To think it’s shocking how bad Britain has fallen apart compared to other European counties

[TheColourofspring]

I am in Spain at the moment in one of the big cities. It’s clean, modern, well maintained. Transport is cheap, food is cheap, healthcare seems to work pretty well (from talking to local). Parks are noticeably well maintained- even saw park keepers! Clean & tidy.

Pensions higher, if you lose your job you get a portion of your salary in unemployment benefits while you look for another and there are no penalties. Based on the premise that if you have paid in, you will get looked after if you are in need.

I am not saying it’s perfect- no country is but it was the same when I was in France last summer.

In Britain, everything is underfunded and close to the edge. Schools, the NHS, local authorities are all at breaking point. My local parks look shabby & there is very little maintenance. Roads have pot holes. Yesterday I read an article about pharmacies being the latest at ‘crisis’ point with major drug shortages (thanks to brexit). Queues at borders, people can’t heat or eat properly, food banks, housing is ridiculous for many people.

I think it’s just so noticeable when you go to other places just how run down Britain is.

Finding it shocking and a bit depressing - like I said, all countries have their issues but I think Britain really has been pillaged by the tories & Brexit really is a disaster.

I have never seen that tbf. But I have seen posters claiming that to even point out that the ethnicity of the attackers is relevant is racism - which it clearly is not.

Pointing out ethnicity is relevant when there is a reason to point it out that is not racist.

Litter is bad in Britain, I think. Worse than in European countries - I assume it's linked to the passion Brits seem to have for take-aways.

But I think ideology also plays a part. When I worked in education I frequently came across an idea that it was somehow wrong to ask/teach children to pick up litter and take a pride in their environment. Now, give me a 'helping hand stick thing' and I'll pick litter till the cows come home - and the children I worked with loved it! But no, apparently - I was told primly by a teacher once that 'I'd never ask children to do a menial task!' OK... because in real life none of us ever have to do menial tasks, do we?

At another school, the grounds were almost ankle-deep in litter at the end of the day because of all the snacking and eating lunch outside. The school employed 2 people to pick up litter all day. Therefore, when you asked a student who'd thrown down their litter to put it in a bin they would often respond 'I'm not doing it - it's THEIR job." Perhaps if they'd employed 2 gardeners instead to keep the grounds looking good I bet there would have been less litter because of the 'broken window principle' where people take their cue from the state of their environment.

Parents, teachers and everyone should try to foster care and pride in our environment - other European countries do this better, I think.

I find this idea children should never do menial tasks a very strange one.

What would be a 'racist' reason for mentioning the ethnicity of the rapists?

That is so sad that they're not teaching children to pick up their litter and keep their school clean. At my DD's school (not UK) at the end of the school year each year group has a day where they clean the school to get it clean for the summer (might actually be at the end of each term, I'm not sure now), starting with the older year groups so they do the bulk of the work but even the littlest ones do their bit.

Flowery racists like Tommy Robinson talk about Asian rapists but ignore white rapists, including their own friends

Yes but we were talking about MN threads and their deletions which you said were due to racism?

I was answering your direct question.
I said some posts I saw deleted were due to racism. Racism that I read and reported.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/2586573-Can-we-have-a-sensible-discussion-about-Cologne?page=1

So you post a thread that was not deleted.
Yes you can talk about rape without being racist.

Yes they will learn the hard way when they grow up and most jobs involve this to some extent

I've always tried to make children clear up after themselves,

Not sure which schools that poster worked at, but I'm a primary teacher and we always get the children to pick up their own rubbish (although it seems to take persistent nagging).

Not sure if this is aimed at me but I have not posted any thread.

What sort of racism did you report to get the threads deleted where women were trying to discuss sexual assault on a mass scale by immigrant men? What do you consider racist as you have not yet explained.

I spend a lot of time in Europe - every country has its problems, not always evident to tourists. Ireland is outrageously expensive compared to wages. and in Holland the income tax starts at 51% and on top of that you pay for healthcare. I agree that the UK has its problems but the grass is not greener elsewhere

@Inkyblue123 yes but their wages are higher and for that 51% they get much better public services, obviously the UK pay a lot less but what we have is a shower of 💩

Yes exactly

Perhaps we should look at the positives

Most people haven't voted for the Tories for the last 13 years

Such as?

Holland's top rate of income tax is 52%.

No idea why you made stuff up, you obviously don't spend much time in Holland do you?

In regard to rape/sexual assault, the UK's case rate per 100,000 population is one of the highest in Europe.

The Swedish rape numbers are in no small part due to their very wide definition of sexual assault, Germany has a much narrower one, the UK a little broader.

Which to turn it on its head, makes direct comparisons difficult.

I didn't comment make any comments about Holland

Just agreed with another poster that UK isn't that bad

So you agreed with something you either knew nothing about or you didn't read what you agreed too?

Of course all countries have their issues but the issues in the UK are bad and are worse than say 5 years ago, let alone 15 years ago.

Plus i live around 4 months of the year in SW France, also seen a worsening of services post CV and war but its not been on the same scale as the UK because the French and others started from a higher level than the UK e.g look at European number of health staff and equipment pre pandemic?

So maybe lets start trying to improve things/hold Govt and opposition to account, rather than pretending everywhere else is just as bad?

Didn't know I was in a court of law

Yes, I agreed with the spirit of her post

What? Why say a lie about tax levels that are so to look up and see what they actually are?

*so easy to look up

So you don't think in the examples given that the ethnicity was a relevant aspect, even in light of the fact that the main issue seems to be the attitude towards women within their specific culture?