Is the UK beyond repair?

[Brrrrrrrrrrrr]

I’m sure plenty will come along to say I’m BU but for the past few weeks I’ve really started to question where this country and our society is heading and whether or not things are ever going to get better and when that might be.

We have economic chaos driven by high inflation, increasing interest rates and a total lack of urgency by anyone in charge to seemingly do anything about it. We have a government in power that seem to have nothing but contempt for anyone that doesn’t resemble their backers, ministers openly mocking critics on social media and a PM who can not remember if he may or may not have had something to do with benefiting from £5 million of Russian money. What on Earth have we become?

Our Health service is being systematically picked apart and left to decay away much to the detriment of those who rely on it or who cannot afford Private healthcare. We have Medical professionals striking because they are underpaid again to the detriment of those who rely on said services, wait lists are through the roof and the levels of care being received are understandably inadequate.

The education sector is a ticking time bomb because teachers are seeing the demands of their roles increase, funding cuts, the behaviour of the pupils start to become impossible to manage and the prospect of an easier life switching to another career too hard to resist.

Food bank usage is at an all time high, not just by those in charge who don’t know poverty but working professionals who can not afford to feed their families because the cost of living has zapped every last penny from them. The reality on the streets of real life Is so far detached from that seen on social media that it’s like looking at a different planet.

It just feels bleak and I don’t see how things are going to change, I’m often an optimist but this is stretching any semblance of light in the tunnel. Anyone else? Is this the type of world you want your children to live in? Surely they deserve better? How can this be fixed?

The US economy has roared back to life. Inflation there is lower than 5%. Japan’s inflation never went above 2%. Eurozone has pockets of issues button the whole is emerging well. China slowed a little but is still growing only to be outpaced by the next global superpower - India.

Nice cherry picking of stats, you are ignoring the mass inequality in all the countries you have chosen just to start, but the fact you said We are the new Greece. shows you have little grasp of the situation other than headlines.

And as a bonus the pockets of issues in the Eurozone are the biggest players which has an overall effect, something which you should be aware of with making such statements...

No. I'm not kidding? I've got fiends and family and works colleague in the states and in various places across eu. No one is having a good time at all.

I'm heartily fed up of our political system.

I'd love to see a democratic government that represented all political parties and policies are thrashed out.

I find it odd that a party , who polls 38% of votes , can win a majority and , thus, dictate their agenda.

I feel sure that the majority of people like some bits of every party.

As an aside, I'd love to see the back of "My dad voted (insert) and my grandad voted (insert ) so I'll always vote ( insert.) And yes, it's a misogynist phrase but it's repeated so often during campaigns.

It's like there's no thought given, at all, to what is best for our country.

The change to our country has been massive since even before the pandemic.
The pandemic seems to have created more entitlement and less resilience.

Of course they're not. They're holding on by the fingernails until the GE.

The most sensible thing that this gov could do now would be call it early. If they lose all 5 by-elections that might actually be a distant possibility

This.

You can never say never but the latest polling I have seen is just amazingly bad for the Tories. They now trail Labour in every age group below 65.

Tories have lost their lead amongst those with mortgages, renters were already with Labour anyway.

We are scared too. I want to leave really bur I don't know how or where. Everywhere seems to be having issues

Exactly, we didn't as the can kicking exercise was record low interest rates that the whole world participated in, Covid was the black swan and it is far too early to pretend x country is doing better than us.

No one wants real long term solutions, the quick fixes in the likes of US/Eurozone (china shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath if you even have a basic gasp of economics and understanding of how China really is) are just backloading the issues, inflation may be below in some EU zones but taxes will raised and public services will and are being cut in those lower inflationary areas.

The 'critical thinking' crowd always seem to chase headlines

Yes agree. I loathe this gov more than anything but there's a wider picture too. Yes the nhs is in a mess, but also we're on the cusp of universal gene treatments that will make cancers much more survivable and a new treatment to halt or reverse Alzheimer's which will benefit those in their 40s now.

People vote for the Tories for personal economic benefits (i.e. lower taxes, low interest rates, low inflation etc) even if it's based on austerity measures which caused massive harm and destroyed public services.

There's none of that now and the economy is in the toilet. Apart from the super rich and pensioners brainwashed by newspapers, their vote will be decimated from 2019 or 2015.

As good as that would be, one of the biggest problems the UK already has is an ageing population.

