To think that there is no hope here?

[Taxed]

52.6% of UK individuals are reliant on the State (that is 35 million people). Only 47.4% are net contributors. How did we get here?

AIBU to think that the UK is now a declining economy that will never recover if this continues to be the case?

I am 49 and a high earner (just shy of the top 1%). My husband is also a high earner and we are thinking of leaving. We don't know where but we know we have to as the situation in the UK is getting worse not better. The only thing that is keeping us here is our son, who is still in secondary school. I am actively encouraging him to consider a future outside of the UK.

I genuinely feel that being ambitious and successful is not worth it in the UK. People hate you for it and want to see you penalised. They think that whatever you do to earn the money it must be easy and a breeze. That you are greedy and need to be made to pay for doing well. Just last week, I heard that the government might be thinking of implementing a charge, payable by high earners, to access the NHS. Everything is about taxing the already heavily taxed even more and few want to face up to the fact that this is unsustainable when you have most of your people relying on the State to live.

People complain about the immigrants but they make up a tiny proportion of 35 million.

I feel disliked for doing well and just can't see a future here and it is making me angry and sad. I believe in having a welfare state, in helping those who are in need but 52.6%? The country is on its knees when most of its people are in need. That is like a developing country not a developed and thriving economy.

Sorry for the long rant. I'm just tired, sad and have just about lost hope of enjoying life in the UK.

Does dependent on the state include those who access NHS services regularly? Or those in Scotland & Wales who have NHS prescriptions (they’re free)

All these posters talking as if it's all going on unemployment benefits when that % of the 52% is tiny!

Also, a lot of people talking about the good old days and how no one used to be dependent on benefits...

In the 1980s the unemployment rate was 11% (it's currently under 5%) and benefits were so easily accessible students used to claim them in their holidays!!

Why are you on this thread out of interest?

Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve been a proponent of motability since joining the scheme in the 1980s. Non disabled people have no idea how much mobility and independence mean to the disabled and motability provides that. I was a disability outreach worker for over twenty years and during that time I made a point of asking non disabled people whether they approved of the mobility allowance of DLA, child DLA and PIP. Without hesitation all said they did because it kept disabled people mobile. The notable exception was when it came to the provision of a car on the motability scheme. Even though there is no more cost to the tax payer than the mobility allowance paid to everyone regardless of whether they use the scheme or not, most objected to the provision of a car. I really don’t know what to make of this and can only put it down to envy. Envy of the vehicle but not the disability that goes with it. Very strange wouldn’t you agree ?

This. Anyone who thinks benefit should be paid in stamps or vouchers is really only interested in othering claimants so that they can be identified and shamed. It’s unconscionable.

Labour have been in government for a year. Unravelling the unmitigated shite the Tories visited on the country is going to take longer than that.

Their policies are counter productive to the good of the economy and the country. As seen by the economy tanking, schools closing, farmers committing suicide, and a rise in illegal immigration (for example). Something's certainly unravelling and perhaps a bit faster than anyone anticipated...

Yanbu. I'm not a high earner like you but I understand why the government can't just keep taxing more and more. They need to make spending cuts.

People see it as inflammatory, but this country literally is one of beggars and handout takers. Everyone wants a free lunch and sit at home making excuses. It’s just the truth, the numbers say so.

For me, the choice would probably be probably Portugal. I already speak quite decent basic Spanish/Gallego, which are quite similar linguistically. The income tax rate for pensioners is about 10% of income. There's no inheritance tax. Property is not astronomically expensive. But we won't move, because DH already has complex cardiac issues and I really don't want to have to explain his 20-year old medical history in a foreign language when the next crisis happens. It will happen. But there are also a lot of areas of the UK where I also do not want the next critical incident to happen.

Can I be nosy and ask where you live, is there a thriving expat community and are you part of it, and is there anything you miss about the UK? Just being nosy/interested!

Unraveling again. When SMEs are hit, borrowing up and more taxes on the horizon in autumn. If that’s what Labour wanted why say the last budget was the only time they’d do it.

Unless small businesses prosper, the whole economy suffers because across the whole country more people work in SMEs than anywhere else. Our business is tiny (six people with FT jobs, not on minimum wage rates). Small business collectively is the productive part of the economy.

Your use of "literally" and "everyone" shows you know zero.

Because I was a bit bored last evening so scrolled through a few MN threads - is that a satisfactory answer, or am I supposed to submit a request to view threads?

I live in NZ, I'm not from the UK.

Actually I agree the UK does have 'terrific weather'. We have some problems with gales and floods, but where doesn't! We have very few days of extreme heat and in winter we don't get the extreme cold that hits parts of Europe and North America.

yeah because some random on the internet really knows what I know.

Oh well, I guess we all have differing views on what makes 'terrific weather', but it wouldn't suit me at all.

Following your logic.

How long would you like us to give Labour - 14 years?

Don’t let the door hit you on your way out!

The poster didn't suggest that, just that perspective is needed given how comprehensively the Tories fucked over the UK. It takes a long time to turn an oil tanker round.

In just 12 months, I think that Labour have done a stellar job of ‘fucking over the UK’, as you so eloquently phrased it.

Of course it’s inflammatory to say things like that because it’s a sweeping generalisation - not everyone is sitting at home expecting a free lunch. The benefits system - or handouts as you like to call it - is there to support those who can’t support themselves, whether they’ve fallen on hard tines temporarily or become longer term and sometimes permanently sick or disabled. Yes, some take advantage - that’s inevitable in any system. But the overall numbers don’t accurately reflect the cheats. Fraud and error is low, but people like to inflate the numbers to suit their own narrative - usually because they don’t fully understand how the system is supposed to work, or the different ways in which benefits are meant to support.

Well if everyone wants a free lunch and is sitting at home making excuses, that must also include you.