Page 20 | Uk is in big trouble - what do you think will happen?

EasternStandard · 13/08/2025 16:01

Britneyfan · 13/08/2025 15:58

I agree they’ve made some bad decisions, but they’ve also been governing in a hugely tough environment and I don’t see any better alternatives yet personally. I was extremely relieved to see the back of Boris, Truss, Sunak myself. Who are you hoping will win the next election?

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I haven’t decided yet and probably won’t until closer to the time.

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:01

The amount of "the UK is doomed" posts at the moment is off the chart. Almost like there's an ulterior motive behind them

Fwiw, life seems ok in our neck of the woods. People holiday, pay their mortgages, kids do well at school, get Dr appointments when needed, can heat their homes and put food on the table. While it's undoubtedly difficult for some, it's not all doom and gloom, is it?

Britneyfan · 13/08/2025 16:04

derxa · 13/08/2025 15:46

It’s all about materialism on this thread. I grew up in the sixties and seventies and I had a very happy childhood. The end of the seventies were particularly great. All this talk about oppression of women doesn’t chime because most of the women I knew were formidable farmers wives who ruled their domain.

I don’t think it’s fair to make this all about materialism. People are having to work harder and harder simply to be able to afford the necessary basics of life such as food, shelter, transport etc. It’s not sustainable.

Britneyfan · 13/08/2025 16:07

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:01

The amount of "the UK is doomed" posts at the moment is off the chart. Almost like there's an ulterior motive behind them

Fwiw, life seems ok in our neck of the woods. People holiday, pay their mortgages, kids do well at school, get Dr appointments when needed, can heat their homes and put food on the table. While it's undoubtedly difficult for some, it's not all doom and gloom, is it?

I agree there is a sudden rush of threads about this currently when it’s been going downhill for quite a while now! You are lucky if you’re not noticing any problems in your immediate social circles. I work as a GP and see people from all sorts of walks of life and other than people who are extremely comfortably off, the decline of the U.K. and in particular the cost of living crisis is genuinely affecting people’s everyday lives very negatively in multiple ways.

twistyizzy · 13/08/2025 16:07

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:01

The amount of "the UK is doomed" posts at the moment is off the chart. Almost like there's an ulterior motive behind them

Fwiw, life seems ok in our neck of the woods. People holiday, pay their mortgages, kids do well at school, get Dr appointments when needed, can heat their homes and put food on the table. While it's undoubtedly difficult for some, it's not all doom and gloom, is it?

It completely depends whereabouts in the country you are.
That's the problem, people living in areas like yours can't understand why others are complaining because you don't have the same frame of reference.
Its not doom and gloom for you, for others it might be because they are having a different experience.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 13/08/2025 16:08

derxa · 13/08/2025 15:51

Well the farm was their workplace

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No, they weren’t working in offices full of sexist managers who could feel them up whenever they wanted. And sexually harass them.

l got sexually harassed in the mid 80’s when l was just starting a job after university.

derxa · 13/08/2025 16:08

MoominMai · 13/08/2025 15:53

Just because you personally didn’t see anything untoward doesn’t mean it didn’t happen though.

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It’s hard to hide things in a close knit world like farming. Everyone knew if any really bad stuff happened.

HonestOpalHelper · 13/08/2025 16:08

GasPanic · 13/08/2025 10:25

Collapse house prices.

You cannot lower energy costs.
You cannot lower food costs.
You cannot lower import costs (just about everything).
You cannot lower tax (at least you can't if you want the services).

You can lower house prices. Collapsing these would :

Lower rents, so renters have more money.
Stimulate movement as more people could afford houses.
Allow the government to lower public sector wages because living costs would be less.
Lower mortgage costs for new entrants giving them more money to tax/spend.
Plus probably a whole load of other things I haven't thought of.

It would of course screw over anyone who owns a house. But this is the wealthiest section of society anyway and the money has to come from somewhere.

At the end of the day the middle class are going to be the ones that pay for this, it's just a matter of how you take the money.

It wouldn't screw those of us who own our homes, I own mine, its worth £500K, if tomorrow you made it worth £50K, not really a problem, as I can still by another for what I get for this one. But likely people would sit on it and wait for it to go up again.

Of course if you have a mortgage the bank would have to either eat a big chunk of its loan, they won't do that as it wasn't their money in the first place, or push the owners of mortgaged property into negative equity with no way out - that would really mess up the market because they wouldn't be able to move, just have to stay put and keep paying the mortgage.

Britneyfan · 13/08/2025 16:09

twistyizzy · 13/08/2025 16:07

It completely depends whereabouts in the country you are.
That's the problem, people living in areas like yours can't understand why others are complaining because you don't have the same frame of reference.
Its not doom and gloom for you, for others it might be because they are having a different experience.

