What do you think the U.K. will be like in 15-20 years?

[GoodnightAdeline]

Pondering this on the train this morning.

My personal view is Labour will win the election this year, and will be able to keep the country treading water for a little while, but we will continue to get poorer as a nation and the decline will continue. I think there will be an exodus of skilled and younger people and we will slide into second world country status, leaving a tiny workforce struggling to support an enormous number of dependants. Perhaps it will right itself eventually, but not before 2060 or so.

Am I being too pessimistic?

Dickensian but with a cellphone

I fear you are right and with a growing number of people who cannot work because of disability the future looks grim.
Societies used to rely on the drive and ambition of young people. Sadly a lot of our young people appear to have mental health issues that prevent them from working.
Factor into this that many of our under graduates instead of having enquiring minds need trigger warnings for books and you have to conclude that we are well and truly fucked

They won't be. Labour will move ever more leftwards, the welfare state will grow even more and it will be seen as anathema to expect anyone to do any kind of work or be punished for wrongdoing in any way, so either they will print into oblivion to fund it all, which will mean higher inflation and higher interest rates and higher welfare payments which can only be paid for by appropriating the savings of anyone who has saved, whilst inflating the costs of everything so that anybody not getting freebies will be thrust into penury as their savings won't be inflation linked, unlike welfare. The Tories are already doing this, so Labour will do it on steroids. Turkeys don't vote for Christmas and there are far more takers than givers already and they will vote for more free stuff...

Hopefully I won't be here to see!

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

― Alexander Fraser Tytler

KnittedCardi · Yesterday 16:18
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To those saying we will rejoin the EU, you are assuming it will still exist. I'm not so sure.”

I think Putin has cemented the EU for a good few years.

I fear that the EU is in an even bigger mess than we are!

Impossible.

coxesorangepippin · 16/03/2024 19:12
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Dickensian but with a cellphone”

All the better to coordinate the ragamuffins.

@helpfulperson im in Australia, it is no utopia but we have jobs that are better paid, we live in a bigger house, have a much better work/life balance, can see the investment in schools and local areas and have access to healthcare (albeit at a cost which frankly I’m fine with). After the relentless negativity of the uk it is amazing. They have a cost of living crisis here too but we are paying less for food and energy than in the uk.

I'm not sure if the NHS will survive that long. Hope I'm wrong.

Don't you worry more about the climate crisis there? The fires and floods are apocalyptic in some places already 😞

About as much as I worried about it in the UK to be honest. Peak bushfire season here and it hasn’t been bad and not witnessed any apocalyptic weather yet - although some states have had it worse.

Never heard that before but very interesting and seems like exactly where we are going.

I think Labour is very lax about border control which is one of the reasons I never ever vote for them. We are an island and we need to put the UK and British people first. I worry that under Labour there will be mass immigration that will destroy this country. It will get to a stage where our nhs, schools and public services will become overwhelmed, there will be regular protests on the streets, an increase in sectarianism and it will get to a stage where it isn’t safe for young girls to be out alone and unaccompanied.

Blair's gov was the start of this when they put no limits on immigration from Eastern Europe - the rest of the EU did put limits. And heigh ho we got Brexit. Thanks Tony.

@LittleWeed2 i don't think Ireland had restrictions nor Sweden - they were the 3 countries I think

Because every immigrant is a rapist right🙄

Its not safe for girls now. It’s nothing to do with immigration, it’s to do with male violence. Sarah Everest’s was murdered by a white police officer. Not an immigrant.

Not pessimistic enough

I don't the UK will improve, put it that way