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Original poster

That her words about the UK really depressed me?

316 replies

NaturalScone · 21/04/2022 20:29

Talking to a Swedish colleague this afternoon, not had much of a chance to in the past and we ended up discussing the news.
She mentioned how peculiar our politics were, how we have such a massive wealth divide (as we all know) with little encouragement for people from all walks of life and backgrounds to have equal opportunities. By this she meant how Uni education is funded over there so nobody is in debt, which means many more young people are able to chase professional careers, without massive debt.
Also, the work ethic, how people in Northern Europe are encouraged to prioritise health and wellbeing as well as work, and how well housing, health, etc work over there.

I stupidly mentioned Boris J and she said he would likely already be sacked or various offences. I also didn't know that many European monarchs had to either self fund (?) or had most of their palaces belonging to the public.

Are we going backwards here? It left me feeling pretty depressed. I see people on here all the time saying we are so lucky here, but I think the bar is set really low compared to much of Europe. And now we are less connected to Europe, many people here only judge our standards by the US, as if the EU is somehow 'foreign'.
It all sounds a bit scary if I think about it, we do seem so easily led by a one-party representational media/press (right). And whilst I am not generally partisan, I do feel weirdly uncomfortable. She even said the tories were set to abolish channel 4 and soon the BBC because they were too neutral. I find that fairly terrifying and wonder where we re headed. I previously considered Brexit an issue of immigration, but to be honest I now wonder if that was a red herring and the true motivation was to get us clear of having to take on EU worker's rights and values.

I usually look for the positives in what we've got, because it feels better than admitting things are that bad, but now I just don't know. And not much I can do about it either!
Something does feel harsher and more divided nowadays, and politicians are able to do anything without fear of reprisal. The UK press is incredibly dire! Do other people see this?

OP posts:
sst1234 · 21/04/2022 22:21

The manic depressives who despair at the state of this country are likely the ones that contribute to the problems they complain about. Where to start?
lockdown enthusiasts complaining that inflation is running away with itself when they were curtain twitching and talking on this very forum about reporting neighbours. As well as idiotically banging pots and pans outside their houses on Thursday evenings rather than wondering why healthy adults were sat at home while the economy was being destroyed.
Nimbys turning up with placards to protest about commercial and residential developments in their area and then complaining that there no houses or jobs for their kids locally.
Even harder nimbys moaning about nuclear power stations and then in the same breath complaining that energy bills have gone through the roof. There is a protest group blocking the building of an onshore wind farm on Shetland isles which is deemed the best place in Europe for such an initiative. Let’s stop and think about that for a second - this is a green initiative at a time when we have an energy crisis. You couldn’t make this s up.
Complaining about the NI increase and then protesting that you might not get an inheritance because your parents have to sell their home to pay for their care.

The list goes on….

TheRocketWillFly · 21/04/2022 22:23

CharityShopChic · 21/04/2022 20:34

Did she also say that Swedes pay one of the highest levels of tax in the world? 32% basic rate income tax?

I live there (now), and yes..it is more than worth it. The quality of life, is no doubt worth it. There really is no comparison.

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 21/04/2022 22:23

Coinchend · 21/04/2022 20:43

aspirations on a society level are really low.

Can you give examples, and what do you think could change it? Find this sentence really interesting. I've only lived in the UK and US.

Grammar schools would help a lot

Crikeyalmighty · 21/04/2022 22:27

@MangyInseam I would agree- same here in Denmark- you certainly are expected to conform!!! And there's Little tolerance of anything that doesn't conform. As I say it's not for everyone.

TheRocketWillFly · 21/04/2022 22:28

Crikeyalmighty · 21/04/2022 22:14

I frequently go to Malmo- it does have some social issues but they are extremely localised even the police say that - same here in Copenhagen. I've never felt remotely threatened there but don't go to the iffy bits- the main central part is lovely it's like saying you wouldn't go to Bristol because there's been gang issues in dodgy bits.

Malmö is an absolutely beautiful town. So is Copenhagen.

