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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What's the one single thing a government could do to make your life better?

309 replies

verdantverdure · 29/05/2023 15:14

Mine?

Rejoin the EU.

It the single most powerful lever any government could employ.

It makes the country significantly better off at a stroke and improves all kinds of situations, growth, investment, labour shortages, farming, fishing...

What's yours?

OP posts:
BrokenWing · 29/05/2023 23:48

Reduce pension age and up the state pension please..

Babyroobs · 29/05/2023 23:52

Daisythecat15 · 29/05/2023 23:13

Mine would be sort out the NHS. Get waiting lists down. Get A&E and ambulance waiting times back to safe limits. Make GP appointments widely available. Improve mental health support - no 2 year waiting lists for counselling etc.

We've just had to scrape together over £7000 for me to have an operation because the waiting list for NHS was beyond ridiculous.

If people can't get healthcare in a timely manner, means more people off work, more staff shortages which affects every business. Fixing the NHS would do so much for so many people and the economy.

It is getting crazy. I deal with a lot of elderly people as part of my work and have to talk to them about their health conditions/ disabilities. So many of them feel abandoned and forgotten. they can't get GP appointments and a lot have given up until things reach crisis point. many feel they are being referred to specialists or put on waiting lists because of their age and the long lists. they just feel like they are not worth bothering about. It is very sad alongside there being a lack of help for them and their carers struggling to cope. Very old people looking after other very old people worse off than them and little support. It's a disgrace.

Babyroobs · 29/05/2023 23:53

Babyroobs · 29/05/2023 23:52

It is getting crazy. I deal with a lot of elderly people as part of my work and have to talk to them about their health conditions/ disabilities. So many of them feel abandoned and forgotten. they can't get GP appointments and a lot have given up until things reach crisis point. many feel they are being referred to specialists or put on waiting lists because of their age and the long lists. they just feel like they are not worth bothering about. It is very sad alongside there being a lack of help for them and their carers struggling to cope. Very old people looking after other very old people worse off than them and little support. It's a disgrace.

Show quote history

Sorry that should say NOT being referred.

Babyroobs · 29/05/2023 23:55

BrokenWing · 29/05/2023 23:48

Reduce pension age and up the state pension please..

Agree with this too. Or let people get their state pension once they've worked for a set number of years. I've worked for nearly 40 years, that should be enough but have another 12 to go.

ToWhitToWhoo · 30/05/2023 00:14

Put more resources into the NHS and social care. And yes, it would help if we reversed the economic sanctions that we have imposed on our own country, aka Brexit.

Ilovetea42 · 30/05/2023 00:16

Brevit has completely destroyed the sector I work in so rejoining the eu would be extremely helpful. But free childcare and longer paternity/maternity leave would be my main priority right now.

CountessZaraOfLeningrad · 30/05/2023 00:16

Give me my EU citizenship back. If that means joining the Euro, Schengen, whatever - great, bring it on.

ToWhitToWhoo · 30/05/2023 00:28

And also a very specific thing: introduce step-free access to all public transport -trains, buses, etc.. And (re)introduce more staff, who, among other things, might be able to assist passengers with disabilities (who are a much larger group than sometimes thought, and don't only include wheelchair users). That would make transport much easier for me!

MaidOfSteel · 30/05/2023 00:36

Reverse Scottish (and Welsh) devolution.

FoodFestfFork · 30/05/2023 01:03

Do away with the first past the post voting system for a system that better reflects who people voted for, such as a proportinal representation system.

Original poster
verdantverdure · 30/05/2023 01:13

I’d be happy do adopt a fucking monkey too. Just think, the biggest, most affluent, market in the world and we went and shat on it from a great height. It may not have been perfect, but Jesus Christ, it’s a million times better than what we have now

Agreed. Grin

Whatever we have to do to rejoin will be better than the millstone around our necks that is Brexit.

OP posts:
Original poster
verdantverdure · 30/05/2023 01:14

Skullduggeryfizz · 29/05/2023 22:48

Universal basic income

Ooh Good one.

I think it's coming.

Probably not quickly

OP posts:
Jellycatbat20 · 30/05/2023 01:18

Go and live on another planet. Although since most of them already seem to I'm not sure how much difference it would make...

Original poster
verdantverdure · 30/05/2023 01:21

IamSlave · 29/05/2023 22:55

@verdantverdure

Are you for real?
Have you not read today that the eu powerhouse is about to head into a very nasty worrying recession? The one money making country in the states?
That Germany has labour issues and huge inflation so does France and Italy?
Food supply issues, labour issue's the energy crisis... Do you really think all this is just happening to us.

