To think we’re lucky to be in Britain?

[BooomShakeTheRoom]

• Temperate climate with distinct seasons, all the more important and enjoyable as we see other areas of the world suffer with annual fires, floods, hurricanes etc.
• Basic protection of human rights and freedom. Yes, politically we’re in a strange place globally and nationally (yes, looking at you Reform and Trump voters 😑) but - generally - you can be who you are with minimal risks. That really isn’t the case in many parts of the world still.
• NHS - again, yes it’s stretched and not perfect but it’s still far better provision than most other people have in the world. I have friends and neighbours who have moved back to the UK just for the healthcare.
• Fantastic school system. We have it VERY good compared to many countries. Again, some of my friends have moved back to the UK to access our free school system. I feel very lucky to be able to send my kids.
• Pretty decent benefits and state support system. A LOT of people are housed and fed by the system who would otherwise be destitute.
• World class maternity rights.
• Good life/work balance for most. 35-40hrs per week is a lot less than many other countries expect.
• Beautiful coastlines, national parks, vibrant cities, shops, parks, kids entertainment. Again, lots of communities around the world don’t have all of that accessible.

We hear a lot of doom and gloom, but for me at least, I feel very blessed to have won the postcode lottery to have been born here. Could things be better? Of course, certainly. And life can throw us problems regardless. But it could also be a whole lot worse and I’m really thankful for everything I have access to.

Just wanted to post this as media plays a big role in depressing people and I hope this post prompts people to think about what they do have, rather than what they don’t.

(I appreciate people feel differently, just wanted to see a positive post!)

She didn't say it was 'free', she said 'free at point of use', which means exactly that. Funded via taxation.

We do not get free healthcare. It is free at the point of delivery.

I agree that the UK is a good place to live but not because of health and education. We pay or have paid for both due to our concerns about sub-optimal state provision.

I am pretty sure no nation has solved the challenge of how to priovide low cost health care to all it's citizens. There are simply too many people with complex needs.

I would love to know which country is better to live in than the UK. I don't know of any and I have lived in another 2 myself.

Part of the problem is a level of ungratefulness and entitlement from the population now. Combine that with stretched resources and everyone's unhappy.

You paint a pretty picture, OP, but things really aren't as great as you're making out.

If they are for you, then you're lucky and probably in the minority and/or you don't really know what's going on for many people and in many places.

Things have been in decline for a long time and are almost certainly bound to continue that way - mostly because a) there's no money and b) there doesn't seem to be the knowledge or skills to do things well or right anymore.

I live in Stockholm and I'd comfortably say that we beat you on all of those points other than London is more vibrant than Stockholm. Other UK cities though, not so much.

I feel very lucky to have been born in a peaceful, relatively wealthy country but, having lived abroad for a few years (moved back to sort out some family stuff) I can't wait to leave again.

Someone said in a recent, similar thread, that one reason she thought people were so pessimistic about the UK was that, while there were plenty of things which were "alright", there really wasn't much left that was brilliant or world beating, which I think is true. Even the more Pollyanna types have had to stop flogging the NHS as the eighth wonder of the world.

Only if you can afford it!

Could do better. That's my thoughts OP. Social care is a complete mess, people are dying in corridors in hospitals - that shouldn't be happening, hours waiting for an ambulance, there is a huge issue accessing any help or support for kids with autism or MH issues including those who may be violent, schools are really struggling with the numbers of SEN kids that can't access any kind of specialist education.

Winters and grey and summers are wet and there is an ever increasing amount of litter. Housing costs are through the roof, the cost of food and electricity are just going up and up and council tax goes up every year.

I'm happy not to live under a dictatorship where women are second class citizens and there is no healthcare and frequent natural disasters - but it's a very low bar.

Of people think healthcare is much better in Europeans countries they are deluding themselves. They face the exact same problem than the NHS but at an even greater rate of decadence. French healthcare used to be very accessible. It's now worse than the NHS.

I read somewhere that if you have a roof over your head, food to eat, and access to a washing machine you are better off than 2 / 3rds of the world's population.

I get that it's a low bar, but most of us won the lottery living in the UK in 2025.

I have lived in many countries, had the opportunity to stay in most of them but we have chosen to live here. The grass isn’t always greener!

Re the NHS, I had a really good experience this week, I called my GP at 8am, she phoned back at 8.30 and asked me to go in. I saw the ANP for a consultation and the HCA did an ECG.

The ANP was concerned enough to want more tests so phoned through to the local hospital's SDEC department. I saw a nurse and a doctor, had another ECG, bloods and chest x ray within 3 hours with results (no cardiac issues of concern).

The hospital was clean, the staff were courteous, there was water, juice and biscuits for patients in the waiting area. There was a trolley with activities and objects to support people with dementia or a learning disability. If I was in a fee paying system, that would have cost £5k plus, and couldn't have been any quicker. I'm going back to my GP next week for more bloods and follow up. I will never not be grateful for the NHS

Op, that is my lived experience too but I think there may be a bit of luck involved as well.

