To think the uk is on its knees

[Ilovemycatalot]

Just this. Every day negativity. No one is happy with life or working conditions. The country is at an all time low. Living standards getting worse by the day people getting poorer. I know we are not in poverty like some countries but honestly can’t see us ever returning to decent living standards unless you’re the few top percent earners. Tell me I’m being dramatic perhaps I am but can’t see much of a way back from this .

I work in community development and I am frightened at the state of the country. Food bank usage is at an all time high. CAB has seen the biggest increases ever in people needing advice and parent carers are at crisis point. Local schools closed for strikes, local hospitals buckling under pressure and I am in the East Midlands. Yes people are still eating out and shopping but there are thousands of people falling through the cracks.

This.

It depends which supplier you are with, if EDF state owned then its capped at 4%.
There is a doctor drought in very rural areas, but you can search online for any doctor in any area. There's usually someone you can see in an emergency.

Yes things were tough in the 70s but we had North Sea gas and oil coming on stream and EU single market to save us.

After WW2 we had the global bounce back from war but even then saw the huge decline in manufacturing, we were know as the "Poor Man of Europe"

No one is suggesting nurses earn 100k, don't be silly, they would like a starting wage of around 30k or 10%, which isn't unreasonable.

As for crime, our crime rate is double that of France and we house the highest number of prisoners of the Eu27, we are not at peace, ffs don't you read the news?

In earlier crisis, we had the ability to borrow and devalue the £, now we cannot, so we will have to tax the wealthy and assets far more.

Oh and none of the previous crisis were self inflicted, remember we voted to make ourselves poorer.

Far from going and lived through a few downturns, remember school strikes when I was a kid etc. It’s the lack of hope that gets me the most- I worked in the charitably sector 20+ years ago and the closest thing to a food bank was a cupboard of food the Salvation Army kept in standby at the back of the hall, used if a family had lost their purse or some similar drama. Hearing was an affordable basic, benefits were right but enough and sanctions rare (my friend was sanctioned after missing an appointment due to covid, second offence after first bus Disney turn up for one a few months before so now living on £157 a month after rent for everything). There was always that sense that it was a blip, I don’t know if I see that this time. Perhaps it’s because my own family and loved ones are mostly in industries slammed but covid- either closed down entirely or the complete opposite- and the resilience ran out? Last time my husbands small events tech business survived by exporting small amounts but the bureaucracy and costs post brexit mean it’s not viable now.

Perhaps it’s just that simple? So many rough years on end will do that after all. There’s no big covid / war effort wtc to motivate people, just a bit more endless misery

Electricity prices capped at 4%
I think it's 15% now and only for domestic users?

Yes brilliant isn't?

UK energy has gone from around £1100 to approx £3000 & to make even more money, have forced entry into homes to install pre payment meters, effectively cutting off the vulnerable.

Near me, every leisure centre in the county council area was closed, 2 were eventually saved.

You might want to link to UK Rural Dental Deserts? or better still as said earlier, start your own thread on Is France on its Knees? instead of hijacking this one.

Food banks are a stain our society - the fact they are needed. Charity for working people. Disgusting with the wealth that exist here. The UK has gone backwards in terms social provision. Shameful.

I am convinced professional Tory PR are on here regularly. People who only post on political things- that's very unusual - it's like the few odd bod guys who only post on posts related to porn or sex. My father in law is 83, Has been a Tory voter since 2010 . Now is utterly disgusted at them, thinks they are a bunch of clueless twerps who don't have a business brain in their body and are just in it to milk the system for themselves and then bugger off. He realises that basically they are ukip and always campaigning and never leading. He also thinks far too much is aimed at appeasing old people- ironic as he's 84.

People who only post on political things- that's very unusual

I see a fair few pro Labour posters who only post in support of Labour and pretty much nothing else.

@Crikeyalmighty - your father is spot on. That's exactly what the new Tories are like. They are not business orientated.

Notably, compared to other Tories of the past, they don't think ahead. They are much stupider than a generation ago.

The number of homeless people I see these days, in places I never used to see them, is a source of despair. A country should be judged on how it treats it's most vulnerable and we're simply failing.

The UK has 54 homeless per 100k people.

