To wonder why Brits aren't protesting in the streets?

[ponderingpaula]

I used to live in the U.K. and I can't for the life of me work out why the British people aren't protesting the government, given how utterly shafted you have all been by them, and how things have been getting worse and worse over the last few years.

Working people needing food banks and "warm houses" because the costs of living is so outrageous, the nhs is utterly broken unless it's an emergency and even then people have to wait hours for an ambulance, social care virtually doesn't exist now, transport is crap and constantly striking, there have been so many lies it's impossible to count, multiple leaders over a short time, u turn after u turn, prioritising the ultra rich, I mean this is just off the top of my head...

In any other country on earth people would take to the streets to protest or even riot... why don't Brits?

Doowop1919 - Don't you have to pay for health care in Germany though?

We don't pay for it like you would private health care but it comes out of our pay packet (like NI I suppose) with our employer contributing too. However, it's a legal requirement and you have access to it regardless whether you work or not. (I'm currently at home watching our toddler, and pregnant again, so we're all covered through my husband right now - if in the unfortunate circumstance he were to lose his job, the state would cover us instead - so you always have access and the health care really is fantastic here - you just go to each doctor pending on what you need. My son has a paediatrician, I was having problems with dizziness so I went straight to the ent etc).

I'm too tired to protest

I earn less money than I did 20 years ago in REAL figures, so with the costs of well... everything having risen over the last two decades I reckon I'm on one quarter of what I used to earn

Similar where my family is. It also includes basic dentistry and regular checks, regular gyno checks and access, and they all had normal access to all doctors when out of lockdowns 20-21. 😭
If you don't work, state covers it for you.

Thousands protested on 1st October, Nationally
Enough is enough, organised by unions to support the strikes that are going on in many industries
If you look for this kind of thing, you will find organisations locally

Yes that sounds pretty identical to here. Our doctors never closed, and when we need to go to the regular gp, we just head down there in the morning and see them that day.

It really worries me what's going on back in the UK. My uncle was diagnosed with cancer in June and he's still waiting on the appt just to talk to the consultant about next steps and mum has been waiting for gallbladder removal surgery for 2 years now. And of course this is just health care, not food shortages or anything else right now 😓

Oh the food shortages. They didn't get it either. Though prices are rising there as well, some quite significantly. But frankly, people were used to heat houses up to 26 degrees in the middle of winter so plenty to cut back on. But it is still quite a rise. The medical care is like incomparable with access and wait times. Hope your uncle and mum will be seen soon.

What you see portrayed on TV isn't the reality for the majority of people who actually live here OP.

I don't live in the UK and see very little about it on the TV - contrary to what many in the UK seem to think the whole world is not really interested in some random place many miles away! What I see is the numerous threads on MN about how people are struggling, and friends who live there telling me how things are (not that my friends are struggling, but they are all affected).

On the contrary I’m often taken by how posters o/s seem to be ‘watching U.K.’ ‘in horror’ or whatever.

I wouldn’t expect people to be that interested if o/s. They have their own lives.

You don't need to be aggressive towards posters who are the ones living through this shit.

But there are many on this thread saying everything is hunky dory and it's only the media ramping things yet - and here you are, saying "living through this shit". So MNers - which is it??

I tried to go to the local enough is enough protest, unfortunately the trains were on strike so I couldn’t physically get there. There are enough strikes going on at the minute that the government know how we feel.

I tried to go to the local enough is enough protest, unfortunately the trains were on strike so I couldn’t physically get there. There are enough strikes going on at the minute that the government know how we feel.

Most of us are too tired from working extra hours and running a home, sorting kids out etc. I couldn't afford time of work to protest and I have no annual leave until next year.
I'm certainly not hunky dory....I'm the closest to the edge I've ever been in my adult life (always worked full time, very minimal maternity leave for two kids) but I quite simply have no energy left.

Because we’re not French?
we are protesting thoughx
arent we . Look around.

Too bloody cold for a start.

Yes, it was a good point (thank you for the correction) and that being the case it reinforces my initial point even more!

I feel for you @ThinkingForEveryone, I really do. There seem to be a sub-set on MN who think that they and their mates are doing fine and so everyone else must be too. I've never been able to understand people who can't see that other ordinary people can struggle.

Because we're not French.

Aw come off it, OP. People in Iran, North Korea or Belarus are being utterly shafted by their govt. UK democracy is imperfect but it pretty much functions without people resorting to recurring street protests, and most people are ok here, get to do what they want to. I bet there's still a large % of Brits who aren't even aware of who is the PM or anything political that has happened in last 6 months.

My dad in USA lived 4 years under Trump so isn't throwing stones from his glass house, where constitutional & abortion rights are under severe threat. He has "good" health insurance but spent 8 hours in A&E to get covid anti-virals the other day because the regular (California) doctor office was closed. Lots of govts & societies around world are struggling and never get democracy that smooth.

They are protesting. There is big one in London this Saturday. The media does not report on it.

onlythreenow · Yesterday 20:11
You don't need to be aggressive towards posters who are the ones living through this shit.

But there are many on this thread saying everything is hunky dory and it's only the media ramping things yet - and here you are, saying "living through this shit". So MNers - which is it?“

Its both. Lots are hunky dory, lots aren’t. The two groups tend not to mix.

Was a former Tory MP on Newsnight last night who started a food bank some years ago. She stated that 1 in 4 families are now living in food poverty.
I personally don’t know any but I’m not blinkered enough to believe they don’t exist.
When a former Tory MP makes a statement like that, I’m inclined to listen.

The French led the way in 1789 - they don't put up with shit.

@onlythreenow thanks , we'll be fine....we have to be! I'm in the more fortunate position of having a house to sell if it comes to it (the forever family home that we were so pleased to get, twee but true!)
As long as some of us can still afford meals out in lovely restaurants though everything must be okay right?🙄
It makes me wonder why I've bothered working so hard throughout my children's childhood when it has come to this anyway.