Please someone be honest, is it really that bad?

[Coffeetimeagain]

In the uk now?

I’m British but live in another European country, I want to move back but Dh is adamant it’s too dangerous and wouldn’t be the best for Dd
All I keep seeing on my Ig is all these attacks and frightening things, is this realistic where you are??
I am seeing all of Europe is becoming more dangerous, including where we are and it makes me worried

For some reason I’m developing a bit of anxiety about this, so want honest answers if possible 🙏

Statistics say violent crime is actually reducing over time. It's fine. Statistically Britain is still one of the safest places to live. It's just news now is instant.

I’ve lived in other countries in Europe and feel safer in Britain. Things make the news as they are unusual and not the norm.

Social media and real life are 2 different things. England is still overall a very safe place to be.

I don't know what each voting option means
But YABU to believe all the negative rhetoric. No it isn't all bad in the UK .
What is out of control is social media and how angry people use it as an outlet and jumped on the bandwagon criticising everything

There’s a lot of roadworks, because the councils and government are doing something about neglected roads. We don’t have immaculate roads as in EU funded countries but it’s slowly improving.

Internet shopping means the high streets do feel worse than they used to, though not as bad as the early 90s as councils are a bit cannier about making them look less bad I think. In general everywhere looks better than when I was growing up, maybe people forget how absolutely dog rough much of the UK looked between say 1975 and 1985.

Health service is extremely patchy for a variety of reasons, though we’re certainly not the only country complaining about that. My experience has been fine.

Where do you live?
My experience of living in a city in the UK is positive. I feel very safe here just as I always have.

You should see what the British press say about living in France!

yes it’s really bad but I only started realising when I went to visit other countries .

The OP posted once and didn't return. What a surprise.

What is out of control is social media and how angry people use it as an outlet and jumped on the bandwagon criticising everything

Yes I agree with this.

The main change I feel is a polarisation, "othering" and conflict between those of different life situations.

Like any country in the world, the UK isn't perfect. However, is it a completely lawless society? No!! Yes, there's pockets of crime in the UK, especially in the bigger cities. The bigger town near me, has had bad press recently, yes, there's been some issues, but it's not a 'no go' area and no where near as bad as you read in the media. The media like to hype everything up, especially anything remotely bad. There are millions of people living in the UK, the vast majority are getting on with their lives, minding their own business, without problem. The media don't report this do they? After all ordinary people living a normal every day life isn't going to create headlines! You need to take what you read with a pinch of salt, sometimes there's an element of truth, but the rest is hyped up to cause mass hysteria. Sadly, as your post proves, it's working.

It is mainly the cost of everything that would make me think about moving here now.
Shocking cost of public transport
Cost of childcare, housing and university education
At my age I also have to concede that I should have put more thought into the pension system before moving here, whereas most of Europe has some sort of defined benefit State Pension, here it is mostly up to you to save unless you work in the public sector.

@Coffeetimeagain as @LavenderBlue19 and @MiddlingMarch said - it's the algorithms used by IG to feed you more and more of what you have clicked on or watched - this is one reasons why IG is criticised - for feeding more anorexic images towards anorexics, for instance - anyone who has cared for a friend or family member with that mental illness will understand how dangerous that can be - the triggering from images, same goes for self harm and... many other conditions.

My IG is full of people painting, drawing and playing guitar - I don't see any of the type of material you mention. The UK has it's problems but I have long standing pen friends (and family and long standing friends) in many European countries - France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Serbia, Spain, Netherlands... and when I see people complaining about the UK or the current government it makes me think how narrow their perspective, their world view, must be - if you don't have any comparative understanding of the problems facing people in all of these countries - we share many of the same problems - imho - many other countries are experiencing worse difficulties in some areas that we do in the UK so... I really wouldn't read much in to your IG feed - it's not an accurate reflection of real life - it's highly distorted - do your own research.

The bad stuff is in the minority, we just see more of it these days because nobody leaves the house without a camera phone, and most people walk round with them literally in their hands ready to record and report on whatever happens.

You will be absolutely fine if you move back.