The USA has 17 homeless per 100k people.

Ireland has 16 homeless per 100k. Italy and Spain have 8 homeless per 100k.

It's really not good enough and anyone saying "we've always had ups and downs like this" is complacent in the extreme. How can we improve anything if people fail to acknowledge what's going wrong?

Look at the UK care system for example. The idea that it's all part of a natural cycle and things will take an upturn any time soon is just utter delusion. There are structural issues after many years of poor government that are simply not going to sort themselves out automatically.

Just read the father’s view

Obviously people turn away from parties. I could say the same about Labour. Bunch of clueless gender ideologists who call women rights hoarding dinosaurs.

I used to think they were ok too

who call women rights hoarding dinosaurs.

What does this mean?

Look up David Lammy and the quote

It's great being in the EU - a better life. That's the simple fact of it - most posters who moved to the EU and commented on this thread have said the same. You just can't see it because you're blinded by loyalty to the Tories/Brexit, which is sad because both have ruined the UK and neither deserve any loyalty from you, or anyone else.

Oh I totally agree with him. Too many people seem to be of the mindset that affording rights to others takes something away from them. It's absurd.

Are you being sarcastic on another thread re men in sports etc?

You seem to have two different positions - elsewhere you’ve said it’s a disgrace

I don’t usually notice posters but that post was quite clear and direct

For the first time in my life I despair of all political parties. However the Tories have led us into most of the mess we are in.

I agree that we need to have perspective and be appreciative of what we still have, a relatively good quality of life for most of us.

However the UK is in trouble, huge inequalities, education and NHS are struggling. It is not just the same as the rest of Europe, everyone else in Europe knows this. One of the UKs weakness is that it is ignoring the problems. That is why trains, education and NHS are all on strike which is NOT the same as Europe. They are telling us ‘it’s not working!’

It means nothing. It’s mindless parroting of some right wing rag.

It means nothing to those who don’t care what Labour lie about and if they call them dinosaurs.

David Lammy didn’t have a gun to his head to say it. It’s his issue and the Labour loyalists can look away but not every woman will.

Reminds me of the anti semitism that harmed Labour last time.

Loyalists probably thought the same then. But it became an issue for them at election time - which was good to see. I’m sure many would have liked to wave those views away too as irrelevant.

@GPTec1 Your post at 8.48 today referred to my claim that the current average salary for nurses at the American university medical centre associated to my health plan when I lived there is now over USD 100K. Did you misunderstand? My claim is a matter of public record, and I am glad that nurses are valued. A sampling of major American health centres with average nurse salaries over 100K includes UC San Fransisco, UCLA, Weill Cornell, NYU-Langone, Columbia-Irving, Massachusetts Genera and Dana Farber Cancer Center. UC San Diego misses by a whisker and ‘total average pay’ at U Washington is just over 100K.

I agree with you that nurses in the UK are dreadfully underpaid. If you are going to characterise my statements as ‘ridiculous’ at least get your facts right.

@MarshaBradyo I don't agree if professional labour activists are doing it either by the way (or Lib Dem's)

@LexMitior He's suprised us as he voted Brexit but now admits he was totally out of touch- had no idea how closely everything was integrated in business these days with EU legislation, didn't understand about the hammering to exports, believed the shit about the NHS and thought we would end up with a Norway type deal. He said his understanding improved massively when he switched to sky news and stopped reading the Daily mail!! To be frank he thought we could have our cake and eat it and that we held all the cards and now realises we simply didn't - also how little manufacturing we actually have and unless you have a very big UK centric market or strong markets outside the EU there's no incentive to set up manufacturing either , given that exporting to EU is now a pain in the arse . I think part of the problem is a lot of people don't understand these basic business principles or 'why' you wouldn't invest here in many things unless it's a bar or a retail outlet or an accountancy practice- something very UK centric etc -

Yeah the bit about voting Tory was satire. I don't believe that Labour genuinely want men in women's toilets or sports. I think they're between a rock and a hard place, in a very difficult position whatever they do.

The idea I'd vote Tory and deal with everything that entails just because Labour haven't yet arrived at a unified position on trans rights is just absurd. I really despair when people base their entire voting logic around a single issue like that.