Page 28 | to think the UK has become awful?

ma1formed · 2023-09-13T19:26:22+00:00

I can't pinpoint when, but it feels like everything that was once pretty good is now quite awful So expensive No doctors Uni costs for kids insane Terrible rent / can't buy a house Everyone seems quite unpleasant or racist Is it just me?

Zarah123 · 20/09/2023 18:06

Teaandbiscuits60 · 20/09/2023 18:01

All of what you said plus in Wales it rains constantly, we have not had a summer and we now have to drive at 20mph…. Everywhere. Our government is run by a dictator. I live in a beautiful place but living in wales it just not worth it! I’ve stopped thinking things can’t get any worse because they can and have. I hate it here.

Edited

Sorry this made me lol a bit. Has it not always rained contantly?

Sympathies from Drenched in Dulwich (not really but near enough).

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 18:36

Louloulouenna · 20/09/2023 17:47

Or another way of looking at is thank goodness we have so many people willing and able to pay 45% of their income to fund public services.

Unfortunately the Prime Minister is not one of them, and prefers to pay about 23% tax on his income.

Kendodd · 20/09/2023 18:37

Teddleshon · 20/09/2023 17:30

The top 1% of taxpayers by income currently pay more than 28% of all income tax in the UK. The top 10% pay over 60%.

I think tax is a bit of a red herring to be honest. The problem is the hoarding of profits at the very top rather than giving workers (who there'd be zero profits without) not getting their fair share. At the rate the country is going we'll end up with one person owning everything and everyone else scraping by.

Louloulouenna · 20/09/2023 18:41

Sunak’s tax bill largely reflects current capital gains tax rates. CGT rates have to remain competitive internationally for obvious reasons.

I agree with though, low wages are the scourge of this country.

Kendodd · 20/09/2023 18:48

Kangaroobrain · 20/09/2023 16:51

A friend's mum (mid 70s) has just spent over 24 hours in A&E in a chair, as there were no beds. She's now very poorly. I know of someone else who recently spent the night in a different hospital's A&E on the floor - not on a mattress, literally lying on the floor - as there weren't even any chairs.

This can't continue. What worries me is that rather than looking to other countries with systems that actually work (or at least work far better), now that we're out of the EU and desperate for deals there'll be pressure from covetous US style insurance companies (and those with vested interests therein) to move towards an American style system. I think we can all agree this would be a disaster, but as pp mentioned, people are already resorting to private solutions. I don't blame them - who wants a worrying wait? - but the more that happens, the more it might be seen that the public would accept a private insurance system. I hope I'm wrong.

I think we need to have a very serious conversation about our aging society and an aging world. It's not just a matter of more money (there isn't enough) its a matter of younger people to provide the care (again, there just aren't enough). To put this in perspective , South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world. If this rate continues (and for the sake of the planet I personally hope it does) for every 100 great grandparents there will be just six great grandchildren. I'm in my 50s, if I'm lucky enough to live to my eighties, There will be no money and no people to provide care (slight exaggeration) we need to face up to this.

Badbadbunny · 20/09/2023 18:50

MariaLuna · 13/09/2023 20:34

It's the fucking useless government innit....

Austerity, Brexit..

Never knew England had potholes....

5th biggest economy?? Really??

Where is the money going?

Not where it's needed, that's for sure.

And previous governments too. It's not recent at all. Been going downhill for about 25 years.

Badbadbunny · 20/09/2023 18:51

Kendodd · 20/09/2023 18:37

I think tax is a bit of a red herring to be honest. The problem is the hoarding of profits at the very top rather than giving workers (who there'd be zero profits without) not getting their fair share. At the rate the country is going we'll end up with one person owning everything and everyone else scraping by.

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But it's not just "this country", it's lot of other countries too! It's a global problem, which is why it's so hard to fix. Tax people too high and they beggar off abroad to a low tax haven and then we get nothing out of them.

smooththecat · 20/09/2023 18:58

I asked my mum if this was worse than the 80s and she said ‘Yes it BLOODY WELL IS’ and she’s fortunate to be well off and insulated from the financial side of what’s going on in the country.

Kendodd · 20/09/2023 19:41

About population aging.
Below is the projected numbers for South Korea.
Much of the developed world and even global south if facing similar population challenges with an ever greater number of elderly people needing care and support.

While the number of elderly people is increasing, the number of elderly supported by every 100 working-age people is expected to soar from 37.6 in 2019 to 120.2 in 2067, among the highest levels in the world.