It's not dangerous. Occasionally awful things happen - as they do everywhere. They are rare, so they make the news. But it is grossly overpriced for housing; the vast majority of workers are underpaid given the cost of living, the gap between poor and rich has widened horrifically, the NHS is not fit for purpose, nor is the education system - people doing the most important jobs (imo: health care, education) are treated abysmally. Industry has flatlined, infrastructure is underfunded and successive governments have taken zero pride in improving the country or planning for its future. I'm not proud of the UK at all anymore.

I feel perfectly safe in south Liverpool and in the city generally. I’ve also had brilliant NHS care in the last year - quick GP appointments, repeated urine tests, a kidney ultrasound and a bladder investigation. From first incident to end of process was less than 6 weeks. I’m very grateful to my GP clinic and the Royal Liverpool. The NHS is not totally on its knees.

And also no flags on view round here either.

Stop the shit on your feed and you’ll feed a million times better. And the news too.

Is the UK dangerous? No..

It depends where you go. I live in a small city in the South East and I haven't seen a single fight on the street.

The big cities- I don't think they have more crime than any other big city. Im sure the UK is safer than the USA for example

@Notonthestairs has cracked it. You're seeing awful things because the algorithms have clocked that's what catches your attention so is giving you more!
I live and work in South London. Life is good and no different from 5/10 a generation ago. Except schools are so much better than 20 years ago.

This sums it up perfectly.

Its still possible to have a lovely life here. Its a beautiful country, people are generally wonderful. It still has its own unique history and culture. Its not particularly dangerous unless you live in a very high crime area. Certainly not worse than equivalent areas in other countries.

But there’s an unmistakable sense of decay and anger. Living standards have gone down sharply. The economy is probably the worst it’s been since the 1970s. Good white collar workers are being laid off in droves and finding it very difficult to get new jobs. Public services are terrible.

The political discourse is toxic and people feel paranoid and insecure about everything.

If your circumstances allow it and you are moving somewhere nice and particularly if you are financially stable I wouldn’t hesitate to move back here. But if you are ambitious and want to be in a place of growth and energy I wouldn’t.

I will be advising my teenage daughter to move overseas for work.

Its not a country of the future.

It is a bit depressing in the UK alright

If you look at actual statistics, the UK is a very safe country, especially compared to places like the USA (event though they think it's more dangerous over here). Violent crime is actually quite rare and that's why it hits the news. You have to consider it's a country of 68million and most people will never experience crime in their lifetime.

I lived in London for a over a decade and the only crime I witnessed was drug related (dealing and other related activity - admittedly I don't feel the police do enough on this front) and domestic violence (this is the most common form of violence in the UK). There is a lot being sensationalised on social media to create anti-migration sentiment or make the UK seem like an unsafe place. Some stories I saw surfaced were either not true or didn't even happen in the UK. IG is not a reliable place to source information and make decisions. Try the office of national statistics and reliable reports.

I have lived in other cities in Europe and can say I had more incidents there. On one occassion I was corned by a group of men in France for instance, but luckily managed to get away, a friend of mine was also held at gun-point in Italy when I lived there and when I lived in Spain we lived in an area notorious for breaking and entering when people were sleeping (terrifying). But I wouldn't say these countries are unsafe as a whole and those incidents are not representative. Cities are obviously worse than the countryside anywhere in the world.

Yep. I've never felt unsafe here, but I do worry about the decline in our health service. But if you can afford private medical insurance @Coffeetimeagain you can strike that off your/your DH 's worry list.

As for the other depressing element, the rise of general racism etc, I suspect that's a feature throughout Europe, sad to say. We're probably just catching up.

How long have you been gone? The longer you've been gone the more different and infinitely worse you will find it, on just about every metric you care to think of. But it's not 'dangerous' for most people, going about their ordinary lives the vast majority of the time. Depending on where you can afford to live, it might feel unpleasant or alien or not at all how you remember it, but not dangerous.

It does have a more sordid, tatty, depressed and run down feel about it. Everyone seemed ruder, angrier, more bad mannered, less civic minded and more feral. Every single aspect of customer service and efficiency has gone to shit, whether it's your bank, your council or your GP surgery. Nothing works. Everything feels broken and no longer fit for purpose. But actual danger is still relatively rare.

But unless you are somewhere like Poland, which is booming and thriving, I am not sure it's terribly different across most of the rest of Europe than here. There is this myth that all our issues are because of Brexit, but as someone with friends and contacts in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany I can confirm they moan and gripe about many of the same things.