Uk is in big trouble - what do you think will happen?

[hippysun]

Thames water on brink of collapse. All those CEOs getting fat bonuses. Water shortages and rising bills.

the cost of living is off the chart. Every bill has gone up. Pop in to Tesco for toothpaste, butter and chicken and it costs an insane amount for just a few items.

the government are crap and taxing the hell out of us.

my salary is stuck. I feel constantly poor now. 10 years ago when I earned significantly less, I felt ok money wise. Chatted today to a colleague about science graduate son who is stuck doing a minimum wage job as there are no jobs here. I’ve noticed this myself in my town. The council have a few, other companies outsourced to India years ago, the pharma company moved out years ago and the land will soon be a new housing estate.

the nhs is a total mess.

housing costs make me want to weep! No chance of moving. Feel bad for my kids. They just keep building expensive houses here all packed into poorly designed estates. Tiny gardens. But no infrastructure. The promised schools get cancelled and drs surgeries and hospitals are rammed with patients. My mortgage of course is up.

in my industry… everyone is obsessed with AI and I’m sad to say it has taken some jobs already. There is a huge push towards AI.

there seems to be underlying tension here re migrants. People getting increasingly annoyed.

this country feels like a right mess. Making rich people richer and poor people even poorer. The middle earners are getting squeezed. I hate it.

i don’t remember it being this bad ever before.

why is it so terrible? And what do you think will happen?

You explaining something doesn't make it an indisputable fact, it's an opinion.

Hard agree.

I'm worried about climate change and global events, and yeah my neighbourhood looks pretty shit after over a decade of underinvestment, but generally, life is OK. It's about looking at the positives rather than the negatives. And there are FAR worse places to live than the UK.

Thatcher wouldn’t have had to make big changes if Wilson/Callaghan hadn’t crippled the country and plunged it into bankruptcy.

We could work our way back to Palmerston if you like.

Yes it would be an adventure now rather than a depressing probability😂

We really wouldn’t. In 2010 the national debt was the lowest it’s been for 15 years, despite the austerity that was supposed to eradicate it, public services were performing well - there was 70% satisfaction with the NHS - and there were half the number of in work benefit claimants there are now. If that’s a shitshow, let’s have it back.

It's an indisputable fact that it's not certain that Reform will be the next government. Are you saying the opposite? That's it's a fact they will?

You’re right. But how would Thatcher have made the few richer otherwise?

people think it was tremendous to be able to buy their council homes. Making it awful for future generations.

I think the Tories despised the general public being on the receiving end of any kind of social benefit like affordable rent in council houses, an excellent NHS etc. They only wanted to see profits. And now look at the housing situation.

I agree with your post @IngenTing. Things have gone downhill considerably and in many ways.
I think the British are liked boiled frogs so many haven't noticed how much things have deteriorated in the last 20 years, and especially since the GFC. Not that the UK is unique in this.

Indeed. That's the point though - no government has been perfect and we are where we are because of decades of 'managed decline' as a government strategy. With some 'active thieving from taxpayers' thrown in for good measure,

Yeah it's not great at the moment but I have to say it's not just the UK, it's the same in most of Europe too. Really need to stop this Ukraine war as that will bring down energy prices which will then have a knock on effect for all other sectors.

Yes things are bad. All public services (NHS, prisons, police, universities, schools, housing) on the brink of collapse. This is due to decades of ‘austerity’, cuts and disinvestment by successive governments. I don’t think the current government is great, but there is little they can do to sort this out and remain popular. Taxes need to be raised, prison populations need to be reduced by releasing prisoners early, deporting non UK nationals who are inside and massively overhauling sentencing guidelines to make sure only most serious crimes result in time, tuition fees need either scraping or uncapping, green belt land needs built on and BTL and overseas property investments should be requisitioned to meet urgent housing needs. The waiting lists for NHS services need to be cut by either buying in expensive private/overseas drs or changing what the NHS is mandated to provide. Local authorities need to be released from mandatory responsibility for all children with SEN etc. and that’s in the short term. Long term reinvestment in essential services and a welfare state fit for modern purpose must be introduced.

What will actually happen is Reform will win the next GE. We will see a wave of polices designed to appeal to the masses (deportation, caps on immigration, NHS privatisation, uni closures etc) that will have even more harmful long term impacts. It will be worse than Brexit 100 fold. But this is where we are heading.

Are you mentioned in the will?

