want to get rid of even second, third generation immigrants if they're seen as being the wrong sort of people.
I've just been looking at the Facebook posts of a Muslim MP, a British citizen, born here. Absolutely full of comments saying he's not welcome here, Reform will send him back to where he belongs. He was only posting about supporting an MS charity and he got hundreds of abusive comments.
Let's not pretend there isn't huge racism and xenophobia. Some people want to get rid of all brown people, which will obviously never happen.

• More social housing building (not the unaffordable affordable housing)

• More types of housing being build such as more communal living and homes not being build with stupidity tiny rooms

• Stop building over every patch of green space in towns and cities. Green areas is known to help improve mental health pretty much for free

• Cars not being the default way to get around because public transport is poor and you are likely to be killed if you cycle

• Free NHS dentististy

• Better access to mental health care

• Better preventive health care

• To stop trying to integrate all SEN needs into mainstream schools as that doesn't help anyone. There needs to be more school provision types

• Better childcare provision that is properly subsided all year and not term time only

• Stop cliff edges in benefits. People should not be worse off if they work.

Yes I am willing to pay more tax if it is used sensibly and not wasted.

@lavenderloui would think sorting out immigration also means vastly improving the processing of migrants’ cases. Are you not aware of the crazy amount of time, months even years, before people’s cases are processed, meaning they’re often holed up in sub standard accommodation, unable to get a job, just waiting? Immigration needs to be properly controlled.
Asylum seekers of course have a legal right, though again, the time taken to process their cases to determine authenticity is crazy.

Yes, I agree that the processing time needs improving. The vast majority of those who apply are granted asylum but at least then they are able to work.

I dont think people have a problem with controlled immigration attracting skilled and needed workers - doctors, nurses, care workers etc.

some definitely do

The small boat people are a small percentage of immigrants. Most are students, nhs workers or care workers..

Way back in the thread I said the UK to needed to look at what was happening in successful European countries like Poland, which has three decades of sustained economic growth and has had a complete structural rebalance since the collapse of communism. I looked into it a bit more and learned that Poland has developed a strong manufacturing sector, a high level of successful tech start ups and has a good level of productivity. It also has a very good education system and university is free for all. It is also, of course, an EU member state.

Rejoining the EU would be one way the UK could start to dig itself out of the economic hole it's in. Many of our regions would likely benefit from structural funding. Never going to happen of course while there are so many Reform supporters, even if the EU were willing to let us back in. A customs union would be a step in the right direction though.

@lavenderlou but surely we can't be like Poland. They started from such a low base with cheap manufacturing, labour etc which boosted investment and the growth we see today. We have already gone through that growth & living standards are declining because other countries are better competition now?

I agree with all that, very good list of what improvements are needed, and we need to start soon. Starmer should use your list as a blueprint.

Reducing the cost of housing and energy would do a huge amount to grow the pie. This makes people richer by making their money go much further, and also generates new economic growth.

So, planning reform (plus stamp duty reform and housebuilding), and new nuclear would be near the top of my list.

The former would have a noticeable effect within two years. New energy takes longer but businesses would respond sooner in investment decisions if the plans were credible enough (so would probably need to remove lots of veto points from the law first).

Agreeing with a lot of the posts on here especially stop sending the very frail and ill elderly for intrusive and unnecessary tests / scans in hospitals ,just make them as comfortable and pain free as possible .
Stop building on green spaces in cities they really do keep us sane !
Just musing about Brexit do these Reform voters think there votes for Brexit has been successful. Are there more boat people arriving? I am guessing so as France doesn’t want them either right? What are the figures? Have there been any winners and improvements due to Brexit generally?
Bring back common sense it seems to have disappeared!

My four point plan:

1. Housing (planning and tax reform to massively boost supply), making it much more affordable for all.
2. Energy (new nuclear to reduce costs for businesses and consumers), addressing cost of living and spurring industrial growth (esp with AI)
3. Immigration (high levels and high quality. That combo is a luxury few countries get to choose but we can), to boost growth/public finances and address demographic timebomb.
4. Enhance public services with the increased growth/tax revenue from the above.