Wintersonata · 21/04/2022 22:29

OP, genuinely interested in the point others raised about why she chooses to live in this dystopia that is the UK? Is she on the run from Swedish authorities

There was a Swedish poster on here quite recently who had been living in UK but was returning to live in Sweden. She wrote long rambling posts basically saying that the UK was a dump and she was so relieved to be returning to Sweden.
Plenty of posters joined in with the criticisms of UK and anyone who attempted to defend it were shot down pretty quickly and accused of telling the op to ‘go back to where she came from’.
Maybe the woman the op met is the same poster 🤣

BoredZelda · 21/04/2022 22:30

I frequently go to Malmo- it does have some social issues but they are extremely localised

Localised or not, the levels of poverty and homelessness are not greatly different.

giggbig · 21/04/2022 22:31

We are much more individualistic society than others but that's had pros & cons.

TheRocketWillFly · 21/04/2022 22:35

BoredZelda · 21/04/2022 22:30

I frequently go to Malmo- it does have some social issues but they are extremely localised

Localised or not, the levels of poverty and homelessness are not greatly different.

Have you been to Malmö..?! Poverty is not the right word, not even localised.

MarshaBradyo · 21/04/2022 22:35

Wintersonata · 21/04/2022 22:29

OP, genuinely interested in the point others raised about why she chooses to live in this dystopia that is the UK? Is she on the run from Swedish authorities

There was a Swedish poster on here quite recently who had been living in UK but was returning to live in Sweden. She wrote long rambling posts basically saying that the UK was a dump and she was so relieved to be returning to Sweden.
Plenty of posters joined in with the criticisms of UK and anyone who attempted to defend it were shot down pretty quickly and accused of telling the op to ‘go back to where she came from’.
Maybe the woman the op met is the same poster 🤣

Haha maybe 😬

mowly77 · 21/04/2022 22:49

Yes the UK is very very crap right now. But even Johnson can’t be prime minister forever. And I have Swedish friends and they’ve actively chosen to live in the UK instead of Sweden because Sweden is a small, suffocating country where everyone is essentially very conformist and boring. and if you don’t conform you won’t have a great time living there. But yeah great maternity leave and benefits etc. But not enough for the bigger picture of how you want to live your life. At least for the Swedes I know.

Blossomtoes · 21/04/2022 22:50

CharityShopChic · 21/04/2022 20:34

Did she also say that Swedes pay one of the highest levels of tax in the world? 32% basic rate income tax?

They also have gold standard public services. I know which I’d choose.

LampLighter414 · 21/04/2022 22:50

CharityShopChic · 21/04/2022 20:34

Did she also say that Swedes pay one of the highest levels of tax in the world? 32% basic rate income tax?

Well it's 20% income tax + 13.25% NICs here. A quick Google and I gather the Swedish tax deduction is inclusive of social security etc. So it's higher here...

Escarpahell · 21/04/2022 22:55

I'm almost 60 and have been out of the UK for over 25 years (11 in Ireland and 15 in Portugal). Decades of under-investment in health, social care, infrastructure and education have made the UK a shabby, mean and envious society - the haves are desperate to cling onto their material gains at the expense of the have nots. The (general) lack of societal concern is evident in the many threads on this forum; you are the 5th (or 6th or 7th) richest country in the world yet people are sneered at for living in abject poverty. It's not the people's fault but that of the political class who are more interested in retaining power than caring for the individuals who are supposed to be their servants.

TeatimeGlitter · 21/04/2022 22:58

Knifer · 21/04/2022 21:09

I can remember talking to a woman from somewhere in Eastern Europe who was absolutely horrified by our NHS that we are all so proud of. She said that it was rubbish, pretty much. That in her country, if something was wrong with you and you were admitted to hospital (for which the threshold is considerably lower) you would not leave until the doctors knew what was wrong with you. You wouldn't be referred for this test in a month or that clinic in three months. They'd all be done while you were in hospital and they'd find out what was wrong. And she said physio was post injury or surgery rehab, not something they just impose on people with painful joints or muscles, they find out why the painful joints and muscles are happening instead of palming them off onto some other department.

I often think the NHS is sort of like Poundland. Quite a lot of good stuff in there but lots more rubbish and really, if you paid a bit more, you'd get far better lasting quality. Yes, we've paid for it through NI but there's no denying the private treatment options are better and if the NHS was really world class healthcare, nobody would be able to say private healthcare beats it.

