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!

Getting rid of the Brexit millstone around our necks.

Even Labour won’t run on joining the SM, despite polls on Brexit and their own

Another five years and things might look different across the EU anyway

1.When given the opportunity we vote for the candidate in our own constituency who can win who isn't a Tory.

1. When given the opportunity we vote to rejoin the EU.

The ageing population is going to need to fund itself. We’re going to have to divert public funds away from medication and treatments to extend already long lives.

Current pensioners have taken an awful lot from the system compared with what they paid in.

They certainly won’t vote for that!

@verdantverdure getting back into the EU will be a lengthy process & you’re deluded if you think the countries financial problems will go away by voting in someone who is not a Tory.

the80s - I must live in a really nice area! We have a postman round every day. I must admit I bank with the NatWest and they want you to do everything on line. If I go in to their branch they are really unhelpful and don't even have a counter service anymore. I tried to change an account with them and was told that I could only do it online. It wouldn't surprise me if my branch closed and that's the main one in town.

@2dogsandabudgie our NatWest branch closed down.

I think it’s been on a downwards spiral for a few years. In the case of rubbish and rodents in the local parks this got a lot worse during and after lockdowns as presumably rubbish couldn’t be collected. I did notice a few years ago eg Lambeth had rubbish bins eg at bus stops. Now they’ve gone but if you go the nearest other council where it borders a posh, richer area, Dulwich village, there are lots of rubbish bins and it seems cleaner to the rougher area which straddles it.

I’ve also noticed eg less lighting in parks and people using phone torches to see in the dark in them (I made the mistake of forgetting how quickly it got dark). Seeing as our local council has been made bankrupt twice, and our council tax has one of the highest in the London boroughs (Croydon) I’m surprised not more services have been cut but have been told litter in local parks is picked up by volunteers.

A friend of mine who tried to challenge a driving/parking offence couldn’t get through to the right department at Croydon council and then when she went there in person to their offices noticed they were empty and all wfh/hybrid. She wasn’t impressed at all.

I’m trying to compare where I went on holiday this year (Gran Canaria and Paris). To be fair, GC was tidy but I suppose they have to be for the tourists, and Paris was a mix of clean and dirty in equal parts in certain areas.

They don't need to "vote" for it, they'll increasingly find that the only way to get the services they need is to pay for them privately, i.e. rather than wait a couple of years for a hip operation, a pensioner with a gold plated pension scheme will probably decide to go private and pay a few K for it. We're already seeing it with hearing aids, podiatry, ear wax removal, disability aids, etc. If "rich" OAPs want a standard of living commensurate with their income/wealth then they're going to have to start paying for it. Increasing tax isn't the only way of getting cash out of them! At least if they go private, the others who can't afford it will have fewer people ahead of them in the queue!

Well, if tackling immigration gets the votes then one would assume that it's a valid cause for a vast number of the population...?

I do think that the out-of control, unskilled immigration needs to be tackled but the costly Rwanda plan is not the way to go.

For the benefit of those who don't see the current immigration policies as a problem, I suggest redistribution of the current migrant populace evenly amongst every single council area of England. Including the naaaice parts, the naaaice streets, the Home Counties, every single postcode... And THEN let's see what it's like. We're either capable to absorb the migrant numbers without detrimental impact on the existing communities or.... You'll see and experience what I experience daily. And you won't like it. And your priorities will change more in line with those of the rest of the country.

My New Year's resolution is to start picking litter weekly in my street (mostly consisting of packaging with labels in languages that I can't read).

The last time I was in a big branch of Lloyds where I bank, to pay in a big cheque, the customer service was noticeably rude and I made up my mind to go online and do things like this in future.

My friend and NDN works as a greeter/bank cashier at Barclays though and I’ve never asked her about customers but they can’t all be easy to deal with.

We probably shouldn't have voted for the party that has set up the economy so young people can't afford to buy homes or have children then.

Or the one that says it is opposed to immigration while increasing immigration to their highest levels ever.

