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 wouldn't mind if 17m people left which would get us back to the number when I was born. We are certainly very crowded so if a lot of British people who have this place choose to go that might be one solution for them.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's swizz - supporting poverty wage employers with taxpayer funded top-ups was always a bad idea that was never going to end well. Unfortunately the self described heir to Blair, Cameron, and those who followed him have continued down that road.

For eleven years. Eleven years, and nobody thinks it’s strange that we still blame a PM from 2010.

@Xenia

I wouldn't mind if 17m people left which would get us back to the number when I was born. We are certainly very crowded so if a lot of British people who have this place choose to go that might be one solution for them.

Where do you suggest now we don’t have freedom of movement?

An even bigger concern should be the mass exodus of staff from the NHS in the coming months.

Covid bought us a reprieve; many staff members sat tight during the pandemic. Now many have decided that it is time to return home and the number of staff leaving in the coming months is likely to cause a very serious crisis in the NHS in coming months.

Get a grip. Every country is having challenges post COVID. Labour are doing an appalling job of putting up a plausible economic alternative. Bills will go up whoever is in power and higher rate tax payers fund a large chunk of the welfare bill. What is your suggested solution?

@Pumperthepumper

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's swizz - supporting poverty wage employers with taxpayer funded top-ups was always a bad idea that was never going to end well. Unfortunately the self described heir to Blair, Cameron, and those who followed him have continued down that road.

For eleven years. Eleven years, and nobody thinks it’s strange that we still blame a PM from 2010.

Decisions made years ago have long-term consequences. Sometimes those consequences aren't always apparent until a lot of damage has been done (except to some of us, who had foresight).

The problems of today are the fault of successive governments going back at least 40 years. Always short-termist policy. Both main parties (and the Lib Dems) are to blame.

@WhatwouldAnneFrankthinkofus

Nothing like a gloom and doom thread to cheer everyone up isn't it.No-one has to stay in uk you know, if it's not good then I am sure there are plenty flights out to greener pastures.

Oh behave 😒

higher rate tax payers fund a large chunk of the welfare bill. What is your suggested solution?

Think long-term. Invest in social housing. It costs upfront but long term would save hugely. Not just on the welfare bill.

Meh, I’ve lived and worked in countries with no power half the day, terrible health care systems, high crime rates, little political freedom, horrendously high inflation, unclean drinking water, high malnutrition and infant mortality …. I’ve had a lovely, safe day in the UK today. I’m not too worried.

The problems of today are the fault of successive governments going back at least 40 years. Always short-termist policy. Both main parties (and the Lib Dems) are to blame.

Absolutely not true. The Tories have been in power for eleven years - plenty of time to prioritise social hoisting. They don’t want to, and that’s not the fault of Gordon Brown.

@Campfirewood

Meh, I’ve lived and worked in countries with no power half the day, terrible health care systems, high crime rates, little political freedom, horrendously high inflation, unclean drinking water, high malnutrition and infant mortality …. I’ve had a lovely, safe day in the UK today. I’m not too worried.

Yes we are very fortunate in the UK.

@Campfirewood

Meh, I’ve lived and worked in countries with no power half the day, terrible health care systems, high crime rates, little political freedom, horrendously high inflation, unclean drinking water, high malnutrition and infant mortality …. I’ve had a lovely, safe day in the UK today. I’m not too worried.

And did those things all appear overnight?

I teach overseas, & my students are wealthy.

UK Russell Group uni has tended, historically as a school cohort, to be the goal they're aiming at for - approximately 55% with the rest punting for Ivy League in the USA.

Not anymore. There are still kids applying to London universities because their parents already own a flat somewhere in Knightsbridge, with a housekeeper & driver, & see it as a safe option, but they are increasingly in the minority.

Genuinely, it's seen as an unadventurous, dull, lousy value for money option.

People aren't buying the uk as a desirable tertiary education option any more, because it frankly isn't.

I can't argue against this, because honestly, I'd rather my own dc studied anywhere but the uk. Better bang for their buck, & far more interesting to learn in another culture.

It's all an appalling mess.

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

That's simply not true. I've been to many eastern bloc countries often and I can assure you all these problems exist and are very difficult to not see!

I agree it feels very bad at the moment. I look at my toddler and wonder what on earth lies ahead for him. We seem to have a 'won't happen to us' mentality in the UK about a lot of things and all this comes under that...
I have no idea how to try and prepare or put us in the best position we could be to try to ride out whatever is coming....and it's on all fronts at the moment.

We do have healthcare. Perhaps not exactly as good as you want it to be.

We soon won't. Already I don't bother trying to get a GP appointment for quite vital stuff. I look on the internet now and go to the chemist/rummage through our old medicine and treat it myself. Otherwise it's a battle just to get our GP to look at photos on line.

Have a disabled child and we've given up on any appointments for her. Luckily I've trained myself over the years to do physio etc - but there's other stuff ... scary stuff ... and we can't get seen.