In 2020 I was made redundant during covid, but found a better job in 7 months on a better salary. Avoided getting in to debt.

Six months into new job I was diagnosed with breast cancer on routine screening. Saw my NHS consultant surgeon in two weeks, operation within 4 weeks. No queues. Brilliant service. Radio & chemo all completed within 6 months. Maybe covid helped with that. Maybe I was just lucky.

Ds is a happy teen, has a place at a great school. We live in a nice house in a village with farms, woods and fields. Little traffic, clean air, No crime. NHS dentist.

Some others have different stories but generally I'd rather be here than a lot of other places.

I agree the NHS is on its knees, but I do think our state schools are pretty fab.
I've worked in several schools and in all of them the teachers were all doing their best to provide quality education for all the children, to support those with extra learning needs, and to provide a variety of enriching activities, incorporating music, art and drama wherever they can, and sporting opportunities above and beyond the curriculum. I know funding has been cut drastically over the last decade and a half, but I still think our provision is world class.

YANBU, I feel pretty lucky.

• I'm Jewish and I honestly think this is one of the safest countries in the world to be a Jew (yes, safer than Israel)
• A prime minister couldn't do what Trump has done in the US, in fact Trump would not be standing again if he'd been PM once in the UK, if he'd even been able to get there in the first place
• NHS - yes it has its issues, but imagine having to worry how much it would cost to call an ambulance, or to have life-saving medications costing you hundreds of £££ a month?
• We're fairly aware of the rest of the world and don't think we're the best at everything
• The far right, thus far, hasn't made the progress here it has in some other countries, but that may be about to change.
• The BBC - I know it has its detractors, but I think it's a net good.

Plenty of downsides as well, like cost of housing and childcare, political inertia (most European countries, for example, protesting is much more mainstream), not a great paternity/maternity leave deal, generally creaking infrastructure and services etc.

You didn’t answer which utopia you reside in?

Agree OP and on the whole, if you work cleverly and work hard you can be successful, you don’t have to bribe people for jobs or qualifications.

Everyone is always blah blah Sweden and the Netherlands. There is frikking about 12 people in the Scandi countries and they pay a fuck tonne of tax. There’s 70 million here, it’s a lot of people in a small space.

Having lived abroad in a hot country, I really do appreciate our climate, although like a PP, the grey winters get me down a bit. But, on the other hand, at least we can put on a big coat and still go out to feed the ducks etc; in a hot country with small children, imagine not really being able to spend much time outdoors for three months of the year due to the heat, and imagine not being able to take them to the play park for four or five months because the metal on the slides/swings is too hot to touch without burning little hands. We are lucky in that respect.

However, I also do not buy into the 'everyone wants to come here for our NHS'. No they don't. My neighbour is Polish and goes back to Poland for her healthcare (which is free, surprise surprise). Clients of my dh's are from India and they go back there if they need an operation.

I also think, in comparison with many other countries, that we have a great education system, despite the bashing it gets from people like Camilla Long in the Sunday Times some months ago.

Actually....I have had a life threatning condition. I had a high risk pregnancy. My family have had several serious health issues. All have been treated in a timely manner by great physicians and I've not had to think about how I'm going to pay for it (yes I know I, general taxation) But I would have gone bankrupt in America by now. My dc is at a brilliant primary and will
go to the local secondary which is also brilliant-and all free. Yes I know that the early years childcare costs a fortune but it's for three years. I very much realize that not everyone has these opportunities but all in all, I feel immensely fortunate to be living where I do.

• we have the cleanest, most highly regulated water in the world supplied to our houses. We don't have to fetch dirty stuff in a bucket and trudge miles with it.
• we have a free education system.
• we are not actively at war and being bombed.
• our inflation is not 1000 x %.
• our women can wear what they like and can speak in public.

Well that's another reason why you aren't that lucky to live in the UK, it's overcrowded.

We don't pay that much tax in Sweden, on a normal income it's around 30% but the difference is that we really see where the money is going with heavily subsidised childcare (full-time nursery about £120/month if you are on an average or higher salary, less if you make little money), good healthcare, free schooling including meals for all children, well maintained roads overall, great public transport, higher state pension than in the UK etc, etc.

Free education? The fees in Emgland are pretty high after Alevels.

Have you been to the rest of Western Europe recently? There is nothing on that list that is accurate except, perhaps, our amazing coastline and national parks.

Your other points may have been correct back in the1970s but they are not Britain today. Not remotely.

Not sure about schools and the nhs being better...not my experience really..found spanish healthcare and schools much better...big difference is that in most other european countries , you can walk around without being bothered by drug addicts, beggars, and high atreets full of fake mafia shops money laundering...not seen any in latvia, poland, lithuania, spain....also no fly tipping...if you live in a uk city, its depressing now and this affects quality of life...we are looking forward to returning to barcelona in about 3 years and wont return to uk...no need.

@MrsMoastyToasty You don't have the cleanest tap water, there are 15 countries that have cleaner water than you and uni's are definitely not free.

Climate yes
NHS is appalling compared to other countries.
Useless incompetent government.