To ask why you live in the UK?

[Hungryhippo12]

I will start off by saying I love the English countryside, the beaches, most of the people but I’m having a hard time deciding if it’s worth living here anymore. We’ve got the opportunity now to move abroad and I know the grass is not greener and I’ll be incredibly sad to leave but….

We pay a huge amount of tax (top tax band) and it’s not spent on tangible things we benefit from- for example I have no problem if it goes into the NHS or to people who can’t work etc but it’s not; millions of pounds gets spent on things that do not improve the lives of people in our country and then they wonder why people become resentful of paying all the taxes we do.

My children can’t just go out and play as knife crime is rife where we are , as is bullying, fighting and uploading the video etc

Everything seems disproportionately expensive as compared to earnings- for example, rent, mortgage , bills etc out disposable income is a lot smaller than say ten years ago despite earning a lot more.

I love our community, I strangely love the English weather but I’m finding things hard. There were riots in the city near where we live last week. The country just seems abit broken and a lot of unrest.

I read posts on here - especially ones about private school VAT - and people seem angry, hateful of those with more and kindness
seems to have been lost.

Is this just what England is now?

I had a mate who moved to New Zealand to work, she said it's nice for a visit but it was pretty boring to actually live there, she lasted 2 years and came back. Also really far from other frineds and family. But seriously you do you. I happily pay my tax knowing a portion goes to the running of the NHS. I you're in a high tax band in the North you should also have the pick of some pretty great places to live. I mean couldn't you move to Harrogate if your hospital's North of Leeds to avoid all the knife crime?

I'm hoping with Labour there's a little less corruption so hopefully tax can get funnelled into public services and house building rather than donor pockets trying get rich quick scams with PPE.

Move somewhere else then? I live in England and don't recognise any of your complaints, in fact only the weather and dark winter nights are an issue for me.

Also in most countries you can replace knife with guns!

Haha I guess you're right!

New Zealand sounds really nice, but make sure you’re not comparing the worst bits of England with the best bits of New Zealand.

I live in a market town in East Anglia. It is safe, prosperous and lovely. Near countryside and coast. London is accessible if I want world class culture (not necessarily available in NZ). There are hospitals in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk that would bite your hand off. You could live in a safe village and give your kids a 1950s childhood. And you wouldn’t have to be on the other side of the world from everyone you love.

Temperate climate (no -20 winters and 40 degree summers, no tornadoes etc)

Fairly progressive socially (when compared to the vast majority of the world)

Lots of lovely places to holiday at home without going abroad

Opportunities for different careers

NHS may not be at its peak but in my area it’s not bad and I appreciate that it exists

The city I live in is beautiful, I live near the beach, people are friendly and it feels safe. Public transport is fab around here too.

I live in my husband's country and nothing could persuade me to swap with m'y family in the UK : we have a quality of life here that has disappeared in the areas of the UK I am originally from.

I only speak one foreign language, which happens to be of a country with quite high unemployment and low wages. My husband doesn't speak that language so that country is ruled out.
My husband's country is currently at war and if we went there, he'd be called up so that's a no go.
In terms of English speaking countries, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and NZ have become way too woke for me.
The USA has worse workers' rights than the UK, so we'd have less holiday and less family time if we lived there. I like Australia and have distant relatives there, but I don't think I'd want to actually live there. I like living somewhere with lots of historic buildings and a temperate climate.

@Meadowfinch

Do you live near me, there's been a spate of manhole cover thefts!

The kids roam from about age 10 here, it's lovely, though they do insist on swimming right by the no swimming signs!

I lived in Central Asia and America for seven years.

Trust me when I say most people have no idea how good they’ve got it. My job involves a tonne of international travel. People I work with live all over the world for anywhere between 1-4 years depending on the country they then rotate out to another country - and I can hands down say that 99.9% of them want to come back to the UK because every country is facing issues like we are, often worse.

I love the uk and wouldn’t live anywhere else.
My business now has hubs in other countries. I travel abroad a lot and could easily emigrate if I wanted.
But I still love coming home.
Having a whine and a moan about the state of the country is a national pastime.

Have to admit though I don’t live near or come into much contact with antisocial behaviour. Which admittedly means the house prices around here seem a bit punchy. But it is what it is, you pays your money and makes your choices etc.

Thank you for your replies. I fully agree, after reading them I think it’s location we need to
move as some of your locations sounds lovely- where is it you live ? I do wonder wether with our jobs we also see a difficult side to life- I do surgery so people come in with knife wounds or who need reconstruction due to violence and I’m
actually wondering if thats what’s caught up with me as well.

Someone commented about taxes - I have no problem with the tax I pay but I see people coming into A and E who can’t get a GP appointment or needed help with food as they have none and it makes me sad as these are the people I think need help but the taxes aren’t being directed in the right way.

@ChandlersMum I also like the weather and the seasons here!

Most people stay where they are born, go to uni, or get their first job. I honestly didn't realise we even could go elsewhere until I was offered a job abroad and my friends were like wow can you do that. It's a very island mentality, which we are. Aldo we were all London born and breed so didn't even move for uni or work, why would we? All now wish they had left or could, all settled with partners if not families now and too old for easier visas.

