To be beginning to think there is some sort of bot presence here starting threads doing down the UK?

[MrsBixbysMinkCoat]

I am so fed up with it. Nearly every day there is a thread about how awful the UK is. Today it's about how filthy we are compared to other places. A couple of days ago it was about how shyte it is here. Moaning about the NHS, weather, transport, about how Ukrainian refugees feel sorry for us, about bloody everything.

There are lots of things I dislike about Britain in 2024. However, this is still a beautiful country where the vast majority of people live peacefully. The very worst thing about this country is that we don't realise how bloody lucky we are. It's not too hot like Southern Europe (sunning yourself on a beach in 38 degrees might be lovely; working in a kitchen every day much less so), not too cold like Russia or part of Canada. We don't get hurricanes like the Southern US has just dealt with. We don't get floods on the scale of Bangladesh. We don't get earthquakes like Japan or Haiti. We don't have volcanoes like Iceland or Italy. We don't have poisonous snakes and spiders like Australia or India. We don't have wild animals stopping us roaming freely like Africa. We don't have drug cartels running things on a huge scale like parts of South America. Neither do we live under despotic rule like North Korea. We don't live in daily fear or famine like the horn of Africa or of war like the Middle East. Our women are reasonably free and not forced to live diminished lives like in Afghanistan.

We live in a generally benign Western democracy and yes times have been hard and yes some of that has been self inflicted - eg via Brexit - and yes we have struggled with leadership too removed from working class priorities. Yes there are knife crime issues and gangs in some of our cities and towns and I wish there weren't. But on balance in a global scale this is fucking paradise compared to many people's lives.

Please can we have a thread bigging up the UK instead of this constant, neverending, tone deaf whingeing, that really is one of the worst things about the British (and possibly, the English most specifically).

I've though the same thing in the last month or so. The anti Labour, far right and generally goady posts have really ramped.

It's all a bit Twitter, isn't it? It feels 'managed' and manipulative.

1. I'm not sure if it's a particularly British trait but we do rather like to moan about stuff. We don't like boasting or self-congratulation. A lot of our best comedy is self-deprecating. Also, as people get older they often remember the past as better than the present.

1. Mumsnet is a weird place. Some threads I read and feel really happy that I have found kindred spirits. Others I wonder how so many people can share a view that I think is totally wrong, that I don't know anyone who behaves like that irl.

It has been the case since Covid regardless of Labour not being in, maybe it's more noticeable now to those who voted for Labour

We're the the 9th most unequal in terms of income of 38 OECD countries.

It's really difficult to work out where is better in terms of welfare, as factors like housing costs, wage related unemployment benefits & maternity/paternity pay differ.

But, using % of gdp to welfare is a reasonable guide to looking further into the differences. So that would include the Scandinavian countries, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Japan who all spend more as % of GDP on "social benefits".

So a few.

Yes, I think it's post-covid. I've been around these parts, on and off, stretching back to Gordon Brown, and this place has just become a doom and gloom cesspit of one post, new name, bellyaching thread starters.

You wouldn't believe how many people in England don't know how much a prescription costs. Quite a lot of people think the real cost of the medication is the (massively subsidised) £10-ish they pay for an item. We were paying hundreds a month in prescription costs when we lived abroad. And we were not in America.

"Its governments obsession with pandering to large sections of the working class, and ignoring the middle class over the last decade which has seen the deterioration of living standards for all."

Can you explain further @Whenwillitgetwarm

I really do not see the metropolitan elite as having prioritised working class concerns over the middle classes over the last decade. While the Tories were in power? They made sure food, housing and transport was affordable, did they? Made sure domestic abuse was a high priority? Put lots of money into state education and ensured the curriculum was accessible and gave equal priority to vocational qualifications?

Really?

I agree.

I remember returning from.a holiday in Egypt and being so relieved that I could walk down the street without being stared at, sexually assaulted or has someone try to sell me something.

I've lived in 2 other countries outside of the UK and although it was a great experience I now value the UK much more.

We have a milder climate, more choices of food and other goods in the shops, better public transport, a fairer police and justicesystem (I saw a man being beaten with sticks by the police in an Asian country, and a friend was advised against reporting a crime as the perpetrator was an organised criminal in an Eastern European country).

The Asian country I lived in also had no free education system so many children didn't go to school. And no health care either unless you could pay.

And as someone else mentioned, women here are so much safer and have better life choices and freedoms than in many other countries.

This country is by no means perfect but I for one am extremely grateful to have been born British.

Yes. In addition we have prepayment certificates so that even if you need multiple medicines to manage a condition, the total cost is capped to less £10/month on an annual or £11.50/month on a three month certificate. It saves me a fortune.

Very very well said!!

The negativity and navel gazing and self criticism is one of the worst parts of British nature but I think it’s much more prevalent online than in real life. A vocal minority dominates and tries to manipulate facts, bring others down. Good to be conscious of this and rise above it.

Went into my nearest big town yesterday. Bus was very uncomfortable as the road surface was so damaged, Pavements uneven and cracks everywhere. (I walk with a stick).
Shops crammed with people sorting over some nice clothes but only a few sizes on offer. So I shall have to buy on line.
A pub and a cafe were not dirty but neither were they polished and shiny clean.
Yes I moan because all of those things could have been improved with some effort and not huge amounts of money. I feel many people are only doing the minimum that is acceptable, few are making the effort to be exemplary.

Haha! Burn! 🔥

I've definitely seen a ramping in the last few months. The Starmer hate has been particularly OTT. It feels like managed smearing, rather than opinion giving.