Rejoin the EU for many reasons and initiatives. We should be working closely together to repel economic migrants and share responsibility fairly for genuine refugees. We need creative thinking eg could we fund elderly people (maybe only those without living relatives?) to go to care homes in Spain or Portugal for example.
We need to find ways to reject creeping Americanisation - get them out of our social care provision and don’t allow them to buy any more British businesses (we’ve already lost Cadbury’s, Boots etc). Greatly reduce American fast food outlets that cause obesity and disease (fuck McDonald’s).
Stop allowing foreign residents to purchase property here to sit empty as investment vehicles.
So much more to say but I’d be here all day. The country is truly in a dire state and it will take a visionary, highly energetic govt to turn it round; Labour under Starmer have been a phenomenal disappointment so far. I cannot believe they got into power and were like, ‘oh ok, we’d better work out what to do!’. Why didn’t they have a detailed stepwise action plan ready for Day One. They should’ve studied what works in other comparable countries and copy what we can - that will mean adjusting the NHS funding model.
Dying horses cannot be flogged for much longer.

True, I think we can't emulate their manufacturing but maybe some of their more recent tech start ups could be inspiration. Regardless, they are currently a less wealthy country than the UK but by all accounts manage to have immaculate streets, decent healthcare and education.

I think Ireland has the tech sector down up

• another country that has seen huge change.

Poland has higher taxes as well I think?

And as you say benefits by being in the EU

I tend to when the skilled immigrants are given jobs that the graduate UK healthcare professionals are applying for and aren’t getting. How can that be right

To all those people asking about how to afford better public services. The answer is economic growth. It was Labour's plan but Reeves screwed it up with her tax/NIC hikes, wage increases and additional workers' rights that will increase unemployment, fuel the black economy, and cause economic stagnation/recession instead of growth, meaning less tax revenue and higher debt. Slow hand clap for Rachel.

Yes exactly. Positive immigration of skilled workers is so valuable. The ones who turn up and drain resources are a problem and cost vast amounts of money and it was their choice to come here yet the current government seem to want to punish the disabled which isn’t a choice they made! Instead of saving money by dealing with negative immigration.

Raise tax and ni thresholds to at least 15 grand
Allow people on benefits to have a higher amount it savings i think it's 16 grand presently? Make that at least 25 grand.

Have a tiered health system when you earn over a threshold pay a bit more, under x pay less or nothing.
But have healthy boundaries ie not cutting people's winter fuel allowance when they really don't havr much money at the lower end

I want a school revolution in sen, each and every educator from nursery up to uni must do basic courses on sen and what it means to learners.

Mould teams tackling all social housing mould without fail.

Systems which incentivise people to work, particularly in difficult, unattractive or dangerous jobs. Suggestions like a tiered health system where people who earn more, pay more - sod that. It just disincentivises people from taking promotions and aiming higher. Just like the crap tax credits system resulted in a lot of people only working 16 hours a week - that’s barely more than 2 days! - because they did the sums and decided that 2 days work plus top ups was more attractive than doing a full week.

That’s one thing this country really needs to sort out. And it’s not benefit bashing - many of us are quite happy for those in need to receive benefits - it’s just that working should also make someone significantly better off than not working

I think we need a massive push by all relevant agencies to tackle the black economy, including modern slavery, modern laundering, tax evasion, benefit fraud, and "low level" crime surrounding it, i.e. fly tipping, tradesmen incompetence/fraud, takeaway delivery people on illegal bikes or driving cars unlicenced and/or no mot/no insurance/no road tax, etc etc. The black economy costs billions and we're barely scratching the surface when it comes to tackling it. A multi agency approach is needed between HMRC, DWP, police, councils, DVLA, immigration, etc etc.

@taxguru but high has eluded us for years!

growth