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 came to the UK in the early 2000s and I totally agree with this. It was a different country. I also found people's attitudes different. They seemed more tolerant, open minded and welcoming.

We were a much richer country in the 2000s and had better social provision and we had a different Government that cared about these things. Over the last thirteen years the Conservatives have turned the country into a dump. Yes there has been money making but public spaces, public services have been hollowed out.

We didn't have food banks in the 2000s. Because it was accepted that the state should ensure reasonable benefits and employers paid wages that meant people could sustain themselves. Now it's charity, a positively Victorian attitude to the most deserving.

It's shameful to me how something so basic - food - has become not an essential aspect of benefits and wages so people can afford to eat, but a matter of charity. People are good about contributing etc but it's the mindset of food as charity. Conservatives will tell you about their charitable efforts and how the state shouldn't intervene but this is food!

The world was booming in late 1990s 2000s thanks to tech boom. China was modernising and building and making so much stuff so oil and mining was booming to provide for that.
we were all doing well. No magic labour wand.
Then the banking crash caused mayhem.U.K. Seemed to suffer a lot.
Ive just been listening to Alistair CampbellscThe Rest is Polotics podcast- interview with David Milliband . DM lists what they should have done in power - set up the country for a leading tech industry, fund development in the regions- especially his of of South Shields. Yes shame you didn’t.

So do I - Hence I am emigrating to Spain in 2024.

Came few years later and I am sure even credit crunch didn't feel this bleak

Re the pics proving how places look. Anyone remembes The Creation of Manchester😂

I donate to foodbanks, but usually toiletries, sanitary products or children's toothbrushes rather than food. But seeing a picture of a person collapsed on the ground doesn't make me think they haven't had enough to eat. There are two bodies in that picture, and the emergency services are only working on one.

The people in that picture are drunk, not starving.

Was it?

China's biggest growth acceleration was from the 1990 but in 1997 it was falling into negative growth, then began steady improvements, until 2008. but even from 2009, it has produced good growth, around 8% on average until Covid, so by your argument, why didn't the UK do well in the 2010's ?

(btw, i'm not saying Labour had a magic wand, just that the idea we are somehow on a carpet ride with no control is not true, we can make significant differences)

Tory Austerity has wrecked this country, at a time when we needed investment (early 2000s) the Tories cut it, when we needed more NHS staff, Tories removed the bursary, now as we need investment in Green tech and computer chips, the Tories cut that too.

As for education, hard to believe a roof fell in on a school recently, Tories cancelled its replacement, luckily occurred over half term or as my Gran would have said "Penny wise, Pound foolish"

I think we were stuffed by the banking crisis - austerity came after that.

Gobsmacked by the poster suggesting we'd all be better off living in India!?

😳

Then how come most of Europe manages to have so much better public services than we do? despite the 'Crash, Covid and Ukraine.

Austerity has, imho, wrecked the UK, its left us paying the same or in most case far more, for very poor public services.

We have cut stuff to the bone, i read recently that over 1000 libraries have closed, all SureStart centres shut down and 700 football pitches developed on since 2010, not too mention cuts in road mtce.

Who does this effect the most? It then costs more to fix the issues these cuts have caused but we are still left with poor services.

The weird thing is that we are paying more tax for less under a Conservative government. That is perverse. And given the shit fest budget this is actually a choice they made. We are all paying more tax because of their decisions and getting less than we did in 2019, never mind 2015, or 2010.

And we are a lot poorer. You don't have to be a leftie to see that is a bad result

London was a world financial services centre - more so than European capitals so we were more affected by bank collapse.
just my opinion
tax from the city funds the rest of uk- or did not sure if this has changed

The GFC really hit retail banking in terms of the £350bn the Govt borrowed to bail out banks.

Investment banking, which London is very good at, wasn't assisted at all.

We can look around for excuses but we have had an on going 13 years of Austerity, one reason why productivity is so low here, Govt led investment just didn't happen.

We needed a few years of Austerity to get back on track but Tory obsession with a small state meant we've never come out of Austerity.

Yes London/SE still pays the taxes the rest of the country relies on.

Some politicians also believe their responsibility is first to their party members and those who voted not children who can't vote. So they'll do the minimal and prioritise the aforementioned.
No one can be forced to look after anyone, even parents have their children taken.
I can't see how, (all things being equal), a human who doesn't wish to take care of the two people he's known from when he arrived on this earth will be interested in taking care of his environment, neighbours, partner, children etc. As they say, charity begins at home.
When choosing a life partner for example, how they treat their parents is a good indicator of their character and values as a person.

The point that the Conservatives failed to invest as the rest of the world did is a really good one. That's why we are poorer than twenty years ago - and it will keep happening- the only plan we had for growth was Truss's suicide budget. And that will, ironically perhaps, lead to a slow decline for the UK unless there is a new plan. There doesn't seem to be, six months on. It's just muddling through and hoping to engage in cultural fight at the next election to enrage people.

Investment in services and transport infrastucture seens to be very difficult to "sell" to UK taxpayers as I see it. The payback is often slow, and everybody wants a quick fix. If you build a road through an awkward terrain or challenged economic region, to make the land more accessible, then eventually business arrives there. In Spain, for example, land is cheapish, but development happens more slowly. In the UK, which is already a densely populated country with very limited space to expand and a huge people pull factor, because English is the world language, it's reasonable to ask where you put them.

I don't disagree that we need more enthusiastic young people, but we also need to be able to offshore our old rich people overseas to warmer climates,

I will be 68 next birthday; I have accumulated enough. And I don't really fancy retiring in the UK.

I have lived in Spain for over 20 years. You pay into the system through taxes and get unemployment benefit for a maximum of two years. Then it runs out and you have to work again to earn more. You can in some circumstances take the whole of the two years as a lump sum to start a business for instance. But the amount you get each month is higher than in the UK. There are some ways to be entitled to more at a lower rate once it's run out.

We need to rebuild the manufacturing sector and stop being so reliant on the "financial sector" and inflated house prices.

A friend has her elderly father living with her from the Ukraine. He fled the war, leaving everything. However he has just flown back to get his teeth looked at, an issue with his shoulder reviewed and to get some blood tests done. Why? Because it’s quicker than here. So a country at war still provides better medical service than England.

Easily said but how?

We don't manufacturer the machinery or have the people to operate a production line, we don't have the technicians to install or maintain said machinery & even Ineos are building their LR copy in mainland europe.

What do you think we should make? Do you know how long it took South Korea to make cars we want to buy? how many 100s of billions of investment required?

& when we do invent something world leading, the UK Govt/Business wont invest in it....
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2021/01/14/british-pioneer-solar-energy-chose-produce-germany/

Even if Labour come to power next year, nothing will happen over night and when things do start to go in the right direction, along will come another GE

There is no long term planning anymore apart from GE to GE

Why all parties can’t work together for the good of the country, instead of trying to get one over on the other party, it makes me weep at times

They wonder why people don’t vote as people don’t see the point as nothing changes

Big sigh 😔