What does this country have going for it? UK

[Haveagentlechristmas]

Sorry if this is a goady thread, but with the awful weather we have had for weeks, the astronomical electricity prices, the uncaring and mismanaging government, an NHS that is absolutely crumbling despite those working in it giving their body and soul to the job, locked down borders where we can no longer as easily work, travel and live in 20 something countries, could people please help with positives of this country. I'm feeling like all my pride and patriotism has vanished.

Only Brits truly get the British sense of humour. You get people from other cultures behaving like they understand it and even love it but I always shake my head.
Those other countries mentioned are full of polite, considerate people but they often cannot laugh at themselves.
We also have less judgment of ethnic minorities, different body types, different accents. It's very tolerant and relaxed compared to elsewhere. We also do really good junk food.

Bergerac

It's a shame Brexit has made it so difficult for British music artists to break Europe by touring since Brexit then, isn't it?

@verdantverdure absolutely - and I work in that business- it is nigh on impossible now unless you are a very big name indeed

Yep. Brexit voters apparently voted to keep British culture behind the Brexit curtain.

And to decimate one of our most successful industries.

Britain has had enough of exports.

Britain has a huge amount going for it! I will hold my hands up though and admit to having emigrated as I could get a much better standard of living elsewhere, but I do love Britain very much and spend all the long summer there.

All the things that the tories couldnt fuck up, such as the British sense of humour, the beautiful hedgerows and stately homes, free to visit museums, the huge strength of creativity in the arts (music, theatre, literature, film), our amazing Christmas spirit, our love and care of animals, our ability to source a huge variety of foodstuffs and our adventurous nature with cooking (!), the ease of being vegan, our multicultural societies which we are (for the most part) incredibly appreciative of, our weather (on the whole, is less likely than most places to kill us.)

The language! Native speakers can never appreciate the intricacies of the English language (okay, many places outside the UK speak English) but we are inventing words all the time, and can completely reverse the meaning of words just with a slight change in intonation. We have DOUBLE the vocabulary of French, I know Spanish songwriters who write in English because there is more language available to help them express complex emotional concepts than in their native language. Also, I think that being a native speaker and never having to learn Phrasal Verbs is a MASSIVE payoff and worth dealing with shit roads and a crumbling infrastructure for!

All the crap stuff about the UK can be changed if we vote for (and teach our children the importance of voting for) those with the political will to do so.

Yes to phrasal verbs, and nothing could have prepared me for how lost I feel living in a country where I can’t use question tags. It makes small talk almost impossible.

@QuentininQuarantino interesting post- when we lived in Copenhagen, there wasn't that much I missed but the things I did were quite odd- because I didn't speak Danish, I really missed being nosey and listening into other peoples conversations! Or occasionally striking up an occasional casual conversation because someone was talking about something that I knew about - or the odd general chit chat /joke with a call centre worker. Everything became quite transactional even though they speak great English. Quite naturally they speak to each other in Danish

Other places are just as bad. Grass is greener on other side etc

I've only really travelled in Europe recently but nowhere seems as bad as here. Trains, roads, supermarket shelves, prices,

Our country is so run down now.

I keep reading that people in Britain will be worse off than people in Slovenia and Poland soon and I can well believe it.

Most of Europe looks on the up.

We don't.

Trust me I'd never travelled much before last year, 6 weeks on the road last summer going to different places in the US, Canada, Italy and the Bahamas and I wanted to cry with joy when I got back to England. Decent tea!! And my people!!! Normal lovely people and the weather isn't humid, sticky and extreme, I love it I've never appreciated this country more

Oh yes and also NO GUNS!

Sorry if this is a goady thread - yes, it is, but you know that!

but with the awful weather we have had for weeks ... it is winter

the astronomical electricity prices - an issue all over Europe at the moment and other plans are having more profound difficulties with it than the UK.

the uncaring and mismanaging government who we can at least vote out when next the opportunity arises, since this is not a dictatorship or one-party state

an NHS that is absolutely crumbling despite those working in it giving their body and soul to the job - a bit hyperbolic

locked down borders where we can no longer as easily work, travel and live in 20 something countries - did most people live, travel and work in 20-something countries before Brexit and assuming not, we could say this doesn't affect them. Plus, the borders aren't locked down!

could people please help with positives of this country : no famine, no war, freedom of speech, less racist than a lot of other European countries, access to education and healthcare free at the point of use (if not as accessible as it should be), decent maternity rights for women, general workers' rights a lot better than in other countries, Equality Act, adjustments for those with Disabilities and long-term conditions, probably one disability of most disability-friendly countries in Europe.

