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.

@Maxnormal , I had to laugh at your ‘chokingly humid’ comment - TBH a joke in the U.K! I take it you’ve never been anywhere where humid heat really is something to moan about?

Arh so many spelling errors sorry

Stonehenge. It’s disappointingly small, total letdown.

Also too many old buildings.

We have a constitutional monarchy in the UK, I am not sure why people are surprised, particularly those who come to live here, why 'class' exists! Saying that, I don't think it's something that holds you back in the UK.

'low-brow' culture in the UK, is that a joke? Yes because, Britain is not known for its contribution to the Arts at all is it!

I am in Brighton and it is warm here and has been for weeks. I visit my Mum in Shropshire and it is noticeably colder.

Snobbery
The amount of noise people and pollution.
The expense.
The DNA will always be a right wing ideology which perpetrates the social divide.
Lonely cities.
Dirt.
Rubbish cinemas

Definitely depends on where you live.

In leafy, hot and sunny South East, the weather is great.

I like living in UK. Of course it has it's faults, but so does everywhere else. Family living elsewhere in Europe all have issues with this, that and the other.

Having a royal family.
The class system and our obsession with it.
Mixer taps are still not standard.
FPTP is a terrible electoral system.
Believing the 'glorious British empire' version of history and not admitting to the appalling way Britain has acted over the years.
Tv programmes like Mrs Brown's Boys and The One Show and Love Island are for some reason very popular.
Rip off Britain is based in fact. WHY do things have to cost so much more here? Why?
We cope brilliantly with grey, damp, chilly weather. We are not set up to cope with anything else and fall apart as a nation when it is hot or snowing.
People refuse to accept that racism is still a major problem.
Renters get a really shit deal.

Weather!!

My American friend who’s moved to the UK would say the following;
Weather, it’s just permanently damp and cold (although current weather is glorious), she misses the NY snow in winter and hot sunny summers.
Very narrow roads, she’s terrified of driving on our streets and hates cars with gears till I pointed out she could still drive an automatic here too. Still hates the tiny narrow roads, presumably American roads are much much bigger.
Teeny tiny super expensive housing, she looks at price of their flat and compares what she could buy for the same price in America and our housing stock is found severely lacking.
People don’t talk to eachother, according to her we are all unfriendly. She gets upset that people look startled when she starts talking to people in the bus queue.
Everything is very expensive compared to America.
People walk everywhere, which she finds bizarre.
She hates our health system and hospitals, her sister gave birth in America and had a room to herself to have her baby and recover. She gave birth in the uk and was put on a shared ward after having baby and hated it, she’s very disparaging about our health system.
She misses some of the sweets and food that isn’t available here, and our coffee is terrible.

@frazzledasarock some of the things your friend is comparing are probably incomparable.
Like the health system. How much did the room cost in US? If she paid private in UK, she could have private room.
Walking everywhere is not a negative.

-cost of living including housing and transport
-lack of cycle lanes
-overcrowded SE eg queuing just to get to supermarket car parks
-Poor behaviour from some that pretty much goes unchallenged

But the benefits outweigh the problems.

Clean air. I didn't realise until I moved to China how lucky we are to have clean air. Even London is pristine compared to the air where I am. The air is often so filthy here you can taste grit.

Stunning countryside

A general appreciation of human and animal rights

General meritocratic principles

A legal system that is based on fairness and justice.

Freedom of speech (without running the risk of disappearing) and a government that you can criticise (also without running the risk of suddenly disappearing).

Lots of after-school activities for children to do.

Accessible countryside eg lots of circular walks.

Health and safety, laws on false advertising etc.

I love my Country x

@OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow I disagree with her on pretty much everything, but she’s missing home. I think she thought England would be like a Jane Austen novel and is very disappointed with the reality.
I did tell her next baby perhaps she should have it in America and actually see what she’s getting and how much her husband will need to pay for it.
And also that she could have paid for a private room at the hospital when she had her baby.

I think she’s determined to compare England unfavourably to America no matter what.

Born and bred in the UK, lived down south for years. Got fed up with it, felt ashamed to be British. I don't like the weather but mostly because it's too hot for me in the summer.

I didn't like the horrific prices down south, especially housing costs in London and the home counties. Drugs, knife crime almost daily in London. Attitudes, a lot of intolerance, racism. The UK has a 'blame' culture....something happens and it's always 'who is to blame' instead of 'how can we sort this out as a nation'. And the constant complaining all the time, it's draining...everything is wrong from the politicians to the bosses/workers/unions right through to the rainy weather or the TV. I also felt we were such a crowded country, using up all our beautiful countryside to build upon, pollution (especially around London) and so on.