🙄 Let's not compare apples with oranges. How about comparing with other northern European countries? The UK is disgusting in comparison. It has definitely got worse in the last twenty years.

Personally I've always felt that the Soviet era infiltration by Burgess, Philby etc went much much deeper and across the social classes, leading to a huge number of people who seemed in the 60s and 70s when they reached positions of responsibility, to attack the UK from within, attacking the monarchy, the legal system, the way we have 2 chambers elected and unelected, the police, the forces etc.
This has grown and whilst I can see in many cases why people feel the way they do about the house of lords for example, the relentless attacks and the inability to actually discuss issues seems strange.(Personally I am reconsidering my position on the house of lords having been for many years an advocate, the fact that someone who writes musicals about cats gets to decide the future of the country seems wrong! )

Was in Greece for a few weeks. Christ, you have to watch EVERY single step as the pavements are full of rubble, open holes where drain covers should be, rubbish everywhere and so many dilapidated buildings. Don’t get me wrong. Weather brilliant, fruit and veg massive and cheap, food cheaper, people friendly. Eating out cheap. There is A LOT of poverty in Greece.
Healthcare crap, stinking fumes from bashed up cars, mopeds and vans. Graffiti everywhere, a lot of metro trains covered in graffiti. Chaotic streets, gypsy kids galloping about, Albanian kids begging on buses and trains, someone trying to sell you something with every 5 steps you take. Mafia from Bulgaria, Russia………
Contrast with uk. Streets clean, and ordered. Can walk without breaking feet, toes, or legs.
Nice architecture in many places in U.K..No graffiti (not where I live, anyway) no rubbish. No street dogs. No electric scooters; Europe is not some utopia. The Greeks complain about Albanians. The Turkish complain about the Greeks. The Romanians complain about the Hungarians. My sons were in Germany for the Euros (football) and many people they encountered (from many different nations) did not have nice things to say about Serbia. Other son works in Sicily. Again, speaks about dangerous streets, mafia, crumbling buildings, loony drivers, begging children, abject poverty. Yes, Britain has its fair share of issues, but it’s really not that bad.
I’m interested in some of the Scandi countries, Denmark is a sensible place, with a much more equal society, their political system tends to work well. I personally love many that I’ve met from The Netherlands. Norway, I find the lifestyle and people to be very good. Food and drink prices through the roof though.
Look. Boris has gone (thank god) and be selective where you get your news and media offerings. British folk are particularly good at moaning, would win gold medals frequently if it became a sport.

Believe me, you’d find walking around many parts of Athens an absolute death trap. Unless you lived in the extremely posh areas.@NewGirlinClass I can only find one or two decent shops for clothes in the city in which I live in the U.K., and do online shopping. Cracks in a pavement are nothing.

I love our coastline, forests, lakes, weather (mild), and our relative freedom to live our lives the way we want to.

I think you just didn’t notice the intensity of the same for the last gov, to the point anyone not joining in got lambasted

Are you aware that Africa Is an entire continent with 54 countries?Read some geography will you?

Are YOU aware that mentioning the continent of Africa is allowed? Just like mentioning Asia or South America (another continent I mentioned in my OP) is allowed?

Are YOU aware that elsewhere in this thread I talk about how in fact I grew up in East Africa (which is also not a country, but I am not being more specific) and am in fact half African?

Feel a bit silly now?

' We don't have wild animals stopping us roaming freely like Africa'

wild animals? Lol. Please be specific and name the specific countries you refer to because Africa is a whole continent OP and I've never seen a wild animal in my entire life and I was born and bred. It's 2024 surely this narrative that Africa is known for only animals is shallow and so 1920s. 😃

You were born and bred somewhere in Africa and have never seen a wild animal? Sure.
When I was a child in East Africa as I already explained in this thread if you had bothered to read it, we were not allowed outside of our garden on foot. This is because there were troublesome baboon troops roaming locally and they were very bold, possibly a bit like urban foxes in the UK. But bigger sharper canines. We also had to be very aware of snakes and scorpions and were not allowed to get out of the car when out in the countryside until my parent had done a "snake sweep". We also had to check every shoe for scorpions before we put them on, and when camping we had to use UV lights around the campsite of an evening to check for scorpions. We were not allowed to swim in any rivers or lakes except very fast flowing water, in case we got leeches or, more likely, bilharzia (which we actually did get). We had to walk with shoes on always to avoid chiggers in the toes.

Now you might argue that bilharzia snails and chiggers don't count as animals but they curtailed our freedom to just run around mindlessly.

We didn't have lions in our back yard or anything and I never claimed that was the case. Though we did get lions around our tent one night while camping...

Also where did I say Africa is only known for animals? To be honest I mentioned the animals because there was a strange juxtaposition in my childhood of theoretical freedom in an amazing landscape but actuality was, I had much more freedom to hop on a bike or go round to a friend's house on foot when I used to visit my grandmother in the UK. So I guess that is what sprang to mind. There is far more to the country I grew up in than animals - but I never said there wasn't.

Typical bloody Mumsnet that in requesting a thread bigging up the UK I end up having to repeatedly defend my credentials - based on one throwaway line in my opening post - to a bunch of people who think attempting to pick holes in someone, whilst not bothering to read the full thread, is more important than actually discussing the issue raised.

And in fact we finally left East Africa after our car was stopped at a police checkpoint, all the children in the car were rounded up at the side of the road and held at gunpoint, whilst the police, who told me mother they had not been paid, stole the food shopping in the back of the car. My mother was subsequently diagnosed with PTSD. And I don't think that happens that often in the UK either....

😘