To think, without upsetting anybody, we are massively overpopulated on this tiny Island??? What sensible non punitive solutions are there??

[PasstheBucket89]

Its pretty relevant with all the talk about migrant boats, priti patel saying she will make the passage unviable etc she has done some awful things, it makes my blood run cold tbh i doubt she cares about the safety of them in that boats. But, what di we do, and when suggestions are made its often motivated by hate not quality of life issues. And yes, the ageing massively adds to the overpopulation aswell, but what should we do? reasonably? this tiny Island is massively overpopulated, it doesn't benefit anyone to be crammed in like sardines like this, massively effects access to housing, healthcare, education etc, What should the gov do, not adding to the hostile environment??.

[daisypond]

We are not overpopulated. We need to change the wealth divide and we need more workers to pay the tax that pays for public services.

[SandieCheeks]

@Talklessmilemore

Overpopulation doesn’t just refer to actual proportion of land built on. How easy is it to get your children in a good school locally, get a GP appointment, get seen in an emergency and the like? Or travel somewhere without being stuck in traffic or on the train crammed in. Access to facilities travel and healthcare etc is just as important. In that sense we are definitely getting closer to capacity. It’s irrelevant that someone could build thousands of houses on open space if there are none of these other things that can absorb the extra population.

Issues of access is caused by some people hoarding resources. That's the problem - not "too many people".

[imissthesouth]

Agree with not building on green belts etc. Why should we be an island of concrete?

[Redcups64]

Pay more tax, that sounds abit like a luxury. If some people were taxed more it could send them well below the breadline

[Pepperwort]

28 people can cram into a mini. Meanwhile we have an acknowledged shortfall of 1 million homes, have not been able to feed ourselves from this island alone since the industrial revolution, have no deal yet with our major overseas suppliers of food, and are on the brink of a recession. By any meaningful measure, we are seriously overpopulated.

[Flappergasted]

It's almost as if we need a war or a pandemic...

[Brefugee]

Overpopulation doesn’t just refer to actual proportion of land built on. How easy is it to get your children in a good school locally, get a GP appointment, get seen in an emergency and the like? Or travel somewhere without being stuck in traffic or on the train crammed in.

Since you have a falling birthrate in the UK and massive wealth inequality, the actual answer to all this is proper taxation and efficient government.

good luck with that

[saltycat]

Let's talk about England for starters, the South East and places down there are most definitely overpopulated. You just have to look at the numbers that travel from all over to go to the beaches in warm weather.

For other places not so much, but in reality the population there is squashed into cities and towns, and that results in school issues, traffic, parking, public transport or lack thereof and so on.

Small country but huge population.

I stayed in a city in the Midlands overnight for a funeral of a relative, and honestly it looked like Chernobyl. Sorry now but it was not one bit pleasant TBH.

[Pepperwort]

Issues of access is caused by some people hoarding resources. That's the problem - not "too many people".

So fix that, then come back. While you're at it, let us know the grand plan for feeding everyone post-Brexit. Somebody somewhere must have these numbers crunched, but for some reason, can't think why, I don't have a lot of faith in the headlines dribbled out or that government actually cares much.

[Redcups64]

I think it’s crazy to say we are not over populated, what with all the homeless and hungry within the U.K. we can’t deal with them let alone more! That’s more people regardless of if they are born here or seeking refuge before I’m jumped on!

[Tonp]

I want to move to Canada.
Governments loss as I’m highly skilled (but not paid much)

[Thneedville]

Who has been in a plane over the south east of England in the last decade? It’s green, it’s fields and woodland. It’s always a shock to me because it doesn’t feel that way on the ground, because of our under investment in infrastructure, including public transport, and because the towns and villages are crammed into small spaces.

As to why migrants go to great lengths to get to the U.K. - imagine you had to leave the U.K. because of war. You’ve got to Mexico. You know no one. You don’t speak Spanish, so you can’t hope to find work. You’re living in a camp. You’re so close to the US border you can see it. You have family in the US, a network of support from other people from your community/religion. You speak the language. You can make contact with people who can find you work and help you navigate the system. What lengths do you think you’d go to? Not just for you but for your family.