I left the UK to go to a Scandinavian country but came back. Oh yes, they have lovely fresh air, mountains, no crowds. They are outdoorsy, have healthy lifestyles, no pollution and more equality amongst their population.

But they are unfriendly, reserved. No-one stops to chat like in the UK. Everything is so eye-wateringly expensive - including food - that the UK now seems cheap by comparison. To have their lovely lifestyle, you pay vast amounts in tax, starting at 25% for students and going up to as much as 80% for those who earn a lot (which is considerably less than salaries here). In the interests of equality everyone is free to check up online on the government site how much everyone else's salary is, how much their house is worth and how much (or whether they've paid) their tax. I can't see that being a big one here. Raise your voice to your child and Social Services is there immediately, smack them and your children are taken away, you can be imprisoned (no leeway at all). There is still racism, and still irritation shown for anyone coming into the country to live. In the pandemic there is no safety net and for those of us from overseas, no NHS battling to save our lives.

Back home in the UK I now appreciate everything we have. I live in a different area so realise there are still plenty of pockets of green countryside, it is possible to live a healthy lifestyle and the NHS is our fantastic safety net in times of trouble. However much we criticise our politicians, we are at least allowed to do so and don't get marched away when we do. I know everyone says the government has not reacted well to the COVID crisis but they have tried, even if bumblingly so, to get us through, providing money and furlough and so on...many other countries have not done this at all and if I had stayed in Scandinavia I would not have received a single penny of help.

I for one now think we have a great deal to be grateful for, and the rest we need to work together to change for the better.

Of course the roads and homes are smaller - the UK is a group of small islands with a very large population!

I'm from NZ and I was going to write a post about how shit I think the UK is in retaliation to the posts lately about NZ/Australia using every generalisation that I could think of because it is really insulting.

But actually I'm too busy being happy and living the best life I can down here without bringing myself down to that level.

You need to cut out the hate otherwise you are going to lose the international portion of Mumsnet. While some won't care it's gives a far more international view and makes the site more interesting

My biggest shock moving to the UK was the deprivation. I naively thought everyone would be well off and certainly well spoken.
I was a supply teacher initially and the grimy tower blocks, run down schools and barely fed children really shocked me.

I used to buy fruit and biscuits take it to school for the children.
There were so many children with so many issues and behavioural problems but it seemed they were always the school's fault.
As time when on, schools started providing free breakfast and after school care and food, then even school uniforms and parents got more and more demanding.
Most weren't in work yet had no time for their kids.
So I guess its the blame culture and handout dependency that gets me down.

@frazzledasarock some people do that. I think it's people who realised how homesick they are and that they want to go back.

Well said @itstrue! So many posters willing to be rude about other countries (especially some who visited 20 years ago and seem to think life hasn't changed since then!) - but should anyone criticize their precious country, well look out.

Let's just enjoy our lives here, and thank our lucky stars.

@itstrue, yeah have you noticed how many offended UKers are on this thread? Apparently it’s ok for many to post nasty comments about other countries but there’s a tonne of indignation when it’s pointed back in their direction.

Bonfires are legal
Whinging constantly
Jealousy of others
Sour puss view of life
Constant talk of holidays

I haven't lived in the UK for five years, but didn't leave because I disliked it, so my list isn't very long or ranty:

• Trains: reliability of service and too expensive.
• The month of February
• The way people complain about driving two hours [or whatever] to get somewhere, like it's a major undertaking.
• Costa coffee.

I'm sure there's more, but it's been a while and I'm feeling mellow - plus I can't get worked up about taps or the Royal Family.

The way people complain about driving two hours [or whatever] to get somewhere, like it's a major undertaking

This is me! I hate driving longer than an hour. I'd be crap in America.

I'm not insulted by knowing that the UK is flawed, like everywhere. It's not a perfect place to live, and it's got worse in terms of dirt and disrepair in my living memory, which is such a shame. Life really was pleasanter and greener and parks nicer 20 years ago (councils have now pared those budgets to the bone). I don't want to live anywhere else though, it suits me just fine, even the rain as it makes everything green and lush in my back garden!

Mumsnet is a UK parenting site, a large amount of UK posters is hardly a surprise!