Having now lived in Canada for a decade I can say while nowhere is a utopia it's is substantially better. I pay about the same amount of tax and property prices, rents are the same but it is safer, cleaner, the standard of public healthcare would be private in the UK and there are tons of public facilities that are free or cheap, good quality and well cared for.

@Bananaspread I was going to say the same here in Bath (apart from the coast) - great countryside, lovely city, pretty safe , great schools - yes we have got some slightly troubled bits, but it seems to stay in those areas and I don't go there. Biggest nuisance is the seagulls and we have a good hospital and a fantastic new cancer centre

I love the UK. I love the history, the architecture, the people and even the weather! I live in the Scottish countryside, it is very beautiful where we are and pretty much empty of people. I think you might feel better if you moved somewhere else in the UK, because the problems you are describing happen everywhere.

Having said all that, there is nothing wrong with having itchy feet. My biggest regret was not trying out other countries when I was younger, just for the experience of really living somewhere culturally different and not just visiting as a tourist.

I was born here, I feel very english.
I love the countryside, food, sense of humour, accents, even the beaches.
Love how in summer weather, everyone is happy as we don't get it very often.
I like Keir Starmer (a mumsnet sin). I like M and S and cups of tea.
I have friends abroad and they always beg one of us to bring items of food over that they can't get over there.
The desserts are the best in the world ( a chinese ex-colleague once said this to me and I agree).
We have the NHS.
I don't feel like I'd belong anywhere else.
I'm from a rough northern town which some people would think is the arse end of the country but I love it.

Apologies this was not the intention of my post. I also haven’t read others posts about this but I don’t use this site much. Instead of rolling eye emojis I was after actual advice and I have had some amazing replies that have been really insightful and helpful.

It depends where you're moving to, some places are a lot more expensive.

But generally speaking there's a big uptick in young adults planning to move abroad rather than stay in this shithole, and I don't blame them.

I think we'll start to see the need to get more and more incentives for immigrants to come in because the skills and jobs gaps are already showing, and it's going to get horrifically worse when the trend is people leaving the country after qualifying as doctors etc.

I wouldn't trust the NHS now unfortunately. Even when you can get what you need after a long wait it's done by someone who is chronically overtired and overworked and doesn't have any of the support they need, and mistakes are being hidden away.

Oh I’m so glad I posted as replies like this sum it up- it is a good country to live in. We have M and S , Cornwalls beaches and sometimes the sun comes out! And if it doesn’t we have autumnal weather and bonfire night and the exciting lead up to Christmas.

I moved from a big city where I had lived all of my life to a market town a few years ago. I literally pinch myself most days that I live somewhere so beautiful and yes it is in England. I have my beloved family here too why would I leave?

@Hungryhippo12 if I can just mention too we lived in Copenhagen for 20 months and there are things that are better and things that are not virtually everywhere

In Copenhagen better things were childcare (if needed) public transport, roads, much cleaner, some great rented housing, beaches, lack of weasel faced 'chavs' , independent shops, less trouble in streets, saw far less drinks/drug issues , Copenhagen airport

Better in Britain
Scenery more varied, Ready meals, meat, (impossible to get nice affordable meat ) over the counter pharmacy drugs, supermarkets, Uber etc ( not allowed in Denmark) Amazon (not allowed ) more casual (drink after work etc ) - Danes tend to keep themselves to themselves more , TAX ( far less in UK but so are services standards and wages are higher) less beurocracy

Regarding the NHS I do agree - it’s struggling a lot and needs considerable amounts of money, restructuring of management and training of doctors and nurses. There’s also really long waiting lists for routine surgery. If you have an emergency I think it’s very good still as all resources are ploughed in to it.

'Why do you live in the UK' IMO is a stupid question. It's like wandering the streets of any country and asking with a microphone... 'why do you live here'?
Most people don't have any choice beyond their country of birth. Asking 'why did you leave the UK' or 'why did you move/where would you move' to a specific country makes more sense.

Also, 'moving' isn't this big life changing decision that can't be undone. Massive upheaval, yes, but it's not forever. If you're a citizen you can return easily.

If I seriously think about it, there's only a handful (less than 10) countries that I'd say, are objectively better than the UK for 'everyone' (by socioeconomic status).
People who call the UK a 'shithole' have never really lived anywhere else. Fair enough to want better, and to acknowledge all the issues but a shithole? Hmm, nope.

My home country is great for the wealthy, in fact a lot of Brits retire there because a UK pension goes so much further. Not so much for the locals or other migrants from poorer countries. You are paid differently for the same job depending on country of origin/race (this is legal), people can refuse to rent their properties to those of a certain race, there are university quotas based on race, etc. Yet my country is very 'modern' and wealthy with skyscrapers, luxury malls, and things like that.

Also countries change, cities change, 20 years ago the UK was a great place in all the NHS/public service/etc metrics now it's not. Who know what will happen in the next 20 years? And the ones after that?

I'd say if you get an opportunity, move, it's great to experience a different way of life.

Blimey OP you must be in a rough as a badgers arse area in Leeds! We live in an allegedly rough area of Southampton and can't remember more than 1 knifing in the last 4 years.

No big housing estate nearby though - is there a sink estate near you?

Food is insanely expensive in New Zealand. Basically no public transport. Expensive housing and not much central heating which makes winter grim. It’s not as warm there as people think.