To think the UK has gone to hell in a handcart?

[Superlambaanana]

I’m just so fed up hearing about powerful people (usually men) getting away with things. It seems to have become the norm for them to do whatever the hell they like with zero consequences beyond a bit of handwringing in the media, which dies down fairly quickly, and never results in anything changing or being overturned. Leaving us ‘little people’ just having to suck it up.

Examples:

P&O sacked 800 workers in 2022. The CEO, Peter Hebblethwaite even admitted it was illegal. Yet nothing was ever done about it and he’s still CEO!

Liz Truss’s honours list. Bit of a roasting in the press for a day or two, but all the Truss supporters still got their honours in the end. Add to that Boris Johnston’s and the very dubious Charlotte Owen, and now Rishi Sunak creating a whole new honours round to make sure some party donors were rewarded in a blatant exercise in corruption.

Prince Andrew. Apparently still thinking of making a return to public life!!!!!! I mean, wtaf?!!!!!!

Michelle Mone. Has she really faced any actual consequences?

Phillip Scofield. Cheats on wife, bullies colleagues and his boyfriend, but achieves victim status because he was coming out of the closet.

Post Office scandal. Yes it’s managed to get some traction, but people will tire of it eventually and I bet that happens long before the sub-post masters get any justice or decent compensation.

Cost of living crisis and energy companies making absolute fortunes at all our expense with no prospect of bills actually coming back down to where they should be - no, instead we should be happy that they aren’t going up just as fast as last year!

Water companies. Borrowing money to give shareholders big payouts instead of actually managing the water and sewage systems to the extent that rivers are now full of faeces.

😩😫😩😫😫😩😫😩😫😫😩

I'm finding myself repeatedly thinking "back in the day that would be a resignable (not a word) offence", but people just shrug and life goes on.. I feel very old..

Absolutely this👏

@Mummyratbag - yes, me too. So old…

I never thought that morals and principles would rank so far down these days.

I’ve been around the block a few times, so lived through highs and lows… economically, political etc. It’s a series of pendulum’s swinging one way, then the other.

I just feel that now… we’ve achieved a new low.

@Ohyeahwaitaminute - that's just it, everytime you think someone can't do anything more awful and stay in a position of power they do just that!

It looks as if time is up for this iteration of the Tories, but a handful of them will survive and continue on as MP's. It has long been posited that the lunatic element's reaction to an electoral kicking will be to conclude that they simply were not Right Wing enough, and lurch even further so.

There is every possibility that Starmer's government is a one term thing, and the UK public elects a Tory party led by one of the residual elements of the current circus.

For people who say no to that possibility, I'll remind them of the fact that Conservatism was deemed to have run it's course in 1997, and yet 13 years later the UK elected a Conservative PM pitching himself as the leader of a more moderate Conservative party that was no longer the "nasty" party. We've had continual Tory governance ever since, and it has spiralled into a sham of a government driven by people devoid of morals, who have a flagrant disregard for concepts like decency and integrity, indulge in open corruption, and pursue ideologies that were once the preserve of fringe Far-Right entities like the NF and BNP.

This lot have already shown they have a zeal for regressive illiberalism and restrictions on civil liberties and civil rights. There is no guarantee they will not become even more draconian the next time around, because despite Cameron's assurances that they had 'changed', the new, shiny non-nasty party has proven itself to be an order of magnitude more vicious, nasty, and corrupt than anything they got up to in the 80's and 90's.

@Politicono
"Don't kid yourself - you just didn't hear about it. Thinking any time or country is immune to any of these things is very naive."

But that's my point - they don't even bother to cover it up anymore! P&O's chief executive stated publicly to a Government scrutiny committee that it broke the law when it sacked 800 people. Yet there was no sanction and he is still in post enjoying a fat salary!!

Then it’s a police matter. If he ends up imprisoned I’ll agree it’s illegal. So far that hasn’t happened.

He's not the first celeb to pay hundreds of thousands (allegedly) to silence his victim with a NDA which makes a prosecution highly unlikely. We're all entitled to our opinion and he wouldn't be the first high-profile man who's committed illegal acts and escaped from a conviction.

And it's not the same as having an affair. Whether you think it's illegal or otherwise, it's a gross imbalance of power (and age) and the person involved suffered pretty devastating consequences in terms of his mental health.

reflecting some more on this thread, it’s not just people in power showing lack of accountability / responsibility / remorse - it’s all through society now. No one knows how to behave any more - so much anti social behaviour, people littering, playing music and videos on public transport with no headphone (there’s another thread about that today), the way teachers are treated, the crazy amount of shoplifting we all see every day now. All this has got much much worse over the last 10-15 years.

I don’t really care if I’m honest but you being rude doesn’t make anyone any less miserable does it?

History show that the rich and powerful usually shit all over the rest of us- yes, sometimes a well meaning person or group come along and make reforms that improve life for the rest of us (like Nye Bevan). And over time living standards have improved overall. But usually the rich get richer and the rest of us try to get by. The only change is 'who' is at the top.