I think I read more factually stringent news sources than you so I know that Germany is doing some pretty tough future-proofing on the energy front which obviously has costs.(the benefits will come later)

But they still compare favourably to us on almost every economic metric.

OP posts:
fridaynight1 · 30/05/2023 02:04

Raise the personal tax allowance.
I don’t work in the public sector and don’t have the might of a trade union behind me threatening strike action. Annual salary review - what is that? I have zero chance of a pay rise. I’m so skint that even an extra £20 a month would make a difference.

Hogsmeadpiglet · 30/05/2023 02:55

breadwidow · 29/05/2023 21:45

Short term:

  • investigate extent of greedflation in current cost of living crisis & take steps to curb it
  • stop interest rate rises: it's not going to curb inflation just now and instead is just making all those with mortgages poorer
  • bring in VAT on private school fees
  • repeal the voter ID legislation
  • re-join the single market and customs union
  • ban domestic flights for journeys which can be done by train in less than 3 hrs

Medium term

  • Rejoin the EU
  • Massive reform of council tax so it's an effective land value tax that means those sitting on massive housing wealth pay their fair share (including a much higher rate for second / third home ownership)
with income from above . . .
  • give all public sector workers including civil servants a decent above inflation pay rise
  • actually invest in our public services
  • slowly but surely (piece by piece so it costs less) re nationalise the railways and utilities

I agree with all of these

Whatthediddlyfeck · 30/05/2023 07:49

ToK1 · 29/05/2023 15:46

@Whatthediddlyfeck

'Cancelling' other political parties is a dictatorship not democracy

How would getting rid of the Scottish Parliament improve your life?

And the SNP isn’t an attempted dictatorship? I’m not getting into a debate with you, sorry if that disappoints

MrsToothyBitch · 30/05/2023 08:14

Mandate the 4 day week. My MH and work life balance would be much better!

Simonjt · 30/05/2023 08:15

Like many others rejoin the EU, and I say this as someone who will soon be an EU citizen, so it isn’t so much for personal gain.

Increase taxation, taxes are fairly low in the UK, yet we want good quality public services, you can’t have good schools, healthcare, lower pension age etc while people are unwilling to pay an appropriate level of tax.

SunnyEgg · 30/05/2023 08:21

Simonjt · 30/05/2023 08:15

Like many others rejoin the EU, and I say this as someone who will soon be an EU citizen, so it isn’t so much for personal gain.

Increase taxation, taxes are fairly low in the UK, yet we want good quality public services, you can’t have good schools, healthcare, lower pension age etc while people are unwilling to pay an appropriate level of tax.

For everyone? What level are you thinking

Many of the below would need higher tax

Simonjt · 30/05/2023 08:25

SunnyEgg · 30/05/2023 08:21

For everyone? What level are you thinking

Many of the below would need higher tax

Show quote history

Yes everyone, income tax in the UK is very low, then we also have the issue of some business owners using dividends to decrease the tax they pay. It could be either a lower tax threshold, or a smaller personal allowance, or a combination of both. I would however like to avoid increases in municipal taxes, as I fear in the UK it would be used to keep wealthy areas wealthy and poor areas poor.

breadwidow · 30/05/2023 08:27

Thank you @Hogsmeadpiglet - I spend probably too long (when I can't sleep or am anxious in day time) thinking through what I'd do if I was a PM with a majority of 197 MPs

Other stuff I'd add, all constitutional change for the medium-term

  • change voting system to more a proportional one
  • reduce voting age to 16
  • bring some sort of devolution for English regions (this one may be more long term as takes a lot of thinking about what it would be, likely involving a big nationwide consultation)
  • reform House of Lords so it's democratically elected (perhaps a linked to above)
breadwidow · 30/05/2023 08:29

MrsToothyBitch · 30/05/2023 08:14

Mandate the 4 day week. My MH and work life balance would be much better!

Ah yes and this forgot this from my list. The experiment last year involving some companies showed people can work LESS and companies remain as profitable / people are more productive. I'd role that out nationally

FatherDickByrne · 30/05/2023 08:31

Haven’t RTFT but (i) sort out policing and (ii) enforce the Dangerous Dogs Act.

FourFoxSake · 30/05/2023 08:33

Tell the truth.

I'm sick of the constant spin.