AIBU to ask if there is anything at all that works as it should in the Uk?

[Lavendersquare]

Just been having a discussion with a colleague and between us we can't think of any public service/government department or agency that is delivering a decent service. Examples include:

Education
NHS
Immigration
Police
Social care
Roads
Railways
Dental Care

it never used to be like this, there was a time when things worked, were maintained and replaced. Now it seems everything is left to the last minute and patched up or left to deteriorate.

What's happened?

I work in an industry that no one even realises is so badly underpaid, unless you're at the top of the tree.
I moved jobs earlier this year for a 5% pay rise. But when most jobs for a qualified, registered job aren't much more than nmw that 5% doesn't equate to much.

@TheOGCCL that would be a killer point except that the Tories are in charge of regulating privately run businesses, so they can allow those in control of them to treat them as cash cows (think bankers’ bonuses, ridiculous CEO pay) and they’ve also privatised a lot of publicly-run stuff so the same applies, and a utility that should be private immediately gets other incentives like shareholder value, profit and so on. Think about the difference between the NHS and private doctors. I have a lot of experience of both because I’ve got chronic health issues and rich parents who think private doctors are better. The NHS has loads of issues, sure, but private doctors want to give you what you want and get loads of return business in the future. The NHS wants to give you what you need then hopefully never see you again. The Covid vaccine is another subtler one - private pharmaceutical companies will focus the bulk of their research on “blockbuster” drugs like viagra, antidepressants, statins, and how to keep slightly different versions of them patented for as long as possible to make profits. When Covid came around they produced the vaccine in record time because they were being funded to deliver a public priority ASAP, and didn’t have to spend the majority of their budget persuading people they needed it, it was just needed.

What happened? Where have you been? 40 years of moving 'public' money - ie the taxes we pay to keep everything going - into private hands. Every public service. Wave them all goodbye. Every penny that doesn't go into a Tory donor's pocket is a penny wasted.

Don’t all parties have donors

Labour and Lib Dems too

Libraries still seem okay in my area. Can't think of much else.

that’s due to them shutting so many https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/library-closure-austerity-funding-cuts-conservative-government-a9235561.html 800 libraries shut since 2010

volunters run many libraries for free instead of staff

Moaning seems to be working well

Not true.

Recycling and rubbish removal has got better

Ha yes

They’ve had to increase pay of those on the bottom grades by 66% more than those on the top grades. This was to ensure they weren’t below minimum wage. That wouldn’t be needed if they were relatively well paid

The passport office.

Got a really good service when I had to renew my kids passport.

@FelicityFlops How is this Labour’s fault? The NHS was the best health system in the world in 2010 - it’s not even in the top 10 anymore!

Oh & the whole trope about the NHS being a victim of its own success, maybe, but funding and workforce planning are the biggest issue. We put less money per capita into our health service than most European countries and less than the US.

The roads service seems to have unlimited funding for pointless roadworks or new roads being built!

Depends where you live. Our village FB page have a tongue-in-cheek game of "which part of the village will still have their rubbish the day after bin day" every week. It's been quite a while since the answer was "none". This week was our street's turn to drag everything back in and hope it gets collected next week.

Potholes, when you look at where the potholes are, they are generally formed where utility companies have dug up the rd and not resurfaced properly. Private companies need to be fined for this shoddy work. Instead tax payers have to pay for the repairs and high prices for the utilities

Ok, so in the last year DH and I have had between us: a mammogram, a breast callback and full check, a cervical smear, hrt prescribed on a yearly discount, a PSA test, a full mot health check, a number of gp referrals, poo tests. All efficient and no hassle.

All the roads in the village have been resurfaced.

Our planning dept is crap.

Litter, for example, is done by volunteers, community has a big part to play in how your area functions.

Nordic countries are very hot on self reliance, and community. Their systems are generally better because, yes, they pay more, but also because they are low populations, and very homogenous.

Have to say I was invited to apply for pension 3 months ahead. Two minute job on line, letter of confirmation of pension arrived in one week and payments started on time. Could not have been better in my experience, same with friends. Only the stuff that goes wrong is noticed.
Agree though public services disgraceful, but we got what we voted for

Nordic countries are very hot on self reliance, and community. Their systems are generally better because, yes, they pay more, but also because they are low populations, and very homogenous.

I don’t understand all of this paragraph. It’s much more challenging (and expensive) to provide services to thinly-populated rural areas, rather than to a large town or city.

I don’t know how being homogenous would help, other than by everyone presumably speaking the same language. Diversity of experiences is generally a good thing - it leads to new ideas and innovation.

Passport office, I know there were long delays post covid but I have just applied for a new passport and it took 6 days and I didn't use any enhanced service.

To add to positive posts a GP appointment on same day, booked by app immediately became a CT scan two weeks later with no waiting time at all and results 6 days later

"Nordic countries are very hot on self reliance, and community. Their systems are generally better because, yes, they pay more, but also because they are low populations, and very homogenous."

Can we knock this one on the head. Every fourth (24.9%) resident in Sweden has a foreign background and every third (32.3%) has at least one parent born abroad. In the UK, 89% of the population identifies as White British - i.e. the other 11% are either from families that at some point have been immigrants, or are non-white but identify as British.

In Norway, 18.9% of the population are either immigrants or born in Norway to parents who are immigrants. In Denmark, the percentage of first- and second- generation immigrants is about 14%.

The bit about the same language is slightly iffy, as well. There are Finlandsvenska, Swedes who speak finnish, and a lot of different dialects, before you even consider the indigenous Sami people. That’s just Sweden!

OK, statistics are a minefield. However, I was talking about "Nordic" in general, but looking at Sweden, the next biggest group is Finnish origin. In Norway the next biggest group is Polish. Denmark is even more marked, with a majority of "scandinavians", Greenlanders, Norweigans and Swedes, being the next largest groups. They do, of course, also have lots of immigration from Syria and Afghanistan and Poland and Ukraine.

The GFC happened, a pandemic happened and the Ukraine war happened causing global inflation. But no, to left wing voters global events are the fault of the Conservative Party.