If you think that private healthcare is better, or if you are not aware of the very careful, sly and deliberate unpicking of the NHS that has been done by the government for decades in order to line the pockets of the individuals in charge, and their mates, then I really recommend you watch this:

It's called 'The Great NHS Heist' and the full documentary is on YouTube. It's utterly horrific that our access to the most important thing that we can have in life - our health - is being snatched from under us by greedy, vile politicians.

Blossomtoes · 21/04/2022 22:59

BeerLoas · 21/04/2022 21:33

I don't disagree with the sentiment as there are big problems to solve but I'm interested why there has historically been large immigration to the UK (pre-Brexit) if it's really greener elsewhere. I think there are elements that are greener, but nowhere has a perfect system - that doesn't exist.

Empire and colonialism. If you insist on spending a century invading half the world, you can’t very well refuse people admission to “the Motherland” from the countries you’ve subdued.

Unsure33 · 21/04/2022 23:00

I think the main bit I agree with is the British press are dire.

plus we have some pockets of lawlessness ( especially an area in wales which I belive is run by Labour) I find it scary that the police can’t seem to cope with these areas that seem to be a law unto themselves , and have no respect for the law whatsoever.

chisanunian · 21/04/2022 23:01

The Queen owns Balmoral and Sandringham, which are not publicly funded. Other properties are held in trust for the nation by the Crown Estates.

Felix0204 · 21/04/2022 23:05

I think things are going to get really bad. We never fully recovered from the last recession. We don't make anything , house prices have shot up , inflation is high and we will have less disposable income. The UK is very short sighted we seem to just focus on the here and now instead of the future.

Crikeyalmighty · 21/04/2022 23:06

@TheRocketWillFly My father in law couldn't believe how much he liked Malmo when we popped over from Copenhagen i if it was UK it would be highly desirable

profilehopper · 21/04/2022 23:08

@Escarpahell So you start your post by claiming you have not lived in the UK for over 25 years, so what would you know about the UK today apart from what you chose to read? Coming from some one actually lives here your opinion is pretty mute, you say yourself you have based it on MN 😂

Felix0204 · 21/04/2022 23:08

sst1234 · 21/04/2022 22:21

The manic depressives who despair at the state of this country are likely the ones that contribute to the problems they complain about. Where to start?
lockdown enthusiasts complaining that inflation is running away with itself when they were curtain twitching and talking on this very forum about reporting neighbours. As well as idiotically banging pots and pans outside their houses on Thursday evenings rather than wondering why healthy adults were sat at home while the economy was being destroyed.
Nimbys turning up with placards to protest about commercial and residential developments in their area and then complaining that there no houses or jobs for their kids locally.
Even harder nimbys moaning about nuclear power stations and then in the same breath complaining that energy bills have gone through the roof. There is a protest group blocking the building of an onshore wind farm on Shetland isles which is deemed the best place in Europe for such an initiative. Let’s stop and think about that for a second - this is a green initiative at a time when we have an energy crisis. You couldn’t make this s up.
Complaining about the NI increase and then protesting that you might not get an inheritance because your parents have to sell their home to pay for their care.

The list goes on….

This 1000 percent , we all had to know rishis cut price meals would have to be repaid 10 fold and how could they expect the economy not to be fucked when millions have sat on their arse being paid 80 percent of their wages. Incredibly short sighted there's going to be a lot of pain.

Neverendingdust · 21/04/2022 23:10

Scratch off the veneer and Great Britain suddenly becomes Little Britain rather quickly.

Crikeyalmighty · 21/04/2022 23:12

And instead of those being anti Scandinavian, maybe think on why those of us who have lived there think the UK could learn something. My own personal view as to why others from these countries choose to live in the UK is that sometimes it's partner related, sometimes a specific job related but the biggie for me is that as so many of the population are extremely well educated plus multi lingual, it's much harder to stand out and in my opinion harder to 'get on ' to a very high level than it is in the UK as there is more high level competition.

Felix0204 · 21/04/2022 23:18

I think the UK is badly run compared to Singapore which is very ordered and just seems to work. Their healthcare is very efficient but I couldn't live there full time due to the cultural differences. We are a bit full of ourselves in the UK especially over the NHS it really isn't that great.

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