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I actually live in a reasonably well off area and am still seeing the negative impact, it won’t always be immediately visible to others unless they’re looking for it though.

EasternStandard · 13/08/2025 16:09

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:01

The amount of "the UK is doomed" posts at the moment is off the chart. Almost like there's an ulterior motive behind them

Fwiw, life seems ok in our neck of the woods. People holiday, pay their mortgages, kids do well at school, get Dr appointments when needed, can heat their homes and put food on the table. While it's undoubtedly difficult for some, it's not all doom and gloom, is it?

If people are doing all this it’s probably a more well off area than others.

hotpotlover · 13/08/2025 16:09

I find nursery fees are really crippling us.

They go up every year and despite the enhanced free hours, we pay more now than we did before.

It's our biggest expense, even more than our mortgage

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:10

Britneyfan · 13/08/2025 16:07

I agree there is a sudden rush of threads about this currently when it’s been going downhill for quite a while now! You are lucky if you’re not noticing any problems in your immediate social circles. I work as a GP and see people from all sorts of walks of life and other than people who are extremely comfortably off, the decline of the U.K. and in particular the cost of living crisis is genuinely affecting people’s everyday lives very negatively in multiple ways.

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Undoubtedly there are those who face difficulties, and it must be so visible as a GP. Absolutely wasn't making light of the cost of living crisis, rather highlighting that the UK isn't all doom and gloom - I feel like there's a dark undercurrent to the posts that seem desperate to paint the UK as a third world country at the moment!

HerewardtheSleepy · 13/08/2025 16:10

BIossomtoes · 13/08/2025 10:12

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

You would if you were old enough to remember the 1970s. It’s cyclical, we’ve had four decades of prosperity, now we’re in the downturn part of the cycle again.

I agree. Some of us have been here before.

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:11

EasternStandard · 13/08/2025 16:09

If people are doing all this it’s probably a more well off area than others.

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West Yorks, so not really

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:12

twistyizzy · 13/08/2025 16:07

It completely depends whereabouts in the country you are.
That's the problem, people living in areas like yours can't understand why others are complaining because you don't have the same frame of reference.
Its not doom and gloom for you, for others it might be because they are having a different experience.

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I am based in West Yorkshire, so not an affluent area by any means.

twistyizzy · 13/08/2025 16:12

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:11

West Yorks, so not really

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There are very wealthy areas of West Yorks! My parents used to live there and I was born/raised there. Very wealthy areas and also very deprived areas.

ukathleticscoach · 13/08/2025 16:12

The problem is people like you

twistyizzy · 13/08/2025 16:13

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:12

I am based in West Yorkshire, so not an affluent area by any means.

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It depends where in West Yorks. I was born and raised there so I know there are very wealthy areas

Itsjustlikethat · 13/08/2025 16:13

Britneyfan · 13/08/2025 15:55

I’m not a fan of Reform personally. And as for stitching clothes that has generally been outsourced to other cheaper countries at this point. Ditto we don’t actually have that many factories left in the U.K.

Fruit picking is tricky as it’s seasonal work with low wages linked to efficiency, so people who haven’t done it before (and have the kind of attitude you describe!) will struggle to make enough to live on. It suits immigrants who are happy to come here and make hugely more than they could ever hope to make for an equivalent job in their home country and living on site sharing basic accommodation with multiple other workers as part of their effective wages, while sending money home where it will have more earning power. You also have to be young and fit. But I agree we should be aiming to increase British workers wherever possible.

I think hotel cleaners here often are British to be fair? Less so hospitality workers in general as we don’t have an economy built on tourism like many other countries. Caring roles are another one. We do have British carers of course but we need a lot of carers, and it’s physically and mentally hard work and long antisocial hours/shifts for minimum wage. I have a friend who did a community caring role for a while, she really had a heart for caring but it was almost impossible to do the job properly in the time given which she found upsetting and stressful, and she didn’t get reimbursed what she actually spent for petrol either. I think if carers pay was better we would no longer have need for immigrants to fill these roles. It’s the same story for many of the labour gaps including nurses.

We are also now seen to be importing so many doctors (and their relatives) in a way I’ve never seen before, which is mad when zero effort is spent on retaining current staff and lots of British born doctors are emigrating or retiring early because the job is now so stressful (I am a doctor so I know!). At least they’ve made some effort with recruitment but it will take a while to pay off and won’t sort the problem if they don’t start focussing a bit more on retention.

