Economist says this "broken Britain" malarky is bollocks

[SerenityNowakaBleh]

here and here Obviously", they didn't word it in that way, but that's the gist of it.
The murder rate has dropped
The rate of teenage pregnancies has dropped
The crime rate has dropped
Alcoholism is dropping
Drug use is dropping
Fewer people smoke
There is a decrease in domestic violence ("Her partner will probably not marry her and he is less likely to stick with her than were men in previous generations, but he is also a lot less likely to beat her.")

So, David Cameron. Not that hot on sticking to facts, is he?

everyone is always banging on about cheap drugs but I've never been able to get my hands on any

"How, exactly is Britain broken? "

Well I'm not entirely sure how the conservatives consider Britain to be broken but the way I see it is ( and yes I know i'm walking into a trap here) ;

a) Generations of the same family claiming benefit (when they can work but choose not too)

b) Sink hole estates holding people back, reinforcing the stereo type for the next generation (virtually no chance of escape)

c) Infrastructure that has deteriorated in most areas of the country under the weight of immigration and government cuts in funding (ring fencing for pet projects rather than targeting whats needed per area)

d) dislocation of family, community

e) The 'no hope' attitude of a generation of children mainly living on sink hole estates

f) Baby daddies (if I have the right context)

g) Pensioners living below the poverty line ( whilst for example under eu rules we have to pay migrants child benefits if they have children living abroad, which is stupid and could go towards giving pensioners a decent standard of living)

e) social care underfunded and almost non existant in some areas

f) gang/ knife culture see a) b) c) d) e) above

g) The eu decrees that we aren't even capable of governing ourselves and therfore dictates our policies and laws (some) for us

h) The celebrity culture where children are groomed by the media to want to be the next barbie or posh than doctors and solicitors (and the Heat magazine parents who support this attitude )

i) The credit card syndrome, buy now, pay later or hell just declare bankruptcy that has been entrenched in society by a government (yes I do blame labour , lead by example, put something by for a rainy day)

That's just off the top of my head, i'm sure there's more ( as the mn's rub there hands together in glee i'm sure i'm about to get sure fired and toasty )

Oh wait..

There's also something very wrong when prisoners get more money spent on them per head for meals than hospital patients and..

When so much money has been injected into the nhs yet they still do not have enough nurses to feed vulnerable patients on wards.

Or when there is such a lack of midