Tell me the bad things about living in the UK

[alwayscrashinginthesamecar1]

In the interests of equality, as we have had other threads for other countries, I thought I'd start this thread.

I'll start it off with

Bloody awful weather
Obsessed with class
Racist and in some places sectarian too
Filthy cities.

I love this country - I've been living here 10 years. I love the people and the culture, and sometimes even the weather!

Nowhere is perfect. But the UK is a pretty food contender for one if the best countries to life in.

Weather... Although lovely last two months. I hate fact July and Aug always seem poor weather... Rarely have decent snow in winter... Just grey drab days
Darkness in winter.
Traffic
Pollution
Current politicians
Some of the newspapers
Expensive housing
People that think they can coast through life without working getting others to pay.

However it also has many great points...

Too many chain restaurants

For me the biggest negative has to be how over populated we've become

Can't really fault it on much else tbh, I guess the weather can be pretty hit and miss but not much else springs to mind

With over population comes the loss of green spaces through house building and more vehicles on the road (pollution)

THis climate has huge advantages though.

Plenty clean drinking water, no bush fires, too cold for lots of venomous creatures.
Warm climates may be pleasant but they come at a cost.
I like being able to go to bed without a mosquito net or having to check my shoes in the morning for biting insects.

Exactly speak out. I have stayed in countries like that and it's no fun really. Nor is having to wait for the water truck.

The worst thing for me is that people are more likely in my experience to be actively rude or abusive.

Speak out, plenty countries with nice weather without going to scorpion checking levels. All on the mediterranean coast for example. South france, spain, italy, nord africa, croatia etc.

How british are unable to see any fault in their country, as evidenced by this thread 😂

Um, awkward, in a thread full of British people criticising Britain.

Dog poo everywhere!

Might just be a problem with my town though.

@a12345b....
There are scorpions in at least two or three of those places. Anyway complaining about the weather is just dull and limitrd tbh. Of course it rains here everyone knows that. That is why the land is so green.

My list of top 10 negatives based entirely on my experiences living in the UK for the last 21 years (have previously lived in other countries too):

1)The alcohol culture, its abuse and the amount of functional alcoholics
2) The difficulty in making friends. You can meet people easily and they will talk to you, but they rarely let you in or reciprocate the efforts. Everyone seem s content with the social circle they have and does not want to let anyone new in.
3) People here don't seem to invite you to their homes and the sense of hospitality and generosity is not the same as in the continent.
4)The dating culture and lack of romance. I was shocked by how ungentle man like the English are and how much the rely on alcohol to even talk to a woman.
5) The teacher bashing. Teachers abroad are held in high esteem and equal to doctors and other such professionals. Ditto for the attitude to Doctors and Police here. Basically people seem to think that they know better than the professionals.
6) No neighbourly sentiment of comradeship, no one cares about their neighbours.
7) Slack parenting and parents so defensive of their snowflakes that no one dares approach them about things their kids have done, as you risk abuse.
8) The weed. Everywhere. The whole time.
9) The consumerism and love of material goods.
10) The food. Loads of options for everyone, but fresh food rarely tastes like it should.

The older I get the more I realise that the UK is a great country To live in!

If you don’t believe me then go to the jungle in Calais and ask the People there why they will risk there lives In small boats or hanging off lorry’s trying to get to this country that half of you think is so bad!!

Remember the grass is not always greener on the other side!!

The covert racism and xenophobia .. just because it’s not overt doesn’t make it any less bad.

The constant moaning about well.. everything.

The lack of detached homes and the ridiculous extra expense to have one.

The cultural superiority

The insularity

The drinking culture/pub culture

The class system

Business hours

The people are tight fisted and mean with their money

It’s great where I live

The weed. Everywhere. The whole time.

Weed or weeds??

Too many cars
The people are unfriendly
The roads are in a bad condition
Houses are too expensive
It's too crowded
Too many areas are bland with dull scenery
The grammar school system

Ok I am going to join in.
The dreadful new town centres like Swindon and Basingstoke once the shops have shut.
The class divides.

Tbh there is nowhere in England I would live other than London it's too horrible. Wales is ok.

Having lived abroad, I know there are many, many good things about living in the UK, but for me the worst are:

The expectation that we should all have great public services, and we moan when anything goes wrong, but in the last 10 years we have refused to vote in any party that will raise certain taxes to pay for said services in line with our expectations.

The education system and the amount of emphasis placed on exams. And the fact that it's usually the teachers' fault if there is any failing anywhere, rather than the fault of government policy, chronic underfunding or even indeed the parents.

North-South divide.

An overinflated sense of our own importance as a country, particularly nowadays.

How people in the service industry are treated.

The trains. They are absolutely shit in some areas: expensive; over-crowded and perpetually delayed. Kind of links in with my first point though.

Overpriced property and a tendency to view economic success largely through the prism of property prices. Also an obsession with "getting on the property ladder".

The mainstream media.

Increased intolerance of those who emigrate here - although I do recognise this is not an attitude which is necessarily unique to the UK.

@Smellbellina

The weed. Everywhere. The whole time.

Weed or weeds??

The smoking of it, so the smell.

Oh yeah the stench of weed everywhere 😂

I very much used to take the UK for granted before I lived for periods in other countries.

The level of corruption and incompetence in government, human rights abuses, access to healthcare, crime, poverty divides, racism, xenophobia, gossiping and moaning, laziness and littering do not compare with a lot of other countries. We are very lucky to live here.

We also have a climate where is is possible to grow your own bloody tomatoes! Doesn’t take much, just a pot and some soil.

Yes I love my tomato and weed plants don't Diss it....