Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is the UK about to collapse?

778 replies

Penfield · 07/10/2021 14:20

Sorry - There was probably a better way to put this.

Does anyone else have a feeling that we are close to some collapse, explosion, disintegration of society ...

With gas prices, petrol shortages, inflation, Brexit fall out, Covid, gaslighting government etc

I feel like we're on the edge of something - big ...

OP posts:
buttermutt · 07/10/2021 18:15

My aunt, who would have been 114 now, was saying in the 1960s that she’d never see her pension. I think she got it for 20 odd years. People have been predicting the end of state pensions ever since they started - yet here we are …

Well what age did she qualify at?
Free prescriptions age will also be raised imo.

Blossomtoes · 07/10/2021 18:22

@buttermutt

My aunt, who would have been 114 now, was saying in the 1960s that she’d never see her pension. I think she got it for 20 odd years. People have been predicting the end of state pensions ever since they started - yet here we are …

Well what age did she qualify at?
Free prescriptions age will also be raised imo.

Free prescriptions for over 60s should have gone long ago. In fact, they should go for all pensioners who aren’t receiving pension credits, just like free TV licences.

I think you can probably work out what age she started to receive a state pension for yourself, given that you know she was born in 1907.

buttermutt · 07/10/2021 18:27

So you understand why some people today think they won't see their pension & certainly not 20 yrs of it?

teaandpastries · 07/10/2021 18:30

@Ifailed

Ah yes - we weren't sure whether we were going to die of AIDS or a nuclear war. Honestly, compared to that, COVID is a piece of piss

Add to that IRA bombs (in London), Thatcher was denying the existence of society, Ronald Reagan was launching 'star wars' and Chernobyl blew up. The 1980s were certainly more scary than the 2020s are.

You've forgotten the worst aspect of the 80s - Black lace!
Blossomtoes · 07/10/2021 18:31

@buttermutt

So you understand why some people today think they won't see their pension & certainly not 20 yrs of it?
You’re completely missed the point. Again.
buttermutt · 07/10/2021 18:32

😆 the irony!

buttermutt · 07/10/2021 18:33

I've just realised you're the same poster on the other thread, clearly a nerve has been hit 😆

Blossomtoes · 07/10/2021 18:39

@buttermutt

I've just realised you're the same poster on the other thread, clearly a nerve has been hit 😆
No nerves hit here, sweetie, although I’d be interested to know what nerve you have in mind. We just happen to be interested in the same topics. 🤷‍♀️
madisonbridges · 07/10/2021 18:42

@OddSockReunion
"The Brexit ones clearly are not: that is why there are not empty petrol stations or supermarket shelves elsewhere in Europe (I have family in 7 other European countries that are all still in the EU and friends in others)."

There aren't empty shelves here. And the petrol situation lasted a week and is running normally again. According to MN there were no shortages abroad during the first lockdown either. All of these are caused by british people behaving ridiculously. That's a citizen driven problem that obviously doesn't happen in other countries.

buttermutt · 07/10/2021 18:44

Perhaps I'm mistaken my dear but it certainly looked like @TataMamma handed you your arse.

Blossomtoes · 07/10/2021 18:45

@buttermutt

Perhaps I'm mistaken my dear but it certainly looked like *@TataMamma* handed you your arse.
She certainly tried. Whether she managed it is a matter of opinion. Now this is getting tiresome. And it must be very boring for other posters.
WowIlikereallyhateyou · 07/10/2021 18:46

@Feelslikealot

No, we are not and stupid posts like this just encourages peoples anxiety and causes panic. But no doubt you'll get a thread full of people agreeing with you.
Agree.
JasonMomoasgirlfriend · 07/10/2021 18:47

I don't think there will be a big house price drop. Property always goes up in value really

The pension thing...I'm 34 and I'm confident we will get one but I am lucky to have a generous private pension and so is my husband.

tootiredtospeak · 07/10/2021 18:47

It's a horrible time to be alive...I mean really.

FreeAsAByrd · 07/10/2021 18:48

These events go in cycles. For several hundred years we were on a huge upswing, invading our neighbors, conquering and colonizing near and far, ruled the seas, etc.

Nothing lasts forever. We're clearly on a rapid downward trajectory as a country. My grandparents were born in early 1900s, and our position in the world to them would seem astounding.

However, if you look at other benchmarks like life span, average wealth, freedom, we're in a good place really.

JasonMomoasgirlfriend · 07/10/2021 18:48

And I do think the free things pensioners get should be means tested. My granny has £££££ in the bank and there's absolutely no need for her to have a free TV license or whatever.

Blossomtoes · 07/10/2021 18:50

Property always goes up in value really

Unfortunately it doesn’t. A lot of people whose houses were repossessed 30 years ago still owed money after they’d lost their house. Hopefully that won’t happen to people again.

Blossomtoes · 07/10/2021 18:52

@JasonMomoasgirlfriend

And I do think the free things pensioners get should be means tested. My granny has £££££ in the bank and there's absolutely no need for her to have a free TV license or whatever.
She doesn’t get a free TV license any more.
JasonMomoasgirlfriend · 07/10/2021 18:52

Long term it always goes up

JasonMomoasgirlfriend · 07/10/2021 18:52

Good! She doesn't need it!

Livpool · 07/10/2021 18:56

Not at all but then I don't pay any attention to the media of the doom-mongering on heee

Bucanarab · 07/10/2021 18:56

The environmental crisis is here, you just can't see it yet (and when you do it will be too late)

That's not catastrophising, that's reality

Ok so if that's the case, what the hell is the point in worrying about it? If it's going to happen anyway?

Because things are going to get so much worse if we don't act now. The business as usual model predicts a gmst rise of 4-4.5°C rise by 2100. The effects were are starting to see/feel are from a circa 1°C rise in gmst. A 4°C + rise can still be stopped but only if everyone starts taking it seriously and not pretending that "there's no point cause China/government/big business etc"

buttermutt · 07/10/2021 18:58

She certainly tried. Whether she managed it is a matter of opinion

Of course you wouldn't agree but I vote yes 😜

Unfortunately it doesn’t. A lot of people whose houses were repossessed 30 years ago still owed money after they’d lost their house

And on the flip side for many who bought 30 yrs ago they have made significant gains on their investment. It's still a very safe investment which isn't a good thing but cannot be ignored.

Silvercatowner · 07/10/2021 19:03

My generation were brought up with parents and grandparents who lived through the war - or wars, if you count WW1. We played in the spaces where buildings had been bombed and cleared, and listened to the tales of deprivation and suffering. I think it may have grounded us.

That's mostly gone now. The wars are history rather than recent memory, and we don't have those horrific first hand accounts of the horrors of war to compare our own experiences with and to.

Rabblesthecat · 07/10/2021 19:05

Yes, if my new staircase gets punted any further into the future I’ll be rioting. Takes a lot for me to get worked up but that will do it

Swipe left for the next trending thread