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 don’t remember it being happy though. National Front and racism was rife. So was my mysoginy.

We were cold, with hardly any money. Everything was too expensive. I think this is as bad.

@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!!!

Apart from Covid (and partially the NHS), all of these are exactly and directly caused by the current people in government.

Sod off, not sis off!

We should count our blessings for what we do have in this country . We are very fortunate .

@StellakateT. Huge amount of borrowing with labour??? They aren’t in power— have you seen the borrowing the Tory’s have been doing for covid and 350billion cost for Brexit?? Nothing like borrowing more than all our contributions combined for the 48 years in the EU. I don’t think that was on the side of the bus. The Tory’s like to think they are prudent- but they really are not. They are the kind of people ‘these days’ that would let a house drop to bits and then moan they’ve got to spend 200k to repair it.

Ds is a journalist on the national press.

The media’s take is: the petrol companies leaked this as it was the only way to get the government to intervene. They’ve been asking them for help for about 6 months, and warning them about it. But the government refused to act, so the petrol companies had to force their hand.

Today 20:26 Pearl122

We should count our blessings for what we do have in this country . We are very fortunate .“

I do, fairly regularly.

Unfortunately competent, intelligent, pragmatic governance is not one of those things we are blessed with.

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.

Yes, every single town in Eastern Europe is perfectly well kept and filled with perfectly wonderful restaurants brimming with perfectly lovely locals

Honestly, this post is breathtakingly naive. I’ve no doubt there are some towns in Eastern Europe like that, but don’t pretend it’s some sort of utopia. That doesn’t exist anywhere in the world.

@Tealightsandd. Yes even when we moved here before the end of the withdrawal agreement, the rules here in Denmark meant that you had 6 months to get a job and register yourself (with no recourse to benefits) and if you wanted CPR (which is health care) you have to have a job already or proof (as a couple) of £20k in bank if self employed (with no recourse to benefits) and you have to renew every year— this applies to everyone in EU wanting residency here . UK could always have had similar rules, it chose not to put them in place and administer them because it suffers from permanent ‘cant be arsed syndrome’ at gvt level .

We should count our blessings for what we do have in this country . We are very fortunate

Precisely. There are some seriously spoilt, entitled people on this thread. Maybe try looking at countries where people are properly struggling and count your fucking blessings you were born here and not one or the many other countries where people (particularly women and children) really suffer. It might help you gain some sense of perspective.

We seem to be awfully good at slagging off this country. I haven’t travelled extensively in my lifetime but I have travelled somewhat and everywhere has its problems if you stay there long enough to integrate.

Personally I have gratitude for where I was born and where I reside. We are having a tough old time at the moment but I’m hoping and praying that in time things will settle.

Whatever you think of Corbyn he wouldn't have "let the bodies pile high" like the sociopath we have for Dear Leader.

If anyone can remember them, we had all this in the 1970s. I remember shortages of petrol, bakery strikes, high taxes, 3 day week with power cuts. It was an awful decade really despite some great music! What we're experiencing is nothing new. We've just been cossetted and spoilt through the 80s and 90s and 00s.

I think so too - there’s never really been a time when things haven’t been desperately difficult for the vast majority of people has there? Except perhaps the 80s and 90s (and maybe the 60s?) 9/11 was a watershed moment after which nothing ever seemed quite the same again - to me, anyway.

@HarriotsChariot
I beg to differ. There is SE SW and South and each area within those areas may have a different perspective on their lifestyles and of those around them.
I can say with confidence that The vast majority in South Surrey are not feeling the pinch. Yes, some shops have closed never to reopen but others have taken their place. The incomes of the majority mean that spending is high and people are not doing without their usual luxuries.

@CarryOnNurse20. Yes I partly agree with you. We are in Copenhagen - lifestyle is good , city lovely, it is pricey though , anyone who isn’t good with tech would struggle here, everything is digital and as it’s young and funky it’s not easy to just meet new people. However it is ordered, well run, clean, safe and attractive and at the moment I would rather be here than the UK- I do miss friends though- it can make you rather co dependent. I could say the same in a lot of places though as you get older— not sure if I moved to say ‘bournemouth’ it would be that easy to meet a whole bunch of new friends.

Yes, definitely. The whole country is a shit show and I think it will only get worse in the lead up to Christmas… 😕😩

Out of interest did you do lockdown twice with dc home learning for two terms?

DC had 3 terms of home learning whilst we were working, and there were three lockdowns. I’m not sure what your point is.

But dear OP, you say you are comfortable with good secure jobs, good income and savings. That said, why panic?
I'm not panicking on a state pension and can even save and still do my food shopping at M&S and Waitrose, buy new clothes at least once a month, a day out in London, lunch with friends etc. It's priorities and money management which make the difference between panic and peace.

@BoredZelda

Out of interest did you do lockdown twice with dc home learning for two terms?

DC had 3 terms of home learning whilst we were working, and there were three lockdowns. I’m not sure what your point is.

My point was you seemed oblivious to anyone doing anything more that pot banging.

So I wondered if you had somehow missed it as well as everything else people have done.

Think how people have behaved this week with fuel.. now imagine that in supermarkets if Europe has a bad harvest one year. It will not be pretty

The 80’s was pretty desperate for the north of England, the millions of unemployed and miners and their families.

But yeah it was great apart from that.

@Tealightsandd

Its so interesting that white English people that have never ever had to experience real hardship

White (and black and brown) English people are left to die on the streets. The average age of death for a person in the UK is mid 40s. That isn't privilege.

Like a pp said, it's ridiculous race to the bottom to compare us, a supposedly developed country, to a developing one.

Er the average age of life expectancy in the UK is around 80

Er the average age of life expectancy in the UK is around 80

And, pre covid, was FALLING in some communities in this country.

The poster who mentioned age at death average immediately qualified it by adding that it was homeless people.

@Dongdingdong looking from outside. UK is a country where people are properly struggling.. They really are! Children living in poverty, mouldy unheated houses with nothing for breakfast or a hot meal apart from free school lunches.
Don't tell me it's not happening! Anyone who's ever ventured outside their leafy neighbourhood would've seen it.