To panic about the dire state of the UK?

[moveblues]

So... all things considered... aren't we up sh-t creek?
-gas and electricity prices
-covid (masks? Pfft completed Covid mate (in England))
-council tax hikes
-inflation
-food shortages
-Brexit
-petrol

Sounds like something out of a dystopian nightmare. I'm worried dear reader, and 'keep calm and carry on' doesn't help.

I'm in my 30s, the NHS will certainly not exist in its current form in the next 10 years.

Not in the unrealistic numbers that went to uni in the 00's. We are demonstrably not short of TV or journos at a time we need the type of vital skills we've imported until recently.

@TSSDNCOP

Not in the unrealistic numbers that went to uni in the 00's. We are demonstrably not short of TV or journos at a time we need the type of vital skills we've imported until recently.

I can’t imagine why anyone, literally anyone on the planet, would think a better scenario for their country is an inability to study for a degree for the love of it, over a necessary apprenticeship because their government hasn’t planned for mass emigration of skills. What a country.

Heard a minister…think it was shapps on the radio the other day insisting the whole world was facing the same problems exclusively due to covid! Think he was trying to minimise the elephant in the room - Brexit. They got us into this mess, they’ll have to get us out and step 1 is acknowledging the problem. They still aren’t prepared to.

There is a meme going around on FB that there’s a popcorn shortage in Europe as we watch the shitstorm going down in the UK...

@bozzabollix

I feel exactly the same OP. For all the above listed reasons, Brexit, Covid, having possibly the most incompetent government definitely within living memory, maybe even the worst ever, but at a really critical time.

For the poster who came out with the same hackneyed whataboutery bollocks about ‘just think if Corbyn had got in’, my fat, dimpled arse would’ve made a better job of Brexit and Covid, let alone a fairly inoffensive jam making politician. How anyone can believe that Boris Johnson with his record of U turns and fuck ups has done even one thing right is beyond me.

in a nutshell

[quote RugCarpet22]@Evesgarden I think you'd have to start worrying way way before any of those things you describe would materialise.

There are other more 'minor' worries to think about before it gets to what you describe such as: if your family member falls ill, will they be treated or will you have you see them dying in your arms? If you call 999, is the police or ambulance going to come, or are you left to fight off your attacker, burglar, machete wealder, give your seizuring child cpr, put back the bones that are sticking out of your arm? Or if you have asthma and need you prescription, what if you can't afford it or just can't get an appointment for repeat prescription?

What about if you can't get to work because you can't get any fuel and your transport links have been cut? You loose your job, but there are no unemployment benefits to help you through?

Alternative future, yes. But seems too possible the way its going at the moment.[/quote]
Well I very didn't nearly get to work this morning because of fuel - literally costing on fumes so I drove to the a motor way service station - which was busy at 08.10am. I talked to the woman behind the till and she said the panic buyers - through the media are the ones that are at fault. BUT service stations now have priority. There is a free tip for you.

The rest of what you are describing is extreme head line grabbing news, this isn't the norm, its click bait. The U.K as a whole is a safe society, that's why so many people try to travel here for residency - and so they should.

Also the asthma thing is bull - I worked in a pharmacy linked to a GP practice and they would have crawled over broken glass to ensure that medication was given in timely fashion - so once again click bait and whipping up fear.

@MyPatronusIsACat

Anyone who thinks any other Government would have done better, with Brexit, Covid, lack of lorry drivers, NHS crisis, food shortages, and petrol issues blah blah blah, is utterly deluded.

No other Government would have done any better. Just thank your lucky stars that Jeremy Corbyn lost the election, or you'd have had HIM running the show. THEN you'd have good reason to panic!!!

Sigh. Corbyn lost almost two years ago. How about we focus on this lot who have actually been in power for the last 11 years instead of somebody who never really even got close. Classic deflection technique.

@Sarahlou63

There is a meme going around on FB that there’s a popcorn shortage in Europe as we watch the shitstorm going down in the UK...

That would actually be very funny if it wasn't so depressing.

@Sarahlou63

There is a meme going around on FB that there’s a popcorn shortage in Europe as we watch the shitstorm going down in the UK...

And I could put money on it it was started by an English person.

@Southernbellenot crawling over broken glass might not do any good though, if the reason for the shortage is because of lack of equipment or ingredients. If they can’t make it, how do they crawl over broken glass to get it to their patients?

@Sarahlou63

There is a meme going around on FB that there’s a popcorn shortage in Europe as we watch the shitstorm going down in the UK...

@Sarahlou63

Yes! Our local council went bankrupt and stopped providing all but essential services, so the extra litter and decay we see really adds to the third world vibe developing in the UK.

My Dutch family have no shortages or empty shelves, this is a UK thing!

@MyPatronusIsACat

Anyone who thinks any other Government would have done better, with Brexit, Covid, lack of lorry drivers, NHS crisis, food shortages, and petrol issues blah blah blah, is utterly deluded.

No other Government would have done any better. Just thank your lucky stars that Jeremy Corbyn lost the election, or you'd have had HIM running the show. THEN you'd have good reason to panic!!!

