I don't think we are a rich country anymore

[ThisHairColourIsTooDarkIThink]

I've been feeling for a while that the country is in a bit of a mess financially.

Are you feeling this and cutting back where you can (I know I am).

Telegraph headline today
Rachel Reeves ‘heading towards 70s-style IMF bailout’
Economists warn of 1970s-style debt crisis unless Chancellor changes course

I think this is why people are so up in arms about the inflow of all these young men from abroad seeking refuge.

Nobody minds helping others when we ourselves are sorted.

Lets be honest though - it's hard to get an NHS dentist or a doctors appt. Our police are falling apart (which is very scary given what they keep at bay in society), ambulances don't come fast when you have a genuine emergency, housing shortage, food prices rocketing etc.

How can we help all these people when we can't even sort out ourselves?

Anyway watched a few things recently and alot about our economy being in serious shit. It seems we are indeed in a position much like the seventies.

So I just wanted to know if others are feeling like we are on a bit of knife edge and are you all cutting back financially to 'brave the storm'

I run a business. I speak to hiring managers every day and fully understand the immediate reaction to the increase in employers NI. Of course, tech and AI have impacted entry level hiring but the push in this direction (and indeed, offshoring) was further accelerated by government policy. I know this because I spoke to many who adjusted hiring forecasts following the budget. 89,000 Jobs have been lost in the hospitality sector since the budget.

93% of all children are educated in state schools. Many progress just fine (I did!) - I think your statement is unnecessarily dramatic.

You see through me.

Well I hope so - I mean I've stated my thoughts all quite clearly here. There wasn't much guesswork surely.

My thoughts are
Who do I vote for to get a GP appointment

Does it matter since the IMF bailout seems to be when not if and in which case NHS spending and benefits will get slashed so nobody will get an appointment regardless of goverment. (the answer at this point is private gp or stay sick)

Will voting reform and removing some people from the population help with this crisis? If so I need to consider voting for the party who will do it. Obviously I need to consider the other parties and what they are all saying (although do any of them tell the truth)

Can this country afford to help people from other countries? Given the IMF bailout that everyone is talking about it would appear the answer to that is a resounding no.

I suppose the question is do new people 'cost' the economy or 'add value' to the economy. All I know is we don't have enough houses, we can't get doctors appointments, A&E is bursting at the seems, police can't cope, ambulances don't turn up. All that screams too many people. The island is literally running out of space (or should that be ran out of space quite a while ago)

You are right though. I am looking at all this from my own selfish point of view.
In the nineties we could all buy a house for a decent price, GP appointments were plentiful, ambulances turned up, shoplifters got prosecuted. So what changed. Well that was all just before the huge immigration.

So if there is another reason why we are in this mess I am happy to hear it.
I have no desire to not understand the problem.

If your children are starving do you turn around and feed the children from another country. That would seem really stupid yet that is what we are doing. If your own children are well fed, happy and educated then yes of course I fully support helping those less fortunate.

Oh and for those who are interested I did actually look up private GP's near me last night because this is what it has come to it seems.

A 20 minute appointment with private GP is £120. Then I presume you have to pay for any perscriptions etc (the private price, not the NHS price) and then I assume once you get to testings, scans etc you start running into thousands.

I feel terribly sorry for our young nowadays. They can't afford to have children of their own. I mean what has this country come to.

I really can't find any way to argue against this. ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and even my local Reform candidate said it's not wrong.

So where do we go from here ?

Grok did say that if you eliminate the poor, then poverty goes away. But I do wonder if that is because it is run by Elon Musk ?

I did ask Siri. And they said that anyone who owns an iPhone can't be poor, so we need to make sure everyone has an iPhone. Apparently this is the UK governments strategy with asylum seekers.

I may not have caught up on this thread properly. I skim read by skipping every other post.

Smiley face.

It's not just tax. It's systems, and management, and culture, and the quality and talent of public servants.