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.

Cats - they are properly appreciated here.
Wales - the most beautiful country in the world
British sitcoms are the best in the world, e.g Detectorists, The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, Motherland etc

We are good at humour - esp sarcasm & irony
We are generally polite
Diverse community in London
Our love of gardening, discussions about the weather, a nice cup of tea and a sit down = all pretty gentle

The appalling shitshow of a Tory government has fucked everything else, bring on a GE to turn it around.

Proper telly.

I really like it here. I'm always a bit baffled when I read threads on here about how it's dreadful. I suspect many people have acute cases of the grass is always greener.

Money laundering
Drunkenness
Scones

Are you in London? Take yourself off (on a rainy day) to see one of our lovely free museums or galleries. Go and mooch around Harrods or Fortnum & Mason to see how the other half live and all the lovely expensive items. Hanging around to be fed in the foodhall is fun! London has so many free places to explore. Be a tourist for a day.

I moved to a hot country that is efficiently run. I do like it here but we miss a) the cooler weather - Christmas in heat and humidity is very weird, and b) the countryside. Here you can't really enjoy being outside 9-5pm most days because of the UV. I miss long cool walks, seasons, cloudy days and drizzly weather.

Lovely friendly people who have a great sense of humour.

Green rolling hills and wide open beaches.

A rich cultural life - museums, galleries, theatre, music, comedy, plays.

Beautiful buildings - churches, palaces, castles, villages, stately homes.

History and heritage- kings and queens, Shakespeare, Churchill, wars, beheadings, Nelson.

And cream teas.

Temperate climate.
Fertile and varied countryside.
Historical buildings and free museums, especially in London.
Different cuisines from around the world.
Down to earth people.
Lots of good universities.

We have some gorgeous scenery, lovely places to visit and history everywhere you look. We have great music, really good TV, a wonderful literary scene and lots of culture, including stuff that's free. Food is pretty good when you eat out and mostly eating out and entertainment is affordable.
Generally people are good and kind. People are incredibly generous when it comes to charity and fundraising. I also find most people are funny and willing to laugh at themselves.
Some things we take for granted may not be perfect but they are pretty much free to everyone - health care and education for example. Whilst there's a way to go, women and children have protection and rights they don't have in many countries.
The weather at the moment is dire but the variation in the seasons is wonderful and even grey days can have beauty. It's not exclusive to us but the night sky this week has been stunning. The country is green and there are gorgeous parks and gardens, and most people can cultivate their own garden or green space. The wildlife is great: there is something for everyone on our doorsteps.
For those of a certain age who remember the late Roy Castle on Record Breakers....I heard his wife speaking at a charity event once and she said most of us go to bed at night with walls to protect us, a roof over our heads, electricity, clean water and enough food in our fridges and cupboards. For that I am grateful because we forget that it really isn't like that for millions and millions of people in the world. Broken though it may be, our welfare system just about still works and the vast majority of people in the UK are willing to step in and help others when it doesn't.

Lots of amazing architecture

The NHS (such as it is now)

Lovely countryside.

Many countries have these though. London isn't the only interesting city out there.

But conversely lots of poverty. Grim economic outlook for the future.

The vile Nigel Farage and his loud fans seem to dominate.

I hope to never have to live in the U.K. again.

We are funny as fuck especially in Scotland

Go and mooch around Harrods or Fortnum & Mason to see how the other half live and all the lovely expensive items.

Bit of a reminder of our rampant social inequality though 😬

Lovely story ❤️

I've lived abroad for 10 years. The things I missed were:

• fun friendly chats with random strangers (common in Scotland!)
• rolling hills/landscape
• castles
• not having to concentrate to fully understand people as they are (generally) speaking English

I lived in New Zealand (Auckland) for 10+ years so only have that to compare the UK with but I love my home country to bits, despite its flaws. Everywhere has its problems. The grass is sometimes not greener over the fence!

• Access to countryside. In NZ, you could see a lot of green but you couldn't walk on a lot of it. Was frustrating after growing up in the UK.

• We don't have both the highest rates of melanoma and highest melanoma death rates in the world, meaning you have to dip yourself in factor 5000 before stepping outside. Even in winter.

• We have enough supermarkets for the competition to keep the prices down, unlike the duopoly in NZ, which has led to unacceptably high prices for decades. Also, high because so many products are imported, which seems ridiculous considering how much is grown in NZ.

• Seasons.

• Pubs.

• Our heritage, historic buildings and culture.

• Things to do (other than surfing/kayaking) and actual theme parks etc.

• The events in the UK are on a different level.

• Choice of products/being able to purchase things at a sensible price.

• Free GP visits, we used to pay £20-40 per visit depending on where we were living.

• Better salaries and no provisional tax if you run your own business (you have to predict how much you will earn and pay the tax in advance, which I despised!)

• Loads of other stuff related to cost of living, poverty, house prices, mental health etc. that are glossed over in the Tourism NZ brochures!

Just trying to provide some balance. Other countries have their plus points, of course (such as the days when we could pull over to see orcas passing through the harbour on our daily commute, and the wine is incredible) - but I have a much greater appreciation for the UK having lived elsewhere - and in a country that a lot of people believe is paradise.

Apologies for the weird formatting on my post - not sure what happened there and can't edit 😒

Pear shaped women??

Oh dear. If you're going to look for "rampant social equality" everywhere you won't enjoy anything.
After reading this I'm so looking forward to my night in the boozer tomorrow with three friends - me (English Londoner), another English from elsewhere, one French and one Russian. We will have such a larf. In the afternoon a friend (German) is popping round for a cuppa. She is a fanatic on London history and is a trained guide, we will have a larf too. As long as there's a larf involved I'm happy (and a few pints!)

This thread has lifted my cynical, tired
old heart. We really do have so much to be grateful for, and many have already been mentioned.

I went to the USA for essentially the first time last year, and was gobsmacked at how many petty rules and regs there are, and how many organisations can make them. For a country that calls itself the land of the free they really are very heavily regulated. It made me appreciate just how much I take for granted my living in a truly libertarian country.

I think we need to be grateful for what we have got. Many other countries would be a hell of a lot worse and you would be begging to return

Ive lived abroad and its not perfect.

Social inequality has always existed and always will. Don’t dwell on it.

That’s not what the OP says 🤣🤣