[Chloemol]

We are not over populated, however we also don’t have money to keep funding added to which a lot are not true refugees

The agreement at the moment is that they should be seeking asylum in the first country they come to, so Spain,Italy France. They don’t, and certainly France does nothing, just look at the Calais Jungles, I just get the impression they think the UK is paved with streets of gold, they will be housed and given money with no need to work and life will be better

The boats should be sent back to France or wherever they came from and they should deal with asylum claims

[Brefugee]

I stayed in a city in the Midlands overnight for a funeral of a relative, and honestly it looked like Chernobyl. Sorry now but it was not one bit pleasant TBH.

i wonder why that is? Could it be that London and the SE suck all the money down there, and that's why people are flocking there because that's where all the jobs are?

Northern cities have had their funding decimated - there is no investment. Why do you think that is?

[uniglowooljumper]

We have unfair wealth distribution and an increasingly ageing population, which put a strain on resources and particularly on healthcare resources, who are no longer economically active/pension.

[TaxTheRatFarms]

@Talklessmilemore

Overpopulation doesn’t just refer to actual proportion of land built on. How easy is it to get your children in a good school locally, get a GP appointment, get seen in an emergency and the like? Or travel somewhere without being stuck in traffic or on the train crammed in. Access to facilities travel and healthcare etc is just as important. In that sense we are definitely getting closer to capacity. It’s irrelevant that someone could build thousands of houses on open space if there are none of these other things that can absorb the extra population.

I think this is a really important point.
I live somewhere where they built hundreds of houses but no schools or doctors surgery to take the overflow.

I’m not sure that’s due to overpopulation so much as awful planning, as if they’d also built a school and another gp surgery, the extra population would have been absorbed, the schools & gp wouldn’t be oversubscribed and no one would have noticed any negative side effects.

But I suppose the house building industry makes more money for the government than building schools & gp surgeries.

[CoffeeRevelLove]

Has anyone read Queen Camilla? Strikingly close to this with suicide kits for the elderly. Though COVID is doing a pretty effective job with the elderly .

There's no easy answer. Cut childbirth and you end up with too small a population to care for the elderly.

[RubaiyatOfAnyone]

I think that we are overcrowded - it doesn’t require every inch of the country to be built on to meet that criteria, as i just posted on another thread we have approx 68m in 93,000 square miles. Sweden has 10m in 173,000 m2, New Zealand 5m in 103,000 m2. We are overcrowded compared to other countries that are much more pleasant to live in, and that manifests as pp have said in not being able to do/get basic amenities such as doctors apts or places at the local school. I don’t think there is a secret cabal hoarding resources. I think we have had a series of incompetent govts which have made us naturally wary of trusting big govt to come up with ways to raise taxes and spend them wisely to help everyone. We assume that any monies raised will be squandered, misspent or just disappear. Without a radical overhaul of our infrastructure and funding it, nothing will change.

[Brefugee]

With respect, if you'd stop voting for those governments you'd be in a better position.

[SchrodingersImmigrant]

Uk isn't overpopulated. People just think taht because they hear stories of Impossible GP appointments etc. It's not overpopulation issue, it's a shit management of resources issue.

[imissthesouth]

@Brefugee
How would the opposition improve the situation? Kill off all the old people or get a magic money tree to save our NHS?

[Serin]

But we're not over populated. Some cities are overcrowded yes, but overall we have a huge amount of unused space.

Really? Are you sure you are not confusing "unused space" with Farmland? Or green belt land? Or parkland. We are massively overpopulated and wont stop until all our land is covered with houses, because this is the UK and everyone has to have a garden.
Unlike other world cities where people are happy to live In city flats. Leaving plenty of land free for wildlife and farming.

[MissBehaviour1]

Over population didn't stop the colonization of other "tiny" islands funnily enough.

[Livelovebehappy]

Not over populated as in people per square foot, but definitely overpopulated in respect of adequate resources. Schools, education, housing, all not even close to meeting demand.

[ItsPeanutButterJelly]

@Keepithidden

We live in a relatively low tax country, barely 10% of the country is built on. We aren't over populated, we just don't pay enough taxes for basic infrastructure healthcare and education. Also we consume far too much, so the resources available are stretched.

Over population in my opinion is a con and is being used as another tool to distract the population from the underlying problems.

This!