To think a lot of the Uk looks like a state

[Novembermummy88]

Not sure if I am being dramatic or if years of austerity are really starting to show…? Lately I’ve really started to notice how filthy, run down and falling apart everywhere looks! I live in a town in the south east on the borders of the M25. Every where there are gapping pot holes (can hardly avoid the volume there are now and genuinely concerned I will lose a wheel at some point!), broken lamp posts, the volume of litter / filth on the roads seems very high and can’t remember the last time I saw a road sweeper, and things like pathways are a state, road markings worn out, SO many closed/dilapidated shops….the town just looks awful as do many of the nearby towns! Is it just the South East looking like this? Aibu?! Or have I watched too much Selling Sunsets and setting my expectations too high…???

I mean, if people didn't want to be poorer they'd all be lobbying their MPs to fix the tax system as I described above, rejoin the single market and customs union, etc.

How many complaining here have done so?

Loads of times, but my MP is Steve Baker so it's a complete waste of effort. (He'll be out in two years thank GOD).

And I already responded to that: in times of economic affluence populations usually rise. You don’t get to be nostalgic about the former while pretending the latter isn’t a consequence.

I really have to agree.

same in Dorset. Towns are looking grim.

Yes you are absolutely right, looking around you could be forgiven for thinking we were a second-world country rather than the world’s sixth richest nation. More than a decade of austerity has really taken its toll on our towns and streets.

It's the government. Lining their own pockets with our money and not actually using our money on our needs. The greed in this government is a joke. And it's done in broad daylight. Daylight robbery.

I have. My MP reached the point of telling me that he and I were doomed never to agree about anything. But he disapproved of Liz Truss, as it happens, so that was one thing, I suppose . . . .

Agree. Some parts of the UK have always been scruffy, but since "Austerity" every bit of public spending has been cut back to the bone.

Plus the failure of government to tackle social care funding means councils are left picking up an increasingly unmanageable bill for elderly care.

Not to mention a failure to have any long term strategy, to have mistakenly pinned their failed hopes on Brexit and then rush it through badly have left this country with reduced investment, damaged supply chains and killed small export businesses.

The concept of the "high street" is now a complete anachronism.

No idea what the future for the UK looks like but I hope at least we get rid of the self-seeking Tories.

I agree this country is turning into an unmaintained slum, it's starting to look worse than some third world or developing countries! Rats and vermin and rubbish everywhere, including criminals in SE London.

It was very low down perhaps for some Leave voters. It was top priority for quite a few, as many vox pop interviews on the news have indicated.

It’s the litter that really gets to me. I also live in a town near the m25 in the south east and I was talking to my mum about why it seems to be so bad. We have family who visited from another country and they commented on how much litter was in our town… are we just not teaching our children, are there not enough public bins because they have to be emptied…

@imnotthatkindofmum organise a litter picking day once a month. Bring the community together. Start be proactive rather than just wondering around noticing the litter. You'll feel great, the neighbours will appreciate it and hopefully it will get the neighbourhood looking fab again 😊

Yes, sadly I have to agree that the state of a lot of places in the UK have become run down looking and unkempt. You could be describing my area to a ‘T’, other poster, and I live further north - empty shops, broken foot paths, numerous potholes, rubbish strewn everywhere (a lot deliberately it seems, too, eg, what is it with the morons who deliberately place empty cans and bagged dog faeces on tree and shrub branches - surely takes more effort to do that than find a litter bin).
There’s a distinct lack of street cleaners, bins are overflowing. However, what’s wrong with the people who throw their rubbish in the streets and in verges - why can’t they take their rubbish home with them?
What’s happened to civic and personal pride? The state of our streets and some gardens/houses isn’t down solely to lack of funding (though it certainly doesn’t help) - we have to take some responsibility ourselves, too.

No one seems to give a shit any more! When we were kids we had the Wombles and the Keep Britain Tidy campaigns but if you challenge anyone for dropping litter now you get a mouthful of abuse! It's just a symptom of the I'm alright Jack attitude, people assume someone else will deal with it

But is this a government/council issue, or is the problem that for some reason we have a large proportion of the population which just doesn’t care about where they live, dropping litter is seen as no big deal, and vandalism is something kids do for fun?

Do you go litter picking to improve your area? I do, and so do many other local residents - we’re in an old Red-wall ex-mining town so by no means an affluent southern attitude. We’ve still got a litter (attitude) problem, but it’s definitely less since we’ve made a concerted effort to very publicly clean up. We’ve also got local FB groups who call-out ASB and report issues to the local councillors, who seem to have become far more responsive since they are being publicly contacted.

If I see kids dropping litter I’ll call them out if it’s safe to do so, and I’ve reported ASB to the local high school when I’ve recognised uniforms.

The issue is not only one of government or funding, it’s one of taking personal responsibility to make the improvements we want to see.

You can thank the tories for that 👏🏻

The UK isn’t the sixth richest nation, we’re about number 18. We’re the sixth largest economy, and India is number seven. Having one of the top economies doesn’t make you a wealthy nation.

No it’s been going to the dogs for well over 10 years. The potholes etc have been with us for a while, but are noticeably getting worse this last winter. Everything’s just generally getting more rubbish year on year.

I agree OP, it’s all going to shit

100%, I actually said to my partner today that my 20 minute commute (Surrey) is so laden with hazards (potholes, floods, broken traffic lights), it's any wonder I get to work in one piece!

3 weeks in Australia last month sealed the deal. Double the pay, you can buy a house (with a drive!) and great coffee 😁. Fingers crossed my application gets accepted.

Would the last one out, please turn off the lights.

Certainly, the Tory choice to go Full Austerity started the rot but there is no doubt in my mind that the outright LIES that sold Brexit to the nation, by appealing to the racism under the surface tore the nation from it's roots and turned it into a fading offshore island.
How the EU must have laughed to see the UK shoot itself in the foot so easily, now when Westminster hints we might like to come in out of the cold, the Europeans can see no benefit to other EU members.

Going against the grain here but the U.K. is in wonderful physical and structural condition compared to most of Europe and the rest of the world.

My parents live in a market town near the m25 and the roads are APPALLING! I live in Norfolk and genuinely think it’s so much nicer.

Couldn’t agree more!