To wonder how the UK will look in 3 years time?

[Labradorlover987]

I was inspired to write this after reading the UC post that was just reported - the govt’s welfare bill has passed but was watered down so unlikely to make any real savings.

I earn 40k, have a school age child and just feel like I am living hand to mouth 😩 I 100% think there should be a welfare systems that supports people on low incomes but I wonder how the current system will be sustained in the long run?

Just wondered what other people thought.

I actually wouldn’t mind paying more in taxes if we could be guaranteed more in services etc - for example my council tax just went up and the services seem even worse this year than usual.

Labours policy of reducing constraints on building on green field sites is also very short sighted.
As a country we no longer have the land mass to feed our population, let alone conserve wildlife.
Yet still we continue to build on green fields.

What we need are well designed affordable apartments, with nice communal garden areas. Built on brown field sites, instead of more and more identikit shoe boxes with a fence around them, closing off any wildlife corridors and full of fake grass.

My young adult kids would love apartments in their home town, yet the only ones being built are for the over 55s and many of these lie empty. It's so depressing.

You sound very positive re Starmer and Labour, but I think you’re in a decreasing group.

But it does matter what people think. We are the ones that vote! There’s got to be an aspect of working the system with these NHS appointments/waiting lists. They can update with as much data as they want but if people aren’t experiencing this, it’s pointless.

But like I say, that’s absolutely not the only issue.

I can’t see any improvement happening anytime soon!
If we want a GP app, its about 6 weeks assuming its something important enough to warrant a face to face, otherwise its a phone appointment, probably a months wait for that.
In the 1990’s 2000’s you’d have been disappointed not to have an appointment the same day, but would have certainly been within a week.
In the 1970’s and 80’s our GP used to come to us at home - Imagine that!
It’ll probably be with an AI GP fairly soon, which i would have no objections to if it cuts the waiting time.

There seems to be little to no deterrent to anti social behaviour/minor crimes.
Everything seems so negative, everyone I talk to with their own business is struggling and questioning why they bother.
I think once the kids have finished education we might move abroad. Or at least buy a holiday home somewhere nice that we can escape the gloom here!

The problem that we really have is that the electorate don't want to hear politicians being honest about the challenges that our country faces and the trade-offs that we might have to choose between going forwards.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves is spot on

Hopefully someone sensible in power or about to come into power. Services working. Borders secured. Free speech restored.

Good luck with your holiday home abroad! I think that ship has sailed, post Brexit and with the anti tourist sentiment in Spain.

👆🏻 this.

Government will have taxed companies who will then move to an AI model of working faster to save money or they will fold altogether meaning less jobs. In turn this will have a knock on to unemployment benefit claims increasing and mental health issues seeing people needing more support.

75% of our rich have already left leaving a big black hole of income on tax, which they are now stealthily trying to pass on to the rest of us.

They are making decisions in housing law that will only make homes (rented or bought) more expensive in the fullness of time and harder to get for those with real need.

That may be the case, but me and my partner are both taxed at the highest rate and we are done. Moving to another country where hmrc can no longer gouge us that has a much better quality of life. UK offers nothing for the high cost of living, it's sub par everything. We also certainly would mind paying more and that looks like an inevitability now so we are leaving before that happens and will see how many others do the same. I genuinely hope it's a lot and the govt finally sees what all of those tax payers were actually contributing vs the only people they care about who pay nothing in.

The present rules and regulations will bankrupt small businesses and encourage large ones out of the country. That will lead to the whole country being bankrupt. Is that the plan? What is Labour's mission statement exactly? I used to think it was equality for all, but can't help noticing that those who have taken advantage of equal opportunities and made something of themselves, have now become the pariahs because they are successful. They were the hard working ones but are now scorned for it. It's all very puzzling.

I think the UK had been very comfortable for a long time and people have gotten used to not having to maximise their potential. Now we're getting back to a stage where if you have the health to hussle you really really should. The benefits system is haphazard and unfair and the health service is Godawful but the only way out is through.

Bankrupt probably.

The UK is undergoing a severe societal decline. Almost every aspect of society is suffering economically, socially, public services, living standards everything is deteriorating whilst society is becoming increasingly factionalised.

The same is true across much of the western world,

hard to see this improving any time soon. It’s likely the UK will require an IMF bailout in the near future and the fiscal restrictions placed on the UK will be severe.

It’s an incredibly depressing scenario. If you want to depress yourself further, watch Louise Perrys Interview with Professor David Betz

Plenty has changed in the last 2 decades....

yep

Austerity has wrecked the country & has proven to be hugely expensive, it has saved nothing at all.

Awful, now the chickens are coming home to roost.

But if something is important to people they have to start looking at data and evidence rather than just splurting spurious thoughts and riling themselves into angry fools.

one of the biggest problems facing the whole world- and feeding these problems we have- is anti intellectualism. The ability to think critically is being eroded and the constant anecdote and swapping of random thoughts online contributes. Or, we have been given the perfect arena for it to contribute

I bet you're not moving to a scandi country, though...

Yep. Many countries have to do this. They’re not as nice to live in, but if we’ve lost it we’ve lost it.

this whole set up is so recent- post WW2- that it couldn’t last. Tax to fund without growth never can.

Stop watching the news and lay off social media for a while and the world will feel a much calmer place. I’m 66 and lived through many crises - Cuban missile crisis, threat of nuclear war in 60’s/70s, power cuts, water shortages, mass unemployment, race riots, football hooliganism, Irish terrorism, winter of discontent,Thatchers decimation of my region, to name but a few -all before I was 30. I’ve seen wars end, the fall of the Berlin Wall, increases in living standards, more consumer choice, IT revolution and lots of good innovations and improvements.

Good and bad times have always come and gone. That’s just life. Look after your own, stay healthy and appreciate the simpler things in life

Edit: this was in response to @loulouljh who said “Hopefully someone sensible in power or about to come into power. Services working. Borders secured. Free speech restored.”.

How would you fund it? As the conservatives found out re Non Doms and Labour are finding out about business owners and the aspirational wealthy, they don’t want to pay more tax and are leaving/retiring/expanding internationally.

We went to see our broker yesterday to review our mortgage and life/income protection insurance - you simply can’t rely on the state to catch you if you fall anymore, it’s so important to make your own plans for sickness/redundancy

Income protection insurance doesn’t really exist anymore does it? Yes if you fall sick but not for redundancy/ unemployment

Me too, energy is out of control, a year in and nothing done about it, despite it being a manifesto pledge.
Whats the point of Green energy if the price is tied to gas and the infrastructure remains in private hands?
Plus social tariffs just mean those who cannot get them, pay more.

We are also expected to pay twice, perhaps 3x to improve our sewage systems.... yet it still remains in private hands, with the recent review barred from looking at alternative models.

However, for most people, things aren't as worse as before, inflation isn't 11%, petrol isn't £1.89 a litre, food inflation isn't 30% and interest rates have come down by 1.25%.

But little of this is down to Labour or any Govt, inflation nor interest rates rarely are.

75% of our rich have already left leaving a big black hole of income on tax

Have they?

@ChildFreeAndOhSoHappy where are you going? higher earners tend to be taxed similarly in other countries but certainly other countries can offer a better quality of life if you are young.

I think we’d go further afield, somewhere thats warm in the winter! Thailand maybe.
I think the Golden Visa scheme is still in place in Spain/Portugal though.
Or maybe see where the kids end up - I really wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up some where like Oman or Dubai.

Don't forget about the 1 million ish more migrants over here by then putting added pressure on already squeezed services.