Are things becoming just a little bit shit?

[Bloomsburygirl]

I was wondering if anyone else has started to notice the deteriorating standards in public services and private businesses. I went to London over the weekend, and I was shocked by the filth and litter. I moved to the UK in 2011, and I visited many times before I moved. I do not remember rubbish strewn across streets like it is now. And every place I seem to go gives off a feeling that there simply are not enough staff anymore. Restaurant toilets and public toilets are filthy, it takes an age to be served, and don't get me started on public transport (I read the recent thread on this and agree with every word). It seems to me like the consequences of Brexit/pandemic are really starting to bite, and to be honest, I miss the way it was pre-2016. AIBU, or do others feel the same? And is this the new normal? Disclaimer - I still adore the UK and would never want to live anywhere else!

Capitalism/neoliberalism collapsed in 2008. The west have kept their fingers in their ears hoping that printing more and more money will prop the system up.

The socio-economic problems we've seen since are a reaction to that. In terms of the UK, voting for Tory governments and the self-harm of Brexit have exacerbated this along with a global pandemic.

People on NHS waiting lists for knee and hip replacements losing their mobility while they wait and wait and wait and yet cant get a Blue Badge because its not classed as permanent disability so cant park in the town centre as they are pedestrianized. And obviously cant walk the distances required. With the amount of people on these waiting lists in the millions thats a lot of people who CANT visit the high street for the reasons ive listed above never mind the ones who dont want to and prefer to shop online.

https://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.uk/news/23970524.braintree-bank-street-disabled-parking-restrictions-upsets-drivers/?ref=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR1HiDmBeHu16TiLtruYAQJlnBzwee9iD9QxvKNvJ7R7Cy1zSK8p_eZ1lGY

An acquaintance of mine phoned her dads GP surgery over a 100 times before getting through to them for a nurse appointment the hospital said he would need. They can't book it online.

I agree with you, but I don’t think it’s anything to do with Brexit, it’s all to do with overpopulation by illegal immigrants, I think the last year or two we’ve taken in over 1 million but we haven’t provided the services to meet that

As someone who lives somewhere else I disagree. Yes, we do have many of the same issues facing the UK, but I haven't seen litter everywhere, dirty toilets etc. The local secondary school where I live is being rebuilt, almost every primary school in town has new buildings, we have a brand new library and council offices, I don't ever remember litter not being collected.

Last year I sent a photo of the town's Christmas tree to a friend in the UK. Instead of mentioning the tree she commented on how clean the street was - it just looked the same as it does every day.

Most of the world has COL issues, too many people, not enough services, but some do still seem to manage things better.

I have felt this way about London for nearly 2 decades. That could also be because I live in continental Europe, we’re things are different. I’ve never like going to London, because I’ve always felt it was dirty, full of drunk ambulances out on Friday night to pump peoples stomachs?

I could be a case that you’ve never really saw it before but it’s always been there.

Same here!

Councils are going bankrupt so street cleaning isn’t a priority. No top ups from the EU for regeneration. Courts and prisons overwhelmed so more dangerous people on the streets. Yes it’s all a bit shit on the public side of things. If you can afford to live on a private estate with staff and services and pop abroad every other week to relax it’s marvellous.

We don't go to London any more. We used to go about once a month, even drove in as have a hybrid so there was no ULEZ. London is now so expensive for us to get to by train (over £90 return for a family of 3) it was cheaper to drive. I got fined £150 for being on a hatched area for 5 seconds while lights turned red and the car in front decided to crawl up to them leaving me over the hatched area. We realised slowly that it was quite rare to find any food under £10 unless you were in a burger joint - and even then some went up to £30! London seems as if everyone in London thinks they are on the Apprentice and charging £15 for a waffle with some nutella on it is the new "normal". So we don't go now. I don't even look. As a family we have swung back the other way than most into staying at home more and not going out. Crowds with rising covid, everything over priced and rubbish quality, poor service and bad transport...no thanks! Bad enough you can't use the NHS and we've had bin strikes for 3 months of this year. Bin men in our area now out earn nurses. Such a lack of foresight in this country. It's no wonder to me at all that every person under 30 I speak to is keen to live and work abroad.

You are right …..
In addition , I think there is a lack of pride as well as lack of personal responsibility / citizenship too . People dump stuff outside their house , litter is dropped , dog poo not picked up - I could go on !!!!!!
Only a few people have to do this and others think they can do the same 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's called austerity a miserable failed Conservative policy, that they are now trying to blame on anything but that.

Say thank you to the Tories!
if you don’t invest for THIRTEEN years in the guise of austerity that’s what’s going to happen

Litter and dirty toilets are nothing to do with Brexit or Covid - what nonsense - it is to do with how sloppy and lazy people have now become. People make toilets dirty. People drop litter. No respect now, just drop it/make a mess and let some other fucker clear it up. That is the problem.

Exactly. OP, with regard to litter, it’s largely the people. Who, living in London today, is dropping litter on the streets?

Why did people in London care more about standards? Who lives in London today, and why don’t they care?

And before anyone says “ It’s the council’s job”, no that won’t wash. Why was it not the job of the council years ago, but now it is? And remember we all pay for council services.

I will give you a clue as to why there is so much litter: because the inhabitants today are dirty, scruffy, don’t care and probably deserve to live on a dung heap. Whereas before, the inhabitants were smart and cared.

All the whinging! If all the complainers did a little bit more to make this country better. The problem is that people in general need think a bit about the view "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and getting a different result". Living in a relatively democratic society and constantly blaming government is nonsense. Join a group. Do some research. Go to your MPs surgery en masse.

You know how change happens? PEOPLE.

