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.

Can I move back to UK circa 2000 please. Good health service, smaller class sizes, more TAs, great Surestart centre, a sense of optimism and pride that the UK was moving away from being a small minded haven for bigots. Bought my first house for £53k in an alright area on one wage and a 3k deposit. Definitely not perfect but a hell of a lot better than now.

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

This is perhaps the biggest positive and the negative of the UK - we put up with so much crap, which can be a brilliant trait.

There will be riots in France because Macron will try and increase the retirement age to 64, when it went to 67/68 in the UK, we just shrugged and said "Could be worse, in many countries you don't retire"

I lived abroad for a bit.

I think this is the best country in the world to live in.

If money was no object I'd still keep the uk as my main base (ie pay tax here). I just concede I'd head to the sun on dreary weeks like this!

We have an excellent welfare state safety net.

There is mostly rule of law and only minimal corruption.

People are fairly safe and considerate drivers. If you are in a crash you will get an ambulance and be fixed up for free.

We have great tv, spectacular scenery, open spaces, mostly decent education, a fabulous literary tradition, the best museums in the world, no earthquakes!

Yes just put up with inequalities, it makes it so much easier when the hoi poloi know their place.

So many fantastic things!

-pubs
-green countryside with vast amounts of places to walk
-unspoiled beaches open to the public
-kind, open minded and tolerant people
-safety and security
-high levels of employment
-incredible architecture everywhere, especially historic buildings
-many free museums and galleries
-festivals and brilliant events all summer
-excellent food
-temperate environment
-the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen
-wildflowers
-hedgehogs

I love living in the UK (was not born here and have lived on three other continents so have a diverse range of comparators).

You have all overlooked the most important thing.

you could travel to any country in the world and will never encounter a place that rivals the U.K. for crisps. We have the greatest variety ever. And the best flavour, our national favourite ‘salt and vinegar’ is unrivalled across the world.

Summer outdoor concerts in the gorgeous grounds of beautiful stately homes. The brilliantly batty British bringing full on picnics to the concerts.
I once saw a large group bring enough food to fill a large trestle table,including a joint of beef ready to carve.
Never have I been prouder of my countrymen!

Having just had 20 months in Denmark here's what I missed- balanced I guess by the fact some things there I felt were much better than here in terms of lifestyle.

Waitrose and M&S - the Danes really don't do ready meals to any standard- a lot of American type frozen rubbish

Random people talking to you at bus stops or in queues - even if I had been Danish and spoke it- it just doesnt happen

Pubs- there are a few but not particularly nice- more like Irish theme type tourist places and certainly no 'gastro pubs'

Hills- there weren't any!!

Familiarity- you can't underestimate this- when you realise that no- you can't buy off the shelf stuff like in Boots and need to know the name of the product you need and in Danish- you realise that familiarity is a big thing for some people.

Variety of architecture and locations. Brighton doesn't look like the Peak District or Bath or Norfolk. Copenhagen is very lovely but most towns and cities there all felt incredibly similar as was the scenery if you went out for days, there wasn't a vast variety of 'change of scene' on the doorstep.

Bar snacks too, we do the very best!!!

@Notwavingbutsignalling Sorry- had some amazing crisps in Denmark - I think the brand is Taffel and the ice cream (soft ice) was the best I've ever had - this could be why I came back 2st heavier-

If you've spent any time in a country where people try to push in ahead of others, you soon appreciate the etiquette that still mainly exists in the UK.

Irish Tayto crisps would like a word.

Makes me laugh when people say..
The countryside.
The coastline.
The pubs.
Free healthcare ( it's not, it's free at the point of delivery, unless you're prescribed medication in A&E, then you have to pay for the prescription )
The architecture.

Because clearly no other country has these thing's.

The weather is one of the UK's best bits IMO - mild maritime climate is perfect to me.

Why do people always go on about the weather in the UK? If you like the sun (I don't) go somewhere sunny and frazzle there I say.

I worked for an aid agency and travelled to some of the poorest places in the world, where kids sometimes had to bury their own parents in graves in the back yard or only had an apple or a small bowl of grain to eat all day.

I'd say this country has an extraordinary amount going for it.

Plus our coastline - beautiful and wild.

I've travelled a bit, but always felt happy to come back to the UK. I wouldn't live anywhere else.

No-one knows the value of being able to queue until you've spent time where it's not a thing.

Twiglets

Having lived abroad in Asia and the US, I have lots of opinions on this!

1. Pubs (of course!)
2. Cheese that is amazing, readily available AND affordable
3. As someone else mentioned, crisps - the American offerings are so lame in this department, unless you're only into things flavoured with nacho cheese or chili powder.
4. Hedgehogs <3
5. History - I love the mishmash of architecture in the UK. Sometimes in the states it feels like the vast majority was designed to look like a big, modern car park.
6. Welfare state and mental health help - obviously I know there are room for improvement with both, but you don't encounter violent crazies wondering around the streets and trains of London like you do in NYC (its a daily thing here)
7. Cheap supermarkets
8. Much more stringent rules on chemicals in food and products than in the USA
9. Sophisticated and quick sense of humour. Most people in the states just don't tend to get banter, and need something announced / implied heavily as a joke or sarcasm or whatever. In the UK we infuse most everything we do with humour and playfulness, and people just get it without a need for exaggerated facial expressions or heavily inflected "sarcastic" voice for exposition. I really miss that!
10. The ability to drink anywhere - most places in the states you can't drink outside or as a passenger in a car (can't even buy kinder eggs here!)
11. Quite an integrated society in general (people don't tend to only hang out with others from identical ethnic backgrounds, like they do here!)

I've lived in UK, USA, an EU country and a developing country. I think the UK has the best quality of life.

Best compromise between tax and public services - not got it right, but in my experience the other places I lived got it further wrong.
Police don't normally have guns - sure there are some bad police, but at least they don't have guns. And most are not bad.
Free education, libraries
Temperate climate
National trust
Ordnance survey maps
Seaside
Ability to laugh at ourselves
Sarcasm

Read bill Bryson Notes from a small island, I think you'll enjoy it.

It has the most successful political party in the democratic world. Our beloved Tories for a nation of cap doffers.

And the pubs have real beer in them! I get cravings for proper beer when I'm abroad, even though I sometimes go weeks without going to the pub. It's as though knowing it's not available makes me want it more.

We have lovely countryside too, within easy reach of even our biggest cities, great collections in our museums and galleries, theatres even in quite small towns, and no-one's ever more than (iirc) 70 miles from the coast.

I'd hate to live in a country where you had to travel hundreds of miles to get to a beach.

I have lived abroad for 12 years and I wouldn't move back and I don't miss it overall, but the UK is a great country and I feel lucky to have grown up there. I like to go back for visits.

It's a very comfortable feeling to truly belong somewhere and fit in completely and be familiar with everything and speak the language perfectly. That's something you don't know until you don't have it. You should appreciate it! The countryside and flora and fauna of the place where you grew up will also always be the landscape where your heart is most at peace. I live in an absolutely gorgeous country with a much more dramatic landscape but the gentleness of the fields and woods near my childhood home will always be incredibly soothing to me. It's lovely to see the green patchwork from the aeroplane, quite distinctive in my experience.

Britain has great pies, sausages, cheeses, beers, ciders, apples, so much! British food and drink is often really excellent. Simple perhaps but the UK produces some great quality ingredients and does good things with them, in my opinion.

The climate is usually mild and lacks extremes.

Which one of the 20-something countries was you planning on living in @Haveagentlechristmas have you researched it fully to ensure it is better than the UK?

Nowhere is perfect. Every country has problems, many much worse than the UK does.