Sorry if this is a goady thread - yes, it is, but you know that!

but with the awful weather we have had for weeks ... it is winter

the astronomical electricity prices - an issue all over Europe at the moment and other plans are having more profound difficulties with it than the UK.

the uncaring and mismanaging government who we can at least vote out when next the opportunity arises, since this is not a dictatorship or one-party state

an NHS that is absolutely crumbling despite those working in it giving their body and soul to the job - a bit hyperbolic

locked down borders where we can no longer as easily work, travel and live in 20 something countries - did most people live, travel and work in 20-something countries before Brexit and assuming not, we could say this doesn't affect them. Plus, the borders aren't locked down!

could people please help with positives of this country : no famine, no war, freedom of speech, less racist than a lot of other European countries, access to education and healthcare free at the point of use (if not as accessible as it should be), decent maternity rights for women, general workers' rights a lot better than in other countries, Equality Act, adjustments for those with Disabilities and long-term conditions, probably one disability of most disability-friendly countries in Europe.

Hello Rishie 😂👋

I like living in SW England. I've been in many other European countries, including for years, and like it the best. The other country everyone rates (often better) for standard of living is Germany. I like the UK as I like the weather (yes, really, milder winters than my husband's country) and Spring, Summer and Autumn are all great, people mind their own business and are quite tolerant (not like in some places where they have committees who tell you off if you don't mow your lawn/keep your house a certain way, you can dress how you like, eat what you like). I find it multi-cultural in my corner of it, that's deliberate having lived in more narrow-minded areas, love London for that, and the bigger cities.

Plenty to moan about, I agree, and the structural problems are deeply worrying but for me life's good enough to stay here and not want to move elsewhere (which British people can usually do if they gain residency or look to change nationality across Europe). No desire to live in rest of the world for sure (don't hate it, just prefer to visit on holiday!)

No dangerous creepy crawlies.

Humour; music; never far from a place of historical interest; diversity; never far from the sea; temperate climate no extremes; some places are breathtakingly beautiful; and its where everyone I know and love lives.

when we travel to Europe we tend to see the best bits of the country, we do not have to experience the bureaurocracy, we don't visit the equivalent deprived areas, we are on holiday so we don't compare accurately the prices, or general cost of living

While food prices in the UK have gone up a lot they still compare very favourably with most of Western Europe and USA, the normal price for basic eggs in USA is 5$ for 12, here it is £2.50 even in Waitrose, a recent comparison of Aldi prices in USA and UK found UK was cheaper for 95% of basic food items. we do not live in Utopia but neither do we live in a horrible place

This thread has restored my belief that the UK is not the worst place to live. We are generally very privileged to be able to take so much that is so good for granted. The good humour alone. And it's beautiful and varied scenically. We have a lot to enjoy. No wonder so many people would like to live here.

I ❤️ an orderly queue.

I like the people. The English are gently sarcastic and the sense of humour is dry. They don't overreact or tend to panic. Privacy is valued. People have hobbies and eccentricity is tolerated. It's a literate and witty place. Culturally interesting and mostly peaceful.

Obviously there's a lot stupid, ignorant screaming stuff but mostly it's rather nice and relaxed.

There are things I don't like, but usually those are government issues, rarely people themselves.

Surprised there are so many positive comments. We have become a miserable, apathetic 3rd rate country under this present corrupt cabal and I can’t see it changing anytime soon. Normally I’m a glass half full person but not at present.

A nice thread to read

(mostly)

Oh, that's hilarious - well done! Fwiw, I'm not British, I don't even get to vote in a General Election, and I've never voted Tory in a local one. But I forgot that anyone who says anything positive about living here = Tory scum.

I wouldn't normally try this line, but I suspect if you spent a week in Kyiv, plenty things about the UK would seem not so bad after all.

Isn't the government trying to leave the European Court of Human Rights?

Why do they need to do that?

Which human rights do they want to take away from us?