This country is going down the pan isn't it?

[Sunflowerkeep]

Mcdonalds Nottingham was raided by a gang of 50 kids, yes kids just young kids. It was upsetting to watch that. Kids being stabbed, inflation that's going to hit many hard. A corrupt government..any good points? I wish I could leave

Maybe you are unaware Blair was some time ago.

You never discuss the detail of politics I know from experience, so I won't go on, but if you think people like Curtice are making 'excuses for Labour' then you are round the bend.

Yanbu. The stabbing of that Lithuanian girl recently and that shooting of another little girl in her own home.

There's been shootings where I live (major cities)

They don't build council houses. Private landlords are being allowed to charge extortionate rent prices because people can't get council houses.

‘You never…’ er don’t get so hooked. It’s odd and I’m pretty sure I have

yes Blair was a while ago but I wouldn’t call it yet, the polls show Labour doing ok

@Crikeyalmighty . Who is blackshirt?

Labour can win the next GE but if they don’t then iirc Cons are first to win five in a row

I don't think you can count it in those terms as the Conservative Party has held so many elections! Under most previous governments elections were only held every 4-5 years so 4 consecutive terms would have been 20-25 years in total. If the current government wait until the latest time of December 2024 their 4 consecutive terms (including one in coalition, not governing outright) will only come to 14.5 years. They have already managed to spectacularly ruin the country in just 12 years though!

Does anyone know if any other countries are experiencing this weird "absence of government" feeling, or having social unrest?

I've got rellies in a couple of US cities who are having some issues but don't know about other countries.

The list I posted above was not Labour excuses, it was independently researched topics on both parties' electoral performances since 2010. Any national.politics is complicated e.g. the role of the SNP, the decline of the lib dems, demographic changes at individual constituency level etc., etc., etc.

Blair did win because of himself but also in part due to major political changes nothing to do with himself too.

The rout of Morrison in Australia gives clues for Starmer though, some similarities to ponder.

@carefullycourageous . Plenty of people in this country want jobs but can't get anything . People are being offered zero hour contracts. Others are being given less than 5 hours dispite asking for more.
Also how many people are on benefits?
We dont need any more migrants we need a government with bottle

Those people who can't get jobs - do they have a medical degree? Engineering degree?

You're living in a simplistic fantasy land.

@carefullycourageous
So how many of the thousands of migrants who have entered the country this year have these medical or engineering degrees then?
You need to wake up. Doctors and nurses are leaving the uk because the nhs can't cope.
Bring in a visa system.
Its not fantasy. The country is full.

Just returned from a lovely break in France (Paris and Provence). I know it has its fair share of problems, but things just seemed so much calmer. I relied on trains and they worked like clockwork. I didn’t see any shitty behavior when out, and people were so lovely to talk to. I had a real sense of dread returning or this shit hole. I’m a single mum and have discussed with DS a few times about moving abroad for a few months, but (understandably), he doesn’t want to. Everything feels so broken and I wish I could leave.

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-11138015/Small-firms-closing-crushed-big-energy-bills.html

Thank you for proving my point to a tee.

You just sound a bit BNPish really. All the info on migration is available.
My point is the GOVERNMENT are seeking qualified people from overseas. The people coming to fill doctor roles have medical degrees, obviously. People coming for engineering roles will have engineering degrees.

People are not leaving the NHS due to migration, you've simply made that up. They are leaving due to overstretched service provision caused by high demand + lack of staff - in part caused by lack of migrant doctors/nurses.

^ this. No discipline and no proper law enforcement or control.

If Scotland get another independence vote & they get their independence I'm off up there, this country is going to the dogs. We have a right wing government who don't give a shit about 90% of the population, the incoming PM will be as bad as BJ, the cost of living is going up like a rocket & there are so many people who can't see past how bad this winter will be because of energy price rises & food prices.

The Macdonalds incident seems to me a bunch of kids trying to get local clout on TikTok. Young teens of “a certain demographic” as a PP referred to it 😅round my area film themselves doing all the “edgy” things.

(I saw one this morning - boy in hoody very seriously puffing on weed while looking into the camera as if he’s in a rap video then panning on his with crew: white 16 year old girls in cheap clothes thinking they’re women now because this super cool bad boy wants to hang out with them.)

This has got me thinking though. The effects the further price hikes are going to have on those kids! 😮

They’re already angry kids, because they’ve grown up with nothing and they’re dads have walked out and their mums are too busy with the next boyfriend. (Real-life examples from my town) and too many reasons to list. They’re already hostile because that’s how you survive around the other angry poor people and maybe your angry parents.

I can imagine a lot more theft in general but these kids will have literally nothing to lose by just walking into shops and just helping themselves to whatever they want and walking straight out. No riots even necessary.

Though riots are pretty much guaranteed at first while it feels exciting and rebellious, rather than something you just do day to day.

So because I want a controlled immigration system I'm racist?
Grow up.

5 minutes from where I live two men were shot in the face & another man was stabbed to death within 3 days of each other. There are drug dealers dealing openly on the street, knife crime among teenagers many of whom are runners for the drug dealers is rife. People are frightened to go out at night, we never see a police patrol unless something has happened & then we know something is happening because the police plane is lighting up the estate. I've lived in the area for 21 years & it used to be a lovely area but now it's in a downward spiral. There is nothing for kids & teenagers to do, when I was young there was a brilliant youth club that kept kids off the streets, the youth workers helped keep kids on the straight & narrow. They supported kids who were in trouble with the law by getting them working in the youth club or getting them to coach sports or dance teams. They had sessions for pregnant teenagers & young mums by having the Health Visiting sessions in the club where they could feel safe & supported, youth workers helped get clothing & equipment, helped them get housing & benefits, took parties to decorate flats when they got a home, older women workers helped to teach the young mum's how to care for their babies & were always at the end of the phone 24/7 if they needed help or advice. But when the Tories cut funding for youth services they were shut down & the kids were back on the streets.

Nat your area sounds like mine, but we do have youth clubs that no one wants to go to. And with low attendance, they close down.

I think a lot of crime is kept out of the press. I live a stone's throw from the bus stop and there's always been dodgy types hanging around, but all gangs so I just ignore.

A few months ago, I was chatting with some neighbours who were saying we really need to keep our heads on the short walk from the bus stop, because in their words "those kids have hit the point they'll stab anyone for the sake of it".

There's definitely been more issues in school holidays round here.

We lived in Nottingham until fairly recently. The youth services were decimated a few years ago, and virtually every project shut down. That included successful projects working with young people just starting to get involved in gangs to steer them away to better things.
Lots of poverty and projects to support families have largely been shut down a lot of local charities have gone under.
Police numbers have also been cut.
All these things have an impact. I have seen middle class people scoff at the idea that youth services prevents crime and gangs as if all youth projects are a group of people meeting in a church hall. They have zero understanding of the work that has actually taken place.
We moved to Scotland to a rural area. I think things are going to get a lot worse in Nottingham and places like it.

And all those people on threads saying this kind of thing happening is normal, things go in cycles, really are not helping.
The more this is ignored, the worse it will get.