Do you feel secure in Britain?

[Gettingeverybuggoing]

I’m British, but live abroad in another European country. We’ve discussed coming back for a couple of years now. It’s beautiful where we live, lifestyle, weather etc, but I often don’t feel secure/stable financially. We earn ok and have a nice life, but there’s that fear if it goes wrong…there’s not the same benefits system as in England (you have to be v v low income to receive any help at all)
I want to be able to sort proper private pensions for us and a savings account for Dd etc. We currently own a home and have a small mortgage and have always paid into the system, but I’d like to feel more secure.
People now tell me it isn’t secure at all and we’re better off where we are, pre covid they used to say to come back or they’d have fair arguments for both places, it now seems to be as though we are mad for considering it.
Do you feel secure and stable financially etc or isn’t it like that anymore?

Are you implying I should have come back and updated my post as it was no longer entirely true?!

Funnily enough, when I came home on the evening of the 22nd and found nearly all my Christmas presents stolen plus my jewellery, providing an update to an old MN post wasn't my first priority, funnily enough.

Perhaps the tone is lost in writing but it's not something I'd write to someone who'd just been burgled.

Absolutely not.

Comforting at least to know that 3 police units, dog trackers and forensics were sent out within 5 mins of the alarm going off though. So hopefully not too much taken or damaged

I don’t feel safe as a Muslim either. I’m looking at what’s happening in Italy and France and think the drums will get louder in the UK too.

and yet a British woman was stabbed to death in her own home in Brisbane. No matter where you live, there will always be serious crime being committed.

You have a nice lifestyle but don’t feel secure? Why not? What more are you expecting? Whatever you’re after the U.K. won’t offer it at the moment. It’s basically in free fall and everyone is really miserable.

Does the UK have gated communities?

I think many should try living in other countries, really opens your eyes, I appreciate the UK so much more.

Everyone is NOT really miserable. I am not and most of my friends feel comfortable.

It does. Not sure what swcurity is on going in but I have one not far from my home

I have lived in a gated community in Rio de Janeiro so of course I feel safer in the UK than I did there. The crime in places like Rio is on the streets, violent and very common so is not comparable to UK which is relatively safe in that respect.

The problem in the UK is the decline of the NHS, schooling, public travel, polluted waterways and beaches. I can’t see this reversing now and in that respect the UK is becoming less secure than comparable EU countries.

No because the collapse of the NHS has devalued our life to a huge extent. Pensions nearly lowest in Europe and Unions getting back in charge due to appalling cost of living hike.

I feel safer in Britain.

I just got back from Paris and my goodness it was awful with rubbish everywhere, a horrible tension on the streets and prices are skyhigh. It's not my beloved Paris I last visited. It felt like people were really fed up with it all.

And it worried me because if Paris can be like this so can other places I considered stable. It's put me off going back to be honest.

I have took my rose coloured glasses off and realised I need to look at what I have here in Britain. It's not perfect but it is safe.

10 years ago I would have said yes, without question. However the UK is currently on a downward trajectory, and I'm not sure that anything is likely to happen to change it. Standards of living in this country are declining - it's been happening for a few years, but is now getting more and more visible.

I just got back from Paris and my goodness it was awful with rubbish everywhere, a horrible tension on the streets and prices are skyhigh.

that is what happens when inflation hits and strikers go into action. Hopefully, it will catch on here properly otherwise retirement age will be 90 and NMW in 2030 will be the same like now

I do not.

The NHS is very badly run, by hugely paid managers, billions of ££ are thrown at it. They have jumped on every band wagon, especially the evil trans nonsense. I doubt you will find a ‘free’ health service elsewhere, in Europe people pay insurance.

I have never lived in London or the big cities, but I would not feel safe there, huge amount of crime and killings.

I live in the ‘boring’ countryside and feel quite safe, although we are careful about security. France for example now has a great deal of crime and people sleeping on the streets, so I am not sure where to go for a better life

Depends where you are I suppose, but personally I'd prefer to get out of the UK.

As an Irish person, no. Microaggressions from a minority of people got more frequent after the Brexit referendum, and it made me think of the days when we used to get stopped at airports and ferry ports, and felt I figured as a possible perpetrator rather than ordinary member of the public for police. I left.

We all pay for healthcare, insurance or tax, take your poison but here in france you get healthcare, AE dept's here are like your local BUPA compared to the UK.

Outside of the cities, there is little crime or homelessness, housing is more affordable, we have gendarmes in every little town even villages, crime rates appear higher because crimes are logged and reported, heck they even investigate them!

Roads are well repaired and sports facilities are fantastic.

Even with Macrons reform, the French will still retire at 64, some 4 years before the UK.

No. Making plans to emigrate. Life will get much worse here in the UK. Higher taxes, less rights. We will be overtaxed and controlled by government.

I know it’s a zombie, but so sad that a pp, disabled, said she feels that the government would rather she killed herself off so they didn’t have to do it through the NHS and benefits system.

What I feel quite strongly, and it’s backed up by the data, is that the UK is leaning towards being a very unequal society. That’s why you get loads of ‘I’m alright Jacks’ every time this topic comes up. Because they are alright and shielded from what is actually happening. For those of us who want to live in a more equal society and would prefer to resemble the likes of our close neighbours, Sweden, The Netherlands, Denmark, the UK is a depressing nightmare right now.

I don’t know if you’re discussing the topic but as someone who also lives in the same area of north London and is part of the community, I can assure many people are troubled, we just don’t live our lives to discuss it. I’ve passed the stage of even trying to think about it due to the awful anxiety it brings. Only a couple of years ago that convoy from Bradford showed up, kids were being harassed on the school run and mezuzah were being broken off from doors (which has also happened to me.) I don’t think I left the house for a few days during that time… so just because your friends aren’t bothered (and I’m surprised they are not) doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

that said to the other poster, I feel safer here than I would in the USA or France right now - actually in many places, so we are still relatively lucky.

Yes it was awful with streets lined with tents and people begging, rubbish flying around the streets, graffitti everywhere making it look third world. I was shocked at how bad it's become and honestly it was worse than the UK. Never thought I would say that. It opened my eyes.

With the pension age that someone mentioned, I feel for their plight but realistically can they afford to let their seniors retire at that age, surely it has to rise otherwise who pays for it? It's a ticking time bomb and I hope
France can sort it out and get back on track.

No, I'm Irish, disabled and neurodiverse, but because I work and study I'm deemed too "high functioning" for any help. Nobody sees what goes on behind the scenes that enables me to do what I do, nor do they see how exhausted and debilitated I am at the end of what most would deem an average day. I've barely the energy for things like PIP forms let alone self-advocacy.

Plus my age and conditions aren't going to make me a desirable candidate for moving to another country.

Like a PP further back, the government would probably rather I offed myself at some stage. At my lowest ebb I did have those thoughts, and I am always anxious about how things will be if my conditions get any worse. How will I cope in work and in the precarious private rented sector?