No other Government would have had to do these things, because no sane political party would have held a Brexit vote when nobody cared about it except them, stirred up racial hatred, gone for the hardest Brexit possible and then implemented even more absurd immigration rules all of which led directly to current labour shortages.

Yes it isn't pretty, It will be sorted out soon.
Stock issues in M&S and Iceland have been noticeably low for some time in Ireland.
I'd say the import charges aren't helping businesses.
I saw a lovely bag on Ebay £16, £8 postage, £7.95 import charges, forget it.

Whilst we are harking back to the 70's, that was a time when you either didn't have something or if you did and it broke you fixed it or got it fixed.

Five years ago I'd have just bought a new tumble dryer to replace mine that's 10 years old. Last week I mended it myself with a YouTube tutorial and a belt for £7.99.

We also ate less crap, hence were not as overweight and generally unhealthy. Granted we smoked more, but if you stripped out all the shit from today's weekly shop that we now "deserve" for our media driven lifestyles we might have the health that wouldn't be such a drain on the NHS.

Disclaimer: I am drinking imported wine

@Eealoty

To anyone thinking other countries have it worse in Europe. There are indeed deeper issues at hand here in the UK. It's a rotten mentality we have. Have you visited an Eastern European country in recent years (I'm not even talking about Nordic). Romania, Poland? It was beautiful. Well kept little towns on cobbled streets with civilised restaurants.. filled with locals. No drunks falling around everywhere. NO homeless. No crass behaviour around. That was my experience of a visit - off the beaten track - in an "eastern bloc" country. However, . .. Keep believing the British exceptionalism is real. It's what everyone goes back to when the media leaves out any other narrative.

Yes, but I’m sure the non-tourist areas aren’t all like this. Have you watched any of the documentaries on polish football hooligans, for example? People don’t take kids to some of the stadiums as the fans are burning flags etc.

I’m sure if you only visited pretty little Cotswold towns you’d get a similar impression.

[quote RugCarpet22]@Evesgarden I think you'd have to start worrying way way before any of those things you describe would materialise.

There are other more 'minor' worries to think about before it gets to what you describe such as: if your family member falls ill, will they be treated or will you have you see them dying in your arms? If you call 999, is the police or ambulance going to come, or are you left to fight off your attacker, burglar, machete wealder, give your seizuring child cpr, put back the bones that are sticking out of your arm? Or if you have asthma and need you prescription, what if you can't afford it or just can't get an appointment for repeat prescription?

What about if you can't get to work because you can't get any fuel and your transport links have been cut? You loose your job, but there are no unemployment benefits to help you through?

Alternative future, yes. But seems too possible the way its going at the moment.[/quote]
But this happens all over the world every where.

The U.K is still one of the best places to live. Yes the government are shit but that because there is zero oppositional party. The blame lies firmly on their feet too. The other parties are too wrapped up in gender warfare to realise that actually they have a massive opening - but they won't take it.

But I still firmly believe the U.K is one of the best places to live.

And isn’t the ‘fuel shortage’ actually caused more by panic buying than actual shortages?

A couple of stations ran out due to missing their usual delivery and when this was reported people started panic buying in droves.

MN is full of English people that hate themselves for being British. self hating and self flagellating, its the only place I experience it

Yes I wonder if this happens in other countries. In USA maybe - not sure about anywhere else.

@TSSDNCOP

Whilst we are harking back to the 70's, that was a time when you either didn't have something or if you did and it broke you fixed it or got it fixed.

Five years ago I'd have just bought a new tumble dryer to replace mine that's 10 years old. Last week I mended it myself with a YouTube tutorial and a belt for £7.99.

We also ate less crap, hence were not as overweight and generally unhealthy. Granted we smoked more, but if you stripped out all the shit from today's weekly shop that we now "deserve" for our media driven lifestyles we might have the health that wouldn't be such a drain on the NHS.

Disclaimer: I am drinking imported wine

Nobody is a ‘drain’ on the NHS, it’s a public-funded service. It’s a healthcare model providing free health assistance to people who need it, you’re buying into this narrative that we should be endlessly grateful for something we already pay for. Unless you also feel people who can’t see in the dark or empty their own bins as a ‘drain’ on council tax?

Again; lack of choice isn’t the making of a great UK.

@rocklamp

Yeah, I think we're going to end up like some sorry eastern bloc country that's perpetually struggling and the rest of the world is oblivious to.

I remember years ago listening to an article on Radio 4 about Kazakhstan and how they didn't have any healthcare AND NOW THAT'S US! 😱😱😱

Nothing would surprise me now.

What? We haven’t got any healthcare?. Since when?.

@Evesgarden why do you believe it’s a great place to live? Because it’s not Afghanistan, or are their actual positive reasons for your beliefs?

@HeronLanyon

Just tonight I thought ‘I’m not sure how much longer I can carry on saying to myself ‘it will all be ok eventually’ because it’s beginning to feel different now. Just grindingly awful one thing after another.

I have been trying to boost my daughter this evening…she is a brilliant single Mum who is starting MA at Uni on Monday as a social worker . She is definitely feeling so disillusioned…am running out of words of wisdom 😢

But I still firmly believe the U.K is one of the best places to live.

Now - maybe ... one of the best ... possibly ... soon - very soon this will no longer be true.

That is what this thread is about.