To be depressed about how expensive but shyt the UK is

[OptimismvsRealism]

God it's expensive God it's shit

Please regale me with examples of how other places are also shit and it's not just here

I could have typed the exact same thing! Our tiny town and surrounding villages have hosted (and still host) many Ukrainians. They even have their own 'shop' where they can choose free (donated) clothing and bedding etc. And the ones I've met (mainly young) have been positive, happy and hard working - and they seem to like living here.....

They don't as they lost their normal livelihood, at least for the time being, but it looks like people on normal salaries in Ukraine were better off than ppl on normal salaries here. And Ukraine was not even a "developed country" whatever it means.
Not just in the UK btw - I know a programmer who emigrated from Ukraine to France five years ago as he sensed what was coming up, he says roughly the same things - salaries are shite, everything is overpriced, services are non-existing and people are struggling. He's not unhappy or moaning, he's well settled but just stating the facts in comparison. His brother, also in IT, emigrated from France to Canada as soon as he naturalised, couldn't stand a miserable life in Europe.
All this is just about the state of the economy, not politics, culture, people, food, weather or anything else.
On the other hand, I see a large group of Ukrainian builders every morning - they probably earn more in the UK as construction works/plumbing etc cost a fortune here 😂 whereas in Ukraine it's cheap manual labour. So I guess the POV depends...

The only country I can compare to is Australia, which is no shit in a lot of ways, but if you think the UK is expensive then you'd be shocked at the cost of things over there.

Well 52% of the country said they knew what they were voting for and it was a price worth paying: £311bn by 2035. Big price. Were you one of them OP?
https://news.sky.com/story/amp/brexit-new-report-suggests-uk-311bn-worse-off-by-2035-due-to-leaving-eu-13046256

At least you probably don't have to pay £14,000 for it, as in some countries.

Exactly. I'm not sure why people are so huffy and defensive about the UK. It's great some communities were so welcoming, it's terrible 4.3 million children live in poverty. People fleeing a war noticed the low standard of living in parts of the UK and that's somehow a slur - why?

Why on earth are you still banging on about this? Or are you paid to do so, otherwise I think some need professional help tbh.

I do really wonder about these threads, the undermining nature of them.

People still bang on about it because it is playing a massive part in why the uk is so shit now and set to get far far worse. Frankly I think that those who don’t acknowledge it and stick their fingers in their ears are the ones who need professional help- sadly there is none. Because the uk is indeed shyte.

It has nothing to do with it, and everything to do with the war in Ukraine, the scaling back of printing money, the pandemic costs and the ballooning costs of welfare, benefits and social care!

Ffs educate yourself on the broader picture. This is a global issue. One that is affecting even China and other major economies.

You are choosing one small jigsaw piece of a much larger and more complex puzzle.

It is utterly exasperating that people like you are even allowed to vote quite frankly. You are frighteningly ignorant, and lack any awareness of how the markets work and what stimulates growth or otherwise! The real money my friend does not slush around in Brussels but far further East.

A ‘slur’.. I don’t recall that said

noticed the low standard of living in parts of the UK

Apparently they pitied the whole country, I’m sure if it was a you’d just written it would have made more sense

Hence asking for area for context a couple of times.

I doubt they can offer context if they have never stepped foot in the U.K…

Exactly. Being on a thread about how shit things are and pretending losing hundreds of billions of pounds has nothing to do with it, is absolutely bonkers.

I’m not a medical professional but I suspect the fingers in the ears thing is being used as a coping mechanism by some of those who decided to beLeave.

So many seem to not remotely grasp how this country currently keeps afloat, nor do they seem to have the first clue what the projections are for the next decade or so, and how much the world order is changing right now.

Just this strange benign wish to hold on to the aging European model of the 20th century, with no real effort to be even peer beyond it. It’s bizarre for a pioneering nation to read such narrow, myopic views that are were outdated decades ago.

And yes this thread is probably not for the successful or the contented so I will show myself out and leave you to this misery fest 😅

There was/is a near-unanimous agreement among economists that leaving the European Union would adversely affect the British economy in the medium- and long-term.

So one wonders what special info only you seem to have to hand. Care to share? It’s people like yourself who are anxious to hold on to a 1950s image of the uk that no longer exists and is out of step with the modern world that are outdated.

This is the point I tried to raise earlier.

Maybe we are at the point where we need to paying for NHS services and the reply was no we don't want to pay.

That's normal though? That isn't a sign of a broken NHS.

DS was the same. They are put on the list because all their adult teeth need to be fully through. They still see the dentist and if the teeth are fully through earlier, then they go and see the Orthodontist

DS has his initial ortho appt 3 weeks after teeth were through then 6 weeks after braces were fitted and he had his normal ortho apps even through Covid.

Brace came off after two years and fitted for retainer, problem sorted.

Straightening milk teeth is pointless. That's why they don't do it as those teeth will come out.

It was explained to us that adult teeth come through in different ways to you won't know a tooths placement until they are fully through

People always bang on about the weather in Southern Europe on these threads making everything better. We lived on the Med for a few years and the summers are brutal. You're not hanging around at the park in 42 degree heat. The only time you're doing outside activities is 8pm or 7am.

You spend a lot of time indoors, just in the summer, not winter. And you have to go to work, you're not under a bloody beach umbrella all day.

There is no healthcare. Have you recently needed the NHS for something serious? It's all imploded. There is no care. Not for all and not for everyone who is very ill.

Australia is not more expensive then the uk . It’s pretty much on par . Some things cheaper here. Some things cheaper there . Uk’s takeaway is much dearer .

I’ve just returned to the UK from Canada and this thread made me laugh a lot.

Not only is Canada more expensive than the UK but also guns, carjacking, opioid crisis….and seeing a GP is almost impossible in some parts of Canada.

Yes the UK has problems but so does everywhere else.

Sigh…I just love walking around town knowing I won’t get shot at and I can buy some lunch for less than £10

Bon Voyage OP

The only things it has going for it is it's a relatively safe place to live with some level of equality but that's only when compared ro very low bars like the really undeveloped/ less civilised countries. It's becoming less safe now due to massive unregulated immigration too, and huge issues processing prisoners. It's also quite beautiful in areas but I'm afraid that won't last forever due to the unnatural increase in population and need to take up more space.

We've had a very different experience of the NHS. To say "there is no healthcare" is completely wrong. I'm sure some people have horrible waiting times. But as a family we have all needed care ASAP for issues which could have been serious and we were all seen quickly.