Dh says the U.K is f***** and he never wants to go back

[Chippednailtoepolish]

These were his words this morning.

We live abroad in a place where a lot of people are coming to live, escaping the uk and America.
He says with everything on the news, the way it's going and what the people coming to where we are tell him, that we'd be mad to return.
Is he being realistic? I want to return to be with family desperately and have a strange feeling that I need to do it soon

Would we be mad to return at this time? If yes, then when!

No, he’s not being realistic. Remember he’s only hearing from people who have already made the decision to leave. Yes, there are problems, but the same is true in every country.
Your standard of living might be higher where you are now, but is that the most important thing? Assuming you would have enough money to live reasonably comfortably in the UK, I would come back. Family is more important than luxurious living.

😂

Is that you Nige?

Why don't you and DH come back for a couple of weeks holiday and form your own opinions?

Statistically it is one of the safest places on Earth.
In seven decades I was burgled once, and er that’s it. Never seen a fight, probably never actually seen a crime being committed.

Well that's bullshit

I agree. I feel very safe here as does my family

You are lucky. The rest of us have to pay tax on our income.

When your child’s bike is stolen from your shed twice in a year and the police do nothing, things are bad.

The news will obviously be reporting the bad stuff. Overall crime rates in England and Wales show a general downward trend.

I love living in the UK. It's where my family and friends are! I feel safe. We all work in jobs that matter to us and match up with our values.

I love that I live in a town from which I can very quickly and easily get to a beautiful sandy beach, walks in the countryside, the international live music and sports in a capital city. I love the excellent arts and culture experiences we've had locally and nationally.

I love the community we have in our local sports club. I love the community spirit and volunteering in my immediate community. I love the history and heritage I can explore in my country with my kids.

I love that my kids have had good educations for free and the option to access world class higher education. I love that when they've needed emergency medical care I've not ever had to worry about the cost.

I love that we can eat a wide variety of foods and cuisines. I love the generosity of spirit and the culture of sharing demonstrated in the automatic sharing of crisp packets in pubs. I love the order and respect that observing proper queueing etiquette shows.

I love that I'm able to use the Welsh language. I love lots of things about where I live and who I live with and near.

I don't recognise this "this country's gone to the dogs" rhetoric.

A few years ago I was working on a project which involved delivering free arts and storytelling at the seaside and talking with people about volunteering opportunities. One guy I spoke with said "I hate this town, I can't wait to get out of this shithole". I looked around us... "this particular shithole?" as I took in the sweeping golden sands of the beach, the smiling families, the surfers in the sea, the 70th birthday party at the beach hut to our left, him walking his dog in the sunshine with his top off. Hmm.

Well sodding why don't you critique my post then? State where I am wrong.

Stay where you are, unless there is a compelling reason to come back. The UK is on a race to the bottom.

The country will stay f**ked for as long as everyone keeps blaming someone else for our problems. We seem to resent people who do well, expect something for nothing, and allow personality politics/politicians to focus on envy-based, headline-grabbing policies with little substance instead of growing the economy. Businesses should absolutely be held to account, but we also need them to invest, create jobs and take risks. You can't endlessly ask the same group of people to pay more while the benefits bill and the bloated public sector get bigger and bigger.

It’s not the billionaires and the super-wealthy who are being most affected; it’s ordinary people who have worked hard, saved, bought a home or built something. They (and you if you come back) are now public enemy number one.

It must be exhausting in your delusional brain. Are you quite okay? Do you have friends? Hobbies? Get out much? Trust me, there is no conspiracy to replace you. The conspiracy is the nonsense you're clearly reading on social media and taking as gospel.

Because there are a LOT of trolls on MN, bots of troll-farms posting to suggest the UK is fucked, and lots of stupid people thinking the shit they read on TikTok (also used to perpetuate the idea that the UK is doomed) is real. That’s true of all SM in the last few years btw, not just MN.

The reality is that the vast majority of people in the UK are quite content. Yes cost of living is higher than it was, but I’m assuming you’re fairly comfortable financially and can afford a reasonable standard of living here?

I am very happy here, financially comfortable. My adult DCs both live in London and equally happy. Never been victims of crime, love all the cultural pursuits that are available.

You’re lucky to have an income to be taxed. . I really liked my job but alas massive budget cuts from the government, what can you do.

The point you are making is what? Increase taxes for the low-paid?

Excellent post. The UK is either asleep at the wheel or it's a deliberate strategy. At a time of global instability and with guys like Trump and Putin , no one has mentioned the pitiful holes in defence spending that led to defence specialists and veterans Al Carns and John Healy resigning in despair and which leave the UK extremely vulnerable.

Let's hope Andy Burnhams' blueprints for intelligence trade off with Ukraine will pay off eh, then we can get back to the really important stuff, homophobia, trans issues and of course racism when all else fails.......

People have different experiences. So many posters going on about bot farms and trolls on threads usually just can’t see views not their own.

I can sort of imagine where your husband is getting his news from if he is saying that and tbh I can't see a point of arguing with someone like that. It's a matter of opinion, isn't it. This is why you are getting such varying replies on here. If you want to leave UK - go for it; luckily, being British, you can go and live pretty much anywhere you chose to - unlike those poor buggars from Eritetia or Somalia.

I personally love UK and moved here almost 30 years ago, and still love it. And I live in that abominable hell hole, London )))) if I feel like it, I might move somewhere like Italy. But not because I hate UK. Nowhere is particularly nice of safe at the moment, and your husband is fooling himself by thinking wherever you live is exempt from any issues.

To prevent that I think Rachel Reeves was meant to be growing the economy and strengthening business to create more jobs thus spreading the load but she did such an excellent job she is now ….. does anyone know what she’s doing?

Your post made you sound like a deranged, stuck record.

It had no balance and no data.
Just ranting.

Critique enough?

this, sadly.
our economy is in trouble and the hard decisions that need to be made will not. Any party that speaks of making these changes will be made out to be evil despite the fact the reality is that we need serious changes made quickly.

I think it depends on what stage of life your at
and financially

I don’t have any money worries
live in a popular city with decent transport
no problems generally getting a doctors appointment
quite a mixed lefty liberal city, lots of students

( I’m not left more right / center right ) certain things are shit - I can see that with my own eyes but it’s not been affecting me or my family

If I had to comment, I would say that, contrasting with travelling, to me people in the UK seem snappy and short-fusey at the moment.

I am at a loss to explain which of the things tabled in this thread might be causing it, but something feels as though it is weighing on people generally in a way I am not detecting in other places I have been lately.

MN is a good example actually! People have to nit-pick and hit out and denigrate and just generally assert themselves all the time.

Then again, it could be a national personality shift totally unrelated to causative factors. But I don't think we are traditionally grumpy and short-tempered?

It's been proven. The majority of the anti UK posts and posts inciting violence and race riots on X aren't UK based despite claiming to be. Many are bots, but just as many are posters in Africa and Asia who've realised that they can make a few bob winding up the gammon online pretending to be one of them.