to think the UK has become awful?

[ma1formed]

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?

wages are shit!

55k today is the equivalent to 30k in the early 00s but look at house prices vs wages, student loan costs, far less generous pension schemes.

Food here is still around the cheapest in Europe, I’ve no issue getting a doctor’s appointment, we have a beautiful family home, and studies still generally show that the UK is one of the least racist nations on Earth.

I’m sure it’s not just you, many others will have the same jaundiced view, but you hopefully realize how partial and biased it is.

It's the people in charge. They set the tone and keep the money. They don't mind it being racist or divided. They wanted it this way and so did many who voted for them.

At the moment, it seems very hard to get to a GP appointment quickly.
NHS dentists are hard to find.
Supermarket shelves, especially the fruit and veg sections, seem emptier than they used to be.

I think we could just be doing much better than we are doing.

So you want better services but want to pay less tax for them.

How is that supposed to work?

I agree. In 12 years the Tories have managed to destroy the U.K. on every level. Our utilities all private unlike other European countries. The NHS decimated, reduced training places for doctors and nurses causing the biggest shortages ever. Brexshit and the absolute destruction of so many businesses. Asset stripping in every area. We can’t even relocate to an EU country anymore as health cover too expensive for those coming from none EU countries. Racists feeling it’s ok to be racist because of arses like Farage and our present Home Secretary. The U.K. has become a swamp (even our seas, rivers and canals are full of shit) because the government won’t stop private water companies dumping sewage whilst starving the business of money because they give their investors huge rake offs. Sad, but we are now a failed country, our poor kids and grandkids are being given a totally crap future.

It's your view that is partial and biased, your experience that is cushioned and elite.

Most of us are living much shittier lives than we were.

It's the Tories. It's the Tories. It's the Tories.

Austerity is never going to be popular but we couldn’t carry on spending at the rate we were 13 years ago
brexit was a home goal but irrespective who was at the helm it was always going to have a negative impact but that’s what the majority wanted and voted not a decision made by an individual government
I don’t think uni should be free you make an investment in the first 3 years and over a working lifetime get the financial benefit back 10 fold

Yeah such a shit country that thousands of people risk their lives on a weekly basis trying to get in! I’m not sure that anywhere else is doing much better at the moment.

@wheresmymojo previous poster didn't say she was born in the 50's! She said she is in her 50's (so could have been born in the 70's and a young adult of the 90's)!

I’ve lived in a few different countries and I agree the best thing nowadays about the UK is the people. Generally speaking the vast majority are friendly, tolerant and down to earth (as long as you avoid young men in town centre at pub closing time).

On the negative side - standards of living have nosedived.

The Thatcherite privatise everything, low wages, and only bare minimum investment in public services/education/transport gave the economy a decades boost in the 80s. But now the chickens have come home to roost and it could take a century to dig ourselves out of this hole.

This is what your rainy-day fund is for, the money that you saved through not blowing everything you earned in the better times.

I think it's also very location dependent.

Over the last four weeks I've (genuinely) needed to speak to a doctor four times and have been able to get a same day telephone appointment every time (I didn't need face to face).

I get called in quite often, like once every 1-2 years for a proactive health check with a senior nurse where they take bloods and blood pressure and such. I have no doubt this is linked to medical conditions / medications I have but honestly I'm in good health so it seems like a great service.

All the GPs at our surgery are lovely and we hardly ever have locums other than covering holiday and similar.

I'm never more than 3rd in the queue when I call and because they have a queue system I can just potter around while I wait (not having to press redial every 5 seconds!)

Yes it has , post office is rubbish , a 1st class letter can now take 3 days , if it arrives at all . My dh has a problem with his car , our regular garage said they will text when to take it in. Waited a week , called in was told will contact next week which is now this week , called in , told next week. Every where has no staff , places can't recruit .
Our bin men have been on strike for around 4 months , they have been using temp staff so only general waste emptied twice a month , no recycling , no paper.
Can never see a doctor , I am on a prescription for life , picked up prescription , got home , the medication was 20 mg not 40mg , phoned to report got told 40mg not available due to shortage so told to take 2 x 20mg , it took me a few explanations to person on phone for her to get that these tablets would then only last 2 weeks instead of 4 before she realised I should have 2 packs to last month.

It's awful. So many things that made this a great place to live have deteriorated under the greedy Tory govt. The NHS and GP system is particular is diabolical now. Dentistry has been in trouble for years. Public transport is getting more expensive for less service. Cost of living is insane. Mortgage rates are devastating. Its rarer and rarer to come across someone who does their job properly now, most seem to provide the most basic level of service and hope that's good enough for you. I'm constantly chasing companies who say they'll get back to me or do something, then never do. Constantly asking for the service that I've paid for and been promised to receive. My salary has reduced with the cost of living every year, and I'm working harder and harder every day just to stay above water. Where is better though? Can anyone recommend somewhere?!

I have amazing neighbours, fabulous adult children who are all doing pretty well and some great colleagues.

Yes, prices are high, the government is not great and Brexit was an utter disaster but I choose the glass half full. Or else I'd cry constantly.

There are always reasons to be glad to be alive, and there will always be people who are worse off.

That doesn't change the reality that the Tories have, knowingly and with care, destroyed everything that was good about this country in terms of the experience of the vast majority of us.

The fact that we are just about keeping ahead of, say, Albania doesn't change that.

The Tories knew what they were doing, and what the outcome would be, and they did it anyway.

There are doctors.

It's gaining access to them that's become an issue.

It's dreadful. I'm in my thirties and feel it has all gone massively downhill and unrecognisable from what I once knew. We need a whole new government. Labour definitely isn't the answer when they can't even define what a woman is. What a time to be alive eh.

well not every country is getting poorer the way ours is. Its very unequal though, I just read an article about a young lady who has increased her earnings from £24k to £70k in 5 years working in London in the startup/education software sector (not managerial role), she is only 28 years old. I realized that DH and I are underpaid as we earn combined £120k but work in a more 'lucrative' industry and DH in particular is a manager. But if you compare her wage to civil servants or junior doctors or other essential workers, she has done very well and their wages have simply not gone up the way hers has.

the reason why people want to get here is because they speak some english and they recognize that being in a country where you can speak the language will be a lot easier and where they have some friends and family

The tories held the referendum! There should never have been one!

No, your situation is 90%+ down to you, not the government.

I moved to the UK in 2007, arriving with a couple of thousand pounds in savings, and now, sixteen years later, have a good life here.

To pretend that it’s not down to your own choices that your life isn’t what you want isn’t tenable.

I tell what doesn't feel good. That people vote for this shit show. That's worse.

Can’t wait for Labour to save us all ....

So if your next door neighbour is a thief, then it's your fault?