Britain has been in a shit state before, and has turned it round. It has had crap governments before, which have been kicked out and replaced with better ones.
I’m (just about) old enough to remember that the mid 1970s to the early 80s was a very difficult period, with mass unemployment (unlike today), strikes & industrial conflict crippling the country, power cuts, the government trying to run the car industry, the phone industry, the aviation industry, the steel industry, the rail industry etc etc and fucking them all up.
Thatcher’s Tories were elected turn the country round, and they did that in the end but at a terrible price in terms of industries & communities in the North being destroyed & left to rot.
By the time the Tories were finally kicked out in 1997, the economy was doing well but public services were collapsing, just like today. Blair’s New Labour were elected to sort them out, and they did that, but they paid for it by letting an unregulated financial sector grow out of control until it imploded in 2008, almost collapsing the entire economy. We are still dealing with the legacy of that financial crisis today, and Brexit has turned out to even more of a disaster than anyone predicted. If Labour are elected next year, they will have massive structural problems to sort out and there’s no guarantee it can be turned around again

Never mind, it’s a temporary problem. Most of us will be dead in 20 years.

Funny how in Thatcher's time she was happy to use the welfare state in the war against the unions, by condemning a generation of communities to the dole queue (and the social problems that caused).

And 'we borrow and spend too much' yet have had 13 years of Tory governments that don't believe in the state and austerity measures that have caused more harm than good.

Conservative policies simply don't work. And I don't look forward to Labour either.

Lying to yourself doesn’t change reality. But keep going.

With respect, anecdotes from a few of your work colleagues and friends doesn’t outweigh data based on over 600 million people living in those economies.

Too true. One of the MP’s who has just stepped down is about to make millions from selling his company. A company whose business dealt with schools.

How can that make any sense? Tax payer pays towards education budget, school budgets cut, LA services cut, private company has to step in to provide the service that LA’s can't, schools have no choice but to pay higher costs for the service to private company, private company makes millions from school budgets, MP resigns, selks up and is left with millions...☹️

Meanwhile education, schools, children....☹️☹️☹️

There’s a lot to be said for the statement that oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them.

I’m a floating voter, I’ve voted for all the major parties over the years but if I were to categorise myself I’d say I’m a right leaning centrist, like a large percentage in this country I would guess.

Right now Labour are not doing enough to secure people’s votes. They’re opting for what has become known as the Ming Vase Strategy, trying desperately to not upset the polling rather than actively communicating what they would do to make things better and taking a few risks. People like the status quo, and if Labour can’t be effective in their communication I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of people continue to vote Tory with an attitude of “better the devil you know”.

You are not wrong and I’m emigrating. No faith in any party to rectify the mess. We have a crumbling Victorian infrastructure which will cost so much to replace/improve it will be many many decades before anyone will reap the benefits of it and all the time taxes and bills will rise to try and pay for it. The tories will sit out their remaining time destroying what little is left, and I don’t trust Labour to fix any of it. Crumbling schools, appalling health outcomes, rail doesn’t work, water companies paying offshore tax to pollute our waters. Not to mention generations who take out more than they will ever put in.

One of the ways is not by high taxes for the rich, as Jamie dimon from jp Morgan, we need a balanced tax system.

As for the banking industry those that know will know what's cooking, it's the public not having the full understanding and details of it all, that makes it seem like our leaders don't know what's what.

As for politicians contempt for the public, well considering how the majority of the public are towards politicians, then is it any wonder.
Plus give a good majority of the public MTV, pop idol etc

Overall society needs ctos 2.0 and Ai such as the machine to help restore law and order.

You are joking right? The history of British politics tells us otherwise. They are all as bad as each other.

Lazy, lazy, lazy. Of course they’re not. Any other party would have it be going some to be as bad as this lot.

I feel very sad for people who think Labour are going to be the solution to all of this country's problems. Back in the 80's I was a left-wing teen who hated Thatcher with a vengeance. When I looked at the poverty and inequality around me I felt certain that if only Labour could get in power everything would be ok. I rememember when Labour got in; celebration, pop stars clamouring to be seen with Blair etc. Fast forward a while and I was taking part in the anti Iraq war march. Nothing had changed for the better in the lives of the people around me. The Labour Gov were corrupt liars, feathering their own nests, just like the Conservatives, shredding receipts to conceal their actions. I saw the truth; that the whole lot of them are part of the same club and drink in the same bar; they don't care about ordinary people. They take turns to be in power as each generation gets sick of one of them they turn to the other and vote them in. Something radical would have to happen to change this but I just can't see that happening any time soon.

I don’t think so but it’s not going to be an easy fix and I don’t think Labour have said much that will improve things (maybe the opposite but hopefully not).

I’m concerned about what’s next but I love it here, although I do have options I guess.

I think the pp was joking tbh