Why is it worse in the U.K.

[Thatsaturdayfeeling]

I’m British but not in the U.K. at the moment. Where I am, we also have food price increases and petrol was v high for a while, but it’s all not to the extent as the U.K…why is the U.K. in such dire straits compared to other places?

On the issue of food, I think there is such a culture of eating out, or eating convenience foods rather than cooking from scratch, and they are both more labour intensive than natural foods, so we are more susceptible to price rises.

And partly cultural - my Italian cousin wouldn't dream of giving her family convenience food - but we work the longest hours in Europe, which means we simply have less time to shop & cook, and so need to cut more corners.

Something I think that has been neglected is that supermarket prices in the UK have always been lower relative to wages than comparable counties (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain etc ). And not just Aldi, Lidl etc but also Tesco/Sainsburys. That’s partly down to the huge competitiveness in the industry in the UK, with about ten major supermarkets competing on price which you simply don’t get elsewhere. What we are seeing now due to Brexit and the Russia situation is British supermarkets having to somewhat ease up on their endless price wars, as it’s simply not feasible right now. Hence British consumers are being pushed into a different reality. But £50 will still get you more in Sainsbury/Tesco than it would in any comparable EU country.

In a nutshell the elephant in the room isn’t British supermarkets having to increase 10% or whatever - it’s the fact that wages have stagnated and our largely Tory built London finance/service/house price Economy isn’t strong enough to enable any government to help people withstand any tough periods.

The wages in Australia are commensurate with the prices. For example, minimum wage here is over $25 an hour. My husband, as
a nurse, earns more than he and I (a teacher) combined did in the U.K.

Mintjulia it is precisely the cost of staples that have gone through the roof.

And partly cultural - my Italian cousin wouldn't dream of giving her family convenience food - but we work the longest hours in Europe, which means we simply have less time to shop & cook, and so need to cut more corners.

I think when it all gets added up you see that the living standards in the UK are quite poor for the average citizen in comparison to the average in comparable places on the continent. The fact that there are millions of British people with beautiful homes in beautiful places makes us somehow more tolerant of the very modest lifestyles lived by the majority. As long as British people are reassured that there are definitely people worse off than they are, that somehow appeases millions of people to accepting a very unequal setup. It’s definitely a mindset more present in the British psyche than on the continent.

I don’t think it has to be the case even given working hours. It can be quick to cook without convenience food.

I can’t stand the stuff so no matter what will choose whole food even if eggs (I’m low carb anyway which means you avoid certain things)

Er, Brexit and successive incompetent governments (well, same one really with a different numpty at the helm).
do they have newspapers/tv/radio where you live 😁

Our electric bills (from today) are going up 60% and it's estimated each family will be paying €45 a day for gas.
200g of cherry tomatoes €4.
I litre of milk €1.69.
Etc etc.
Wine is cheap. Can't put it on my Special K though.
Or maybe I should try- it might make the rising costs more palatable!

ive just returned after living in an EU country that was ridiculously expensive to live in. We were struggling to make ends meet. Everyone said to us don’t come back it’s horrendous here, yes costs are going up, people are being hit hard, but for us it’s far better than were we where. Even just having free healthcare is a huge difference. The English like to moan and always think they have it hard, but the reality is they honestly don’t know how lucky we have it here. I’m saying this as an English person who has lived in various other countries, EU and other. It’s definitely going to be a rough few years but I certainly don’t think it’s all roses everywhere else.

Ha true

I don’t know what the media is like (except for Aus as I sometimes check it out) and I get the impression U.K. media is better at hammering us. We tend to get whipped up here. Someone on radio called our news cycles brutal which struck a chord, it doesn’t help

@GCAcademic "you can't just blame the government"...

Erm which PM and tory govt stupidly decided to hold an EU referendum, then lied to the public about the potential outcomes? Completely incompetent. It should have been a parliamentary decision rather than a public decision. The public didn't have the expertise to decide on such a matter. So yes, it is the govts fault on brexit, ultimately.

Brexit.

It's the additional layer of stress to deal with that other countries haven't.

What are you basing your statement that uk is worse on?

Turkeys rate of inflation is over 80% at the moment

Given Austerity, Brexit and the fact PM Truss destroyed the economy and tanked the pound last week, I think we can definitely blame the government.

Incompetent, corrupt, arrogant bastards. They have destroyed the UK.

High inequality = low growth.
Brexit was a stupid idea.
Tories are self serving.

Any idiot going to the ballot box could have foreseen what a Tory Brexit would have looked like.

And the PM didn’t just “decide” to hold a referendum. They Tories ran on a manifesto to hold one, and people voted for that,

That's a lot for milk. Ours is still around 1.10. My favourite wine is €2.50. (Cheap tastes!) So still cheaper to put milk on my Special K! 😉

It’s so terrible to live here that people risk their lives to cross the Channel every single day.

@GCAcademic "Any idiot going to the ballot box could have foreseen what a Tory Brexit would have looked like." I don't think that's true actually. Look at whole swathes of tory voters - old people who read the daily mail, who lap up every word of it and believe it. The voters include poor people and ex red wall voters. Turkeys voting for Christmas. They were misled by the media and the Govt. Are you saying the govt didn't mislead them about potential outcomes? £350m a week for NHS? The govt is fully culpable as far as brexit is concerned.

Yabu

i have lived in uk, uae, Malaysia in the last 10 years, and have family in HOng Kong, plus visited Singapore and Japan. It is not worse in the UK, but no where else have I seen this bizarre attitude of bashing your own country and constant hysteria and agitating to tear everything down.

Because our economy was built on frictionless trade with mainland Europe, plus cheap migrant labour from Europe and we lost those things overnight via Brexit and haven’t replaced them yet. Turns out America etc are not fussed about a free trade deal after all.

But to be fair - our press are still quite good about reporting the truth on the economy, and when many other countries eg Dubai have economic problems their media lie about it. In Dubai I’ve seen 600 migrant labourer deaths reported as six, and empty vanity-project towerblocks lit up with lights to make them look occupied, etc

You are slating it. You said why is it in dire straits compared to so many other places.

And you don’t even live here. What gives?

BTW, It’s not. It’s really not.

@Thatsaturdayfeeling so stay right where you are then if that’s what you think about the uk. You have the choice to join return.