Our NHS is disappearing before our eyes and nobody seems to give a shit. For me - I''ve lived more than half my life, I don't care so much. But our kids are truly f*ced as far as healthcare is concerned.

And this post misses out all the other shit things this government has brought on it's people and country. If you don't care about yourself that's fine - but does nobody look forward and wonder what this country is going to be like to live in - for our children?

@AlexaShutUp

At work, we had a presentation from a DWP bod the other day. Since Covid, one job centre in the county has had a 70% increase in the number of people claiming Universal Credit, the other 2 had increases of 54% and 48%.

I attended a similar presentation in work the other day. In the city where I work, which already had a lot of deprivation pre-covid, the number of UC claimants has almost doubled since covid. The hike in fuel prices and the removal of the UC uplift are going to hit people very, very hard.

Yet thousands of businesses are struggling to find staff. Particularly the hotel/restaurant/leisure industries. It doesn't seem to add up...

I agree, but I think our problems are much deeper and more profound than the issues you've listed here, which feel much more like symptoms than the disease itself.

Yep & we've already peaked so it's bad news from here on out.
The problem is taxes are now very high but it's not going to be enough. Decades of no investment & no planning. It was coming pre Brexit imo but Brexit has compounded it.

[quote AlexaShutUp]@Tealightsandd, I don't know what the answer is, but I am just saying that I don't think the poorest people are actually going to experience much benefit of their wages being pushed up because the price of essential goods will be pushed up too.

I do think we need better state support for low earners. If the taxpayer has to contribute to that, then so be it, but I would also like us to tax those exploitative employers more in order to fund this because there is little evidence to show that they will suck up the additional costs themselves.

I agree about investing in affordable housing. That would be a good start.[/quote]
@AlexaShutUp

I agree. Those at the top need to cough up.

Higher income tax, when used for better public services, is worth it. Look at Norway. And Germany, eg. the German healthcare system. They pay more in tax but in return receive good and timely care.

Xenia is right about increased population too. It's ridiculous to ignore the part that has to play. We have massively increased demand for housing and public services, on infrastructure, and competition for low paid jobs. Mass immigration is all very well but no good without an accompanying investment on essential services and facilities.

• Campfirewood Meh, I’ve lived and worked in countries with no power half the day, terrible health care systems, high crime rates, little political freedom, horrendously high inflation, unclean drinking water, high malnutrition and infant mortality …. I’ve had a lovely, safe day in the UK today. I’m not too worried. And did those things all appear overnight?*

Same than OP but in my case socialism fucked my country up. Now the equality is that most are really poor except the ones in government.

Yet thousands of businesses are struggling to find staff. Particularly the hotel/restaurant/leisure industries. It doesn't seem to add up...

Because of the public health housing emergency, those jobs too often don't pay enough (even with taxpayer funded welfare top-ups) to cover the rent, food, and other essential bills. They also often offer crappy conditions of employment.

Tackling the public health housing emergency would help hugely. Wage increases can't keep up with high house prices.

The NHS and social care are haemorrhaging staff.

Of course they are, lots have left because of Brexit & others are going to places like Australia instead of working all hours under the sun & still not able to afford a house.

It's not going to get better as we don't have enough people to do the jobs.

@Plumtree391 I feel like you.

I'm seriously considering an HGV licence, maybe if the Govt threw some funding that way it would reduce unemployment and get goods moving nationally. Reduce dependence on oversees drivers by building skills nationally. The real barrier is the cost of training.

The NHS is parlously stretched, maybe if Gp's were ordered to start functioning as they should or more effectively given their post Covid re-openings with triage calls for non urgent cases it would relieve pressures on hospitals. In our hospital last week there were 148 people waiting in A&E, mostly because they couldn't see a GP. Why?

Food shortages, really what is lacking? This thread has ginger ale and tonic water, not bread, milk, dairy, potatoes, meat. We are not starving.

Petrol availability is click induced. Shame on the media. Do a better job at highlighting real issues and holding leaders to account rather than lazy, panic inducing bile.

Energy prices will hurt, granted, the vulnerable must be protected, but for many of us we live in well built homes in a country that has very few really cold days

This is nothing like the 70's.

Things that worry me:
Nottingham hospital having to only give Chemo to the most likely to benefit as they don’t have the trained nurses they need. They give a lot to extend life and reduce symptoms some of this is having to stop.
I work in the elderly care industry and most of our homes cannot admit new residents from hospital as we don’t have enough staff. This causes blocking in the system not to mention it’s not the right place for the elderly person to be for them. I don’t know what staffing levels have to get to for a home to close but I fear some providers will have to.
There are no jeans in my local Sainsbury’s (this is trivial yes but clothes you used to be able to get easily are no longer available)
There are never any fucking potatoes in my local Co-op lately, I mean potatoes people!

One thing I've been moaning about for ages, this actually pre-dates Brexit, but is part of austerity Britain, is how poor everything looks

Yep