Or the one who has been banging on about the costs of having an ageing population for decades but when in power does nothing useful about it.

Those dystopian films that used to seem a bit far fetched, don't look too far away anymore. But no one seems to care either.

Most people I know are paying for their own operations , mostly because they are self employed and need to get back to work quickly
and can't wait years for a new knee or hips
They are not necessarily rich either , but can take the hit short term

I agree that generally, less of the required workload is being done. Whether it's potholes, service in pubs/restaurants, trains being fully staffed, etc. We split our time between UK and Germany and it's even more noticeable there (not to excuse it). There are many reasons, but I really think one of them is that some people take work less seriously since Covid and the rest of us are carrying them.

The public transport that I use in London is better than it was a few years ago, particularly the tube. I think the streets are pretty clean too. I don't recognise the issues in your post.

Thats what people will say about E.T. When one finally lands 🤣

Can I suggest if people have a problem with litter, graffiti, dogshit, potholes, flytipping etc they report it via fixmystreet.com ?

At least they'll have a log of the compliants, and who knows, stuff might get sorted if they are inundated with the same problems.

Our bank branch directs you to a machine
I did ask a question and was told by the important looking lady greeting people that she didn't know.
A customer in front of me had a query about LPA and was told to ring a 'help line ' which I bet wasn't that helpful.

You've only just noticed?

Yes it’s really apparent across London, I imagine it’s much starker the further up north you go. (Not said in disrespect, simply mean it’s common knowledge the govt doesn’t care about northern towns and cities)

Round here, rubbish bins are left uncollected for 1-2 days, people often rip bin bags to root through them for things to sell, the foxes then come and writhe and poo all through the trash which then no one wants to collect so it’s left to fester.

A busy road near me has such a gaping hole that cars swerve and frequently crash to avoid it. It’s also deadly when it’s icy, and the gritters don’t come.

There is a massive cut to funding distributed to local charities so homeless people are dying in parks overnight.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, it’s probably the worst I’ve ever known it.

User1497 - The NHS has been like that for years. I remember one of my parents needing a hip operation nearly 30 years ago and there was a 2 year waiting list then.

I don’t think this is a problem exclusive to the UK. I live in a very nice area of Munich, supposedly Germany’s safest and most affluent city and notice the same decline previous posters have witnessed in the UK.
Litter in the streets, potholes, roadworks that never seem to finish, public transport that hasn’t kept up with population growth, strikes. Higher crime and more anti-social behaviour. A huge increase in homelessness. Shops closing down and standing empty for much longer than they used to (even in prime locations). The city looks drab and run-down. Many shops have reduced their opening hours. Terrible service at massively inflated prices everywhere. Ridiculously high taxes that our utterly incompetent government is wasting on useless vanity projects and trying to buy votes while the country’s economy and infrastructure are going down the drain. Everything feels broken, hopeless and so much worse than ten years ago.

Yep I’ve been yearning for the 2000s/early 2010s recently. Everything is just getting worse and worse. English born people are a minority where I live too which makes it feel even more bleak. England isn’t England anymore.

@QueenCamilla

"Well, if tackling immigration gets the votes then one would assume that it's a valid cause for a vast number of the population...? "

There's no evidence that it is a top issue for concern for 80% of us. Most people are more concerned about the economy being trashed, environmental issues such as shit on beaches, and cancer causing pesticides on our food, plus the NHS, RAAC, and the general state of everything.

And rationally nobody would look at the Tories record on the issue and think they were the party to vote for to fix it, would they?

They don't need to "vote" for it, they'll increasingly find that the only way to get the services they need is to pay for them privately

If "rich" OAPs want a standard of living commensurate with their income/wealth then they're going to have to start paying for it. Increasing tax isn't the only way of getting cash out of them! At least if they go private, the others who can't afford it will have fewer people ahead of them in the queue!

What about the ones that aren’t rich or rich but don’t want to pay? I don’t think the NHS can be fixed by rich oaps going private for operations.