Aging of South Korea - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_of_South_Korea

Moreorlessmentallystable · 20/09/2023 19:48

Yes it is shit, but rather globally, have you not seen the situation in the US, Australia and Canada? People working round the clock and can not make ends meet? It's sick really but not just in the UK.

Teddleshon · 20/09/2023 19:50

The situation in China in terms of demographic aging is even worse, compounded by the one child policy and the imbalance between male and female children.

Fluffypuppy1 · 20/09/2023 20:14

Irrespective of the overall tax percentage that Sunak paid, he paid over £500,000 in tax in just one year, most of which was a percentage of his profits on money that had already been taxed.

Oliotya · 20/09/2023 20:18

Fluffypuppy1 · 20/09/2023 20:14

Irrespective of the overall tax percentage that Sunak paid, he paid over £500,000 in tax in just one year, most of which was a percentage of his profits on money that had already been taxed.

The very core of the problem, though, is that an individual has been able to amass such vast wealth to pay that amount of tax in the first place. We can't tax our way out of that level of inequality.

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 20:21

Oliotya · 20/09/2023 20:18

The very core of the problem, though, is that an individual has been able to amass such vast wealth to pay that amount of tax in the first place. We can't tax our way out of that level of inequality.

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I'm amazed that someone would post that the Prime Minister paid £500,000 in tax at a rate lower than teachers and nurses as though that is a good thing.

It is the root cause of why the UK is so awful now.

Oliotya · 20/09/2023 20:26

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 20:21

I'm amazed that someone would post that the Prime Minister paid £500,000 in tax at a rate lower than teachers and nurses as though that is a good thing.

It is the root cause of why the UK is so awful now.

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Personally, I have no issue with taxation being broadly an equal percentage. We need to encourage aspiration and innovation, but we need to do more to tackle inequality. Suppressing wages by handing out benefits for decades is the cause of the problem imo.

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 20:29

Oliotya · 20/09/2023 20:26

Personally, I have no issue with taxation being broadly an equal percentage. We need to encourage aspiration and innovation, but we need to do more to tackle inequality. Suppressing wages by handing out benefits for decades is the cause of the problem imo.

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So companies instead of paying the bosses more money than anyone could possibly need should pay their workers more.

I doubt anyone would disagree with that?

Teddleshon · 20/09/2023 20:41

I certainly agree with paying workers more in many many cases.

Leaving the lower rate of CGT aside though I do struggle to see why people get angry with high earners given that in this country they hand over just under half of their earnings in income tax. The country would literally be buggered without them.

Louloulouenna · 20/09/2023 20:44

Isn’t Denise Coates’ annual tax bill equal to something like the entire budget of her local health authority?

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 20:59

Teddleshon · 20/09/2023 20:41

I certainly agree with paying workers more in many many cases.

Leaving the lower rate of CGT aside though I do struggle to see why people get angry with high earners given that in this country they hand over just under half of their earnings in income tax. The country would literally be buggered without them.

And if instead of that money being paid to a few people it was paid to many people, tax would still be paid on it, and more of it would be spent in the UK economy boosting living standards for everyone.

As it is much of the money paid to those who have more than they need is sent off-shore to sit around doing nothing productive.

Oliotya · 20/09/2023 21:03

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 20:29

So companies instead of paying the bosses more money than anyone could possibly need should pay their workers more.

I doubt anyone would disagree with that?

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Well that's the problem, isn't it? The government does seem to disagree with it.

Kendodd · 20/09/2023 21:14

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 20:29

So companies instead of paying the bosses more money than anyone could possibly need should pay their workers more.

I doubt anyone would disagree with that?

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the bosses would and evidently do.

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 21:18

Oliotya · 20/09/2023 21:03

Well that's the problem, isn't it? The government does seem to disagree with it.

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Presumably because members of the government are and are paid for by those bosses and so get rich by maintaining the current grossly unequal situation.

CaspianPlover · 20/09/2023 21:23

I cant understand..if it is so ghastly why do we have thousands of young men so desperate to live here that they risk their lives on a flimsy boat just to get to this ‘awful’ Island?

Oliotya · 20/09/2023 21:23

jgw1 · 20/09/2023 21:18

Presumably because members of the government are and are paid for by those bosses and so get rich by maintaining the current grossly unequal situation.

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One and the same aren't they

Oliotya · 20/09/2023 21:24

CaspianPlover · 20/09/2023 21:23

I cant understand..if it is so ghastly why do we have thousands of young men so desperate to live here that they risk their lives on a flimsy boat just to get to this ‘awful’ Island?

It's a bit shit here, but it's more shit there