I actually think part of the issue with NEETs as you describe is because it’s become more socially “normal” to live at home with your parents as a young adult in recent years, due to high housing costs (of course if you’re lucky enough to have parents who can afford it). It’s an unhelpful development in many ways, because it’s just temporarily masking some of the real problems with the economy rather than solving them, and it means people who have to actually shoulder all the costs of living including housing are trying to compete for jobs with people whose parents pay for housing, bills and food and they’re only working for “fun money” really. Which means they are far more willing to settle for unrealistic wages.

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Thoughtful and interesting post. Just to add my perspective, I can’t help but feel that immigrants and possibly 1st gen are more likely to accept lower salaries and poorer working conditions (within reasons and in compliance with the laws of course). Many come from developing countries with very little welfare so they expect to get on with it rather than not work and rely on the govt to help. It’s an attitude thing.

I’m not saying this is a good or bad thing, but it might explain why NEETs can’t fulfil all the jobs usually filled by immigrants.

DenizenOfAisleOfShame · 13/08/2025 16:14

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:01

The amount of "the UK is doomed" posts at the moment is off the chart. Almost like there's an ulterior motive behind them

Fwiw, life seems ok in our neck of the woods. People holiday, pay their mortgages, kids do well at school, get Dr appointments when needed, can heat their homes and put food on the table. While it's undoubtedly difficult for some, it's not all doom and gloom, is it?

Funny that.

Up to 13 months ago, according to some on MN we were living in an Hieronymus Bosch painting of hell. And there were endless threads and posts saying so.

I can’t believe there could have been orchestration by Labour interests. Unthinkable.

derxa · 13/08/2025 16:15

Pluvia · 13/08/2025 16:00

Were they actually paid for all the work they did? Or paid adequately for all the hours they put in? Or do you think that that's materialism and women don't need to be rewarded for their labour?

My partner's mother was a farmer's wife who worked flat out from 18-60, first on her father's farm and then on her husband's. She was expected to be able to do everything he did as well as raising the children and providing a cooked lunch for any farm workers. She was a strong character, but she was never paid a penny for any of it because women's work wasn't considered work — just what women did. She was ecstatic when she turned 60 and got a state pension because it was the first time in her married life that she had her own money. And my FIL wasn't a tyrant, it was just how farming families did things.

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They didn’t need to be ‘paid’. My mother and father had a joint account and everything came out of that.

dynamiccactus · 13/08/2025 16:15

I think the biggest issue is the refusal of employers to employ people in their first jobs. Or at all. There's a short window between about 30 and 45 when a male an get a job - before and after it's very hard. And if you are female, there's never a right age. Keep people employed and earning money and they are far less likely to cause trouble. But the move towards AI is going the opposite way. Someone said you always need someone to look at AI decisions etc but companies won't - you only have to look at the automated systems we have to put up with instead of actually speaking to a human when we need a company to do something for us.

But more generally I think there are problems throughout the western world - every country has had to grapple with problems caused by COVID or the war in Ukraine or climate change. The only thing we've done extra is Brexit (and that has caused costs for other countries as well). The UK is not on its own with most of the problems.

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 13/08/2025 16:16

hippysun · 13/08/2025 10:03

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?

This is not just the UK though, I have friends across the world who say the same and worse about their countries.

AI is a cancer that needs cutting out. Our work place is the same. Nothing about clients it’s all how management can get data, how they can measure and compare. Urizen has taken over. Anyone using AI is adding to the issue.

I was sat on a works presentation this morning about using yet another AI system and I decided I’m going to spend some time planning and quit this profession I’ve been in (financial) for the past 25 years. Lots of people doing the same.

I sat there wondering are people really this stupid to be putting in so much information into systems that can be easily breached, it’s a joke and extremely scary at the same time.

dynamiccactus · 13/08/2025 16:17

Also, the idea that NEETs can do all the crap jobs is the same attitude as those who think all 18 year olds can do national service. Easy to say that someone should do something that you will never have to do.

Britneyfan · 13/08/2025 16:17

Samanabanana · 13/08/2025 16:10

Undoubtedly there are those who face difficulties, and it must be so visible as a GP. Absolutely wasn't making light of the cost of living crisis, rather highlighting that the UK isn't all doom and gloom - I feel like there's a dark undercurrent to the posts that seem desperate to paint the UK as a third world country at the moment!

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Yes, as a GP we can see the impact of it in so many ways. And I feel it myself to some degree as a single parent working part time in an expensive bit of the U.K. But there are absolutely people out there not eating so they can feed their kids, running up huge debts, being kicked out of their rental accommodation as they can’t afford rent increases and struggling to find affordable alternatives etc. The crazy thing is that many of these people are working and I just wouldn’t have seen it to this degree in working households a decade or so ago.

But yes there are still many good things about the U.K. of course. And the irony is that it’s still a wealthy country, it’s just that most of the wealth is increasingly being hoarded by a few at the top and stifling the economy.