Are things in the UK really that bad?

[namechange10022002]

I’ve been living overseas for about seven years and I am lucky to have a very safe, easy, comfortable life here but for various reasons I really want to move back home to England. However I keep hearing about how bad the situation is over there, with the cost of living crisis, housing, energy bills, health service, etc. For example I was watching Triggernometry and the hosts were saying the next few years are going to be extremely difficult for everyone there. I was just wondering, is it really as bad as they say? If you never watched or read the news or looked at social media, would you notice the difference in your quality of life? What is the general feeling on the ground, so to speak?

I guess I just want to know if it would be a mistake to move back there.

darjeelingrose · Today 17:10

ComtesseDeSpair · Today 17:09
The reality is that for most people who say “I would move if I had the option” never actually had the option. If you have employable skills and speak European languages to fluency, it’s still perfectly possible to move “to Europe”, regardless of Brexit.
^^
The reality is that it isn’t Brexit stopping all the people who want to move who didn’t move when they could: it’s the fact they don’t have any skills and they don’t speak any languages and there really isn’t much of a life anywhere in Europe for English-only speakers to do unskilled jobs, Brexit or not.

That's really not true for retired people though is it? They could have moved and now can't.

My point exactly.

What school staff strikes? I’m a teacher, have been balloted but no announcements have been made.

in Scotland ?

This is true for lots of people. It isn't true for lots of other people. My high street has no empty shops. The food I want to buy I can afford . Some people are struggling, some are not. The situation is no different in Europe.

Amazon prime delivery time seems an of bit drastic reason to move from the UK.

The food I want to buy I can afford

I didn't say food is unaffordable. I said food prices are rising. Demonstrably they are rising. Not just due to inflation but due to additional costs thanks to Brexit.

Whether or not you can afford the food is not relevant to whether it impacts your bottom line.

@ILoveeCakes Just amused at how someone who is apparently so desperate to leave, can't

I'm glad somebody finds it amusing. It certainly isn't funny from where I'm sitting.

@ComtesseDeSpair FYI, we both speak fluent French.

It's not entirely true for anyone, I don't think. My niece keeps being denied a Visa for her study abroad in Italy and there appears to be no rhyme nor reason for the rejection. She has a fixed-term job lined up as an assistant in a school, she speaks the language, she has no criminal record. It's teaching English as a native speaker so not taking the post from Italians. These Visas don't just fall into your lap even if you have skills and can speak the language. There's quite an element of luck involved as well. Pre Brexit she could just have gone over there and got on with it.

People who have money to invest in property, do not wish to have the right to work, and want to apply for residency are among those with the greatest options. Cyprus, Portugal, Greece and Romania all want to attract foreign investment on that basis and have some attractive terms for it, if retiring is your aim.

Seems pretty spiteful for someone to be laughing about it.

Right o

Where do you live to have a high street with no empty shops?

My town is thriving compared to most- visitors often comment how lucky we are- but we still have quite a few.

What I mean is, people who do this routine often aren't as motivated as they claim - or they'd have resolved whatever blockage they have and moved. Can't be that bad here, or she'd have figured something out.

So you pay more for lesser quality food and that's absolutely fine by you and it has no impact on the amount of free cash you have at the end of the month.

Sorry that is just nonsense. No matter how rich you are no one is unaffected by paying more for less.

No one is unaffected by higher energy costs.

No matter where in the UK you live.

I think what we're seeing with these posts is that you'll be fine if you're quite well off in the UK. If you're not, you're in trouble.

I fall into the former camp (well, I consider I do on a joint £100k pa (pre-tax) income; no mortgage- I'm probably poor by MN standards!).

My young adult DC are seriously considering emigrating as they can't see any time soon when government policy will begin to address the yawning generational wealth-inequality that bedevils us. They have £45k uni debts and stand no chance of ever owning a house, except for inheritance (a huge driver of The Divide - those who can pass cash down and those who can't).

In terms of the state of the country, overall there is a sense of things sliding. The NHS is being deliberately dismantled by the government; it has to be increasingly staffed by third-world trained staff. 20 minute appointments are now 15 minutes. Nurses are using food banks. There are 16 deep ambulance queues. Many can't access any dentistry. I take a day off work if I need to get a GP appointment as I can't sit on the phone for the necessary 45 minutes and be driving to my NHS job. I think we will see a huge upswing in strike action this year as the cost of living goes up and up.

Energy costs are through the roof, but there is no thought about taxing the extortionate profits the energy companies are making.

This country is being governed by the rich, for the rich.

And unfortunately, the deliberate underfunding of state education makes this task easier by the year. cf Brexit.

@ILoveeCakes What I mean is, people who do this routine often aren't as motivated as they claim - or they'd have resolved whatever blockage they have and moved. Can't be that bad here, or she'd have figured something out.

Yes it is - and believe me, I've tried. Do you have any suggestions?

No. I don't know your circumstances. In any case, you'd just do the standard technique of blocking any suggestion. If you really are motivated, you'll figure it out.

A lot of Mumsnet is white middle class and mostly families which I don't think paints an accurate picture.

I'm none of the above I earn £32.7k live in London and I'm single.

I can just afford to flatshare I'll never be able to own my own place. I'm in mid 20s and I'm considering moving.

it's poor wages, poor transport, poor healthcare system.

@ILoveeCakes In any case, you'd just do the standard technique of blocking any suggestion. If you really are motivated, you'll figure it out.

Au contraire, I'd welcome any suggestions. I'm all ears...

Did you think about going when Brexit was on the cards? Seems a shame to have waited until it wasn’t possible

It's bad. The NHS is screwed and everything is starting to look shabby. I have encouraged my children to take language A-levels so they have an escape route.

@MarshaBradyo Did you think about going when Brexit was on the cards? Seems a shame to have waited until it wasn’t possible

Unfortunately we couldn't retire in time. By the time we could, it was too late.

If her only way of living in another country is if they are forced to take her under EU law (rather than taking her based on skills or income or assets) - that paints a bleak picture of her as a human being.

Her reasons can't be failure to be accepted by other countries. Not all of them.

I refuse to believe that about my gal. She must have different reasons, but is keeping them to herself.

You need to be quite well off and not need an ambulance.

I got together with some old university friends recently and there was quite a lot of doom and gloom and some awful stories even though we are all well off. The reason is we are all around 50 so many of us have elderly parents or aunts or uncles who have needed emergency care recently and had trouble getting it and have suffered as a result (eg someone’s mother having a stroke and waiting far too long for an ambulance then on discharge waiting weeks for assessment of her therapy needs, all of which means her chances of recovery are worse than they should have been). And these are well off people who could afford to pay for private treatment but not everything the NHS does is also available privately.
I think if I was 10 years younger I would be very much less personally concerned because the chances of my dad having a fall for instance would be much less. It’s scary having elderly parents in ill health during an ambulance crisis.

I was going to say someone would come along and talk about how it's not that bad and compare it to the 70s soon, but someone beat me to it. No, this is not like the 70s, people are looking back with some dark tinted glasses.

Even if you're not directly affected right now the general direction of the UK is pretty negative and uncertain. The problem is the state appears to have come to the end of the road in being able to support people. Prime example is the worst pension in Europe, how do you reconcile a lifetime of contributions here with that when you're young?

Yep. Agree. Don't even particularly watch the news or anything as I like to be optimistic and get on with things but fuck me, it's shite.