I think the change towards constant news/comments on the news doesn't actually help though. I'm not disagreeing that life is harder and services are worse (they are), but I think the constant focus on certain subjects can whip up hysteria that inhibits useful discussion and action

Completely agree, @Saintmariesleuth there seem to be very few really altruistic people who drive beneficial change and make a real different in society nowadays. They're all about feathering their own nests. And even worse, people can buy themselves out of problems they've created.

I limit myself to only a few reliable media sources and only a small amount per day, just to get the basics of the news but not get overwhelmed. I learned that one through the Pandemic. It's very easy to get sucked into the 24/7 ocean of news out there most of which is unreliable and misinformation, served to create hysteria. Including on here. People don't think and don't care how they come across.

Should we all just sit here and accept any shit thrown at us?

The 90s didn't have the internet, social media and 24/7 media.

Outrageous things that are instantly out there now, took a lot longer to get into the public domain, it all happened but it could be done under the radar.

look at the John Major / Edwina Curry affair, when that news broke, their affair had already happened and been going on secretly for 4 years! That would have taken a couple of weeks to break now.

@Snoopsnoggysnog I don’t think that a leader of this country needs impeccable morals, but I feel that the likes of Boris et al have ‘allowed’ people to bend or stretch the rules in society… hence the contribution to anti social behaviour. There is the lack of policing on the issue, and teachers getting a really hard time.

Its difficult to extrapolate it all out, as Brexit and the Pandemic have contributed too.

As I said, I feel like we’ve found a new low, and the press and media continue to shovel more shit in front of us.

Prince Andrew slept with a trafficked child. That's illegal, regardless of the fact that she was over 16 at the time! It would have been illegal if she had been over 18. Shocking that on mumsnet of all places that crime is minimised, or rather denied as being criminal at all. Sleeping with someone who has been trafficked is definitely illegal.

Not true. I’m an expat and could complain for hours and hours about the terrible state of the UK, and why I feel I can’t return because of it. I can’t think of anything even half as bad about the place I live now. The other British expats I know say the same

This. DH and I probably say several times a week how glad we are to have got out. Apart from the fact that I couldn't get a Cadbury's cream egg for easter, I can't think of a single thing that isn't better where we live now. (Probably could have got a Cadbury's cream egg if I'd really tried.)

Michelle Mone

On 26 January 2024, assets controlled by Mone and her husband were frozen under a court order obtained by the Crown Prosecution Service.[77][78][79] The Financial Times reported that restrictions had been placed over £75m worth of assets, including a townhouse in Belgravia, properties in Glasgow, an estate on the Isle of Man and numerous bank accounts.[80]

@leafybrew fair enough. At least she has faced some consequences then.

I think the press are partly to blame for chasing click bait most of the time but media interviews like the ones that sank her and Prince Andrew are the invaluable side of the fourth estate.

Rishi Sunak seemed a decent person but turned out that was only in comparison to Boris and he is just as corrupt. Unfortunately politicians like him are just too slippery to be brought down by an interviewer.

The woman Prince Andrew is accused of sleeping with was trafficked, therefore her age at the time is irrelevant. I find it astounding that multiple people on mumsnet seem to think that is OK, or legal.

Tbh I have more pressing concerns, it's like mad max crossed with Lord of the flies round here.

As you say, we’re all entitled to an opinion. I will revise mine if and when he is convicted. I will not let the media impact my judgement.

I don't agree "whinging" makes anyone else miserable. If it does, that's on them not OP.
I am actually glad to hear someone else cares and I am not alone in feeling that we really need an overhaul.
This is the UK we're talking about so no-one's going to be going to a public meeting to discuss it if Strictly is on TV, but I am hopeful that some improvements can happen, not least as several posters have observed, it's time to get rid of the current government.

Yes. My 'take' is that corruption has always happened. But, from the late 60's/early 70s the media shone more of a light on it (on the areas they chose, right enough). So we began to SEE & understand I'm details the corruption of our Government system, each current crop of politicians, the Royal Family, the Church. In many ways this was a good thing (knowledge is power etc) but, also not as when people stop believing in 'Standards' (esp in public life) then it's easier to justify one's own shabby behaviour. A fish rots from the head. So, eg, Johnson behaves absolutely appallingly, & Sunak seems 'clean' by comparison (but he's nothing of sort, busy delaying an election whilst he scoops the last £ into his family swag bag). The Govt increasingly likes to polarise people & blame 1 section or more whilst screwing us all (started with Enoch Powell, also see 'single mothers' in the 1970s). Media, esp SM has hugely exacerbated this. There is a surprising amount of good in individual people. We fundraise, we try to help each other in communities (covid etc). Given a choice most people will choose if not to help at least not to damage each other. But its hard to see & have faith in that when the news is overwhelmingly bad & full of corruption. And there is no question we are going 'backwards' in terms of recent progress. Rickets are back. Child poverty up. Education a mess. Early death increasing, death in childbirth increasing. National debt through the roof. Secure housing unobtainable for many. NHS not fit for purpose. High Govt surveillance (esp on Scotland with new Hate Crime laws) yet the Govt lose & sell our Data daily. Our international credit rating, & our international 'morality' rating dropped considerably. We deserve better !