No, it's opinions on both sides. End of, this is ridiculous. A fact has to be supported by evidence otherwise it is an opinion. You are just parroting an opinion

Yes exactly. Which is why the constant whataboutery is a mere distraction. This goes back generations of government.

Really? She is my constituency MP and I struggle to see any positive changes in our area - anything new and positive comes from local volunteers fundraising for it, rather than any state involvement. I also have had the 'experience' of knowing her via our children, and I was not at all surprised by this interview, both the lack of knowledge and the tone of her response when challenged.

What will happen?

The turkeys will vote for Christmas, we will get Reform, who will destroy the country beyond belief.

And much of that was achieved via PFI which has subsequently been an albatross around the neck of NHS/schools etc.

I’m not saying that everything is great, but the uk in particular suffers with a grass is greener mentality. I was born in Canada, and every single person I’ve met in the uk says to me- why would you not go back to Canada if you could? Assuming it is not in its own mess. Some great bits about the uk and why I love living here- no major weather events threaten us, and we largely live in peace and do not fear being bombed or attacked in any immediate sense. Proximity to Europe and countries with a wealth of amazing landscapes, culture and history. Fantastic culture and creative industries in the uk- we produce amazing TV films, music and creative content. Ability to see and experience culture at our finger tips- lots of people living in large countries can only dream of the gigs, festivals, concerts, art and events on our doorstep. The food and variety of food options is amazing. Cost of food is low compared to other countries. We do have a health service and, although it is never enough, social care exists. You’d be amazed at how crap social care in other countries is especially Canada. The deep moral sense of responsibility we hold for the care of others and the most vulnerable. I was in Spain 2 months ago and routinely seeing children begging in the streets. The beauty of the landscape in the uk and our green spaces.
Because we, like most other western capitalist cultures, grew up with an idea that somehow we are all getting richer and improving our quality of life, when that has not happened and the limits of capitalism are shown, we think this is about the uk. It’s not.

OK so you stop poorer people being able to buy, great, and hope that will miraculously crash house prices. Builders build for this market if you remove it they won't build those types of property. Multiple of incomes on mortgages has already been reduced to help stop people getting into negative equity as happened in the past. Reducing it more just stops more people buying and pushes them into renting, driving up rental prices.

Yes house do cost a lot to build and at the minute there are regulations about materials. And if you don't get a decent price for land people won't sell it for building on. Another deterrent.

How does taxation making a house less valuable in the future make me (force me) to sell it now? And pushing people into negative equity by house prices falling dramatically would be a huge deterrent to selling. And in the past has also been a big deterrent on buying for fear of prices falling further.

You didn't answer why landlords would lower rents willingly or how you would make them?

Why do you assume landlords would sell or even could sell at a loss (always assuming house prices did fall catastrophically and landlords had to lower rents) they may well also be in negative equity, the properties will just be allowed to deteriorate while still bringing in rent. I have seen a huge rise in people looking for and getting funding to convert buildings to HMOs it's a big growing market, not allowed in some areas by some councils, but they are often persuaded if there is local demand.

Just a little perspective:

You are less likely to die from war, famine, pandemic, homicide, accident, illness or natural disaster than at any other point in history.

The world’s population has better access to water, sanitation, transport, goods and food security than at any time.

Absolute poverty is at its lowest point ever.

Globally, we have higher equality for women than ever before.

On a personal level, because you live in the developed West, you are richer than the vast majority of the world.

So, you know…

Half the country voted for Brexit, so they can’t really complain if the economy/living standards are fucked. Every knowledgable person said it would be bad for the consumer and bad for business but they did it anyway.

How is this question relevant to what @hippysun has said?

You don't understand the difference between a fact and an opinion. It's an opinion that Reform will be the next government. It's a fact that it's not certain they'll be the next government.

This is spot on.

By the time RTB was brought in, most councils were struggling to afford to maintain their properties, many of them built quickly post-war, out of often poor quality materials, to fulfil the need for housing to replace that which had been bombed out and cleared via slum clearance. Many housing estates, particularly those in inner cities, were dire. When they could afford to, tenants moved out - creating inner city ghettos where only the most desperate with no other options were dumped. RTB with a discount gave residents a buy-in to their community, a reason to invest in and look after it, and a sense of agency in their own lives.

At any rate, we’ve since had two Labour governments with four different PMs, and none of them have opted to revoke RTB for new properties or new tenants, nor to place restrictions on who it could be sold to or how it could be used after - all perfectly possible.