I lived abroad for 5 years and came back 6 months ago. I am so grateful for how amazing this country is. You think healthcare is broken here? Then take better care of your health and demand companies stop manufacturing more awful horrid food that's making more Britains overweight. Stop going to A&E for coughs. Meanwhile: according to research by BMJ, "too few people training as health professionals caused shortages in most of the EU15 countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UK, Austria, Finland, and Sweden)."

Money strains? I have no data here but it seems like convenience food (ready meals etc) has gotten a lot more expensive versus groceries you'd by to cook your own food - which is much cheaper here than in the US and Canada. And with beauty and stuff it seems like younger generations see a lot of beauty services as a normal thing that everyone is entitled to - does anyone not have artificial nails? And filler - research percentage of respondents who used fillers increased from 20.1% among respondents aged 18-29 years to 38.4% and 45.2% among respondents aged 30-39 and 40-49 years, respectively.

Rubbish where? Wait, you mean where the protesters have been marching? Or maybe tell us which area? Perhaps it's the refuse service - Ive seen the company that collects recycling in this borough be quite careless with bits blowing about.

I'll tell you what, the US I paid $650/m for healthcare. Finding a GP was difficult. The first one I found that would see me in 2018 because my fingernails were falling off - was really old. So old he was dead next time I needed an appointment. The next doctor I found - I had to wait 6 months to see AND she didn't give a flip that I had a condition that meant I couldn't take MRIs- she said to call another specialist for that in her words, "I'm a doctor, I write prescriptions. That's how the system works - make a diagnosis - send patient for tests and prescription. And each doctor visit on my last insurance policy was $35. My child need therapy which amounted to over $10,000 out of pocket and about 80 hours of time trying to track invoices, and finally a medical advocte to intervene and stop me from being overcharged another $5,000! lol. And as soon as you leave a job (quit/get fired or have a gap between when you start a new job your insurance gets much more expensive if you need it).

The only place I have encountered rude or sub-par service is in tourist areas and it seems like people who come from abroad are used to people in retail being servants.

In the 6 months that I have been back I got made redundant. Which sucks. But still compared to where we were Im happy to live here for the rest of my life and work to improve things for my child, myself and fellow citizens. And I have helped to get a law changed, in a way I can't mention here.

It takes a village OP. Do your part. And that includes researching why things are the way they are before complaining. Everyone should do that. And everyone should be grateful that we're fairly safe, not in a war, we have heating and water no matter how expensive. And we also have the freedom and liberty to stand up for change and challenge those in government. We can also remind people who can vote to educate themselves. And if you can't vote, properly research and talk to those who can vote about your views.

Yes I had a lot say and did some research - all while eating my salad and omlette for dinner. :D

Oh wow I feel quite privileged because my refuse collectors havent been on strike and I'm treating them to some xmas chocs next week to say thank you for their hard work.

I live in the Midlands near a big city and there is some graffiti by one idiot who tags his name everywhere, but nothing else. Rubbish is also not too bad, but alas not non existent. You see it more near fast food outlets and retail parks, but rubbish was definitely worse in Athens, Corfu and Crete (and graffiti) when I visited this summer. Also visited Rome and rubbish/graffiti were worse than my city, so it's not just UK. Plus I visited one place on my continental tour and it stunk, it made my eyes sting and had rubbish piled in the streets - defo an eye opener.

If I was to send a photo to a mate overseas of my town with its vibrant xmas market, ice rink, stalls, bars, cafes, twinkly lights and beautiful xmas tree, they would comment it looks lovely because it does.

There's more to the UK than London. Out in the shires it's quite nice.

Oppadoppa, a family rail card makes trains cheaper, but even without, it's hardly cheap to own and run a car

Only noticing stuff like litter is just fixating on the negative

It’s not the politicians, it’s the people. Too many elderly because we pump them full of dozens of free drugs to keep them hanging on a few more years in their huge houses. People don’t look after their own health - smoke, drink, eat crap and get fat then expect the NHS bail them out.
And apparently stupid people have more kids than intelligent people so as a civilisation we’re becoming more stupid on average. That can’t help!

The state of the roads around here ( affluent area in N.England ) is something else, I dread to think how much the council has to pay out for damage to people's cars, would make an interesting FOI request. I sometimes have to travel to North Wales and its like entering a parallel universe, somewhere where there is more road than pothole !
It has definitely got a lot worse over the last few years, I do appreciate that local government funding has been massively cut, but it isn't something the average local can change, I don't have access to road laying equipment, I can not drop litter or help to pick it up, but the roads being abysmal is beyond me.

Yes, but it's about standards, no such thing as society has been the defacto Tory mantra since Thatcher. It's all about self - me, me ,me. The Tories don't believe in anything that doesn't make a profit so there's no discernible monetary value in things like keeping the streets clean; and with austerity cuts, these are things that get scaled back. If the streets are filthy then people take less pride in them because they're dirty already. If there's rubbish on the streets people throw more. If the government/councils don't care then people don't care.

The better the country is run, the better people behave. It works the other way too.

Exactly! The deterioration has been happening for at least the last 10 years..

@Allfur that is with the railcard! Much cheaper to drive for us.

As for the poster comparing US prices for healthcare - maybe have a tiny think on why our NHS trainees leave as soon as they can...clue, it's not for the holidays. Half of the problem with the argument "we'd be worse off in USA" is that it is very clear that business model for health is EXACTLY what the Tories are trying to achieve.

The Tories have hailed America as some kind of utopia since Thatcher's time and basically tried to emulate what they do as the king of Capitalism, but they've always had a ton of social problems and questionable policies on things like health care, education, an underclass, poverty etc.

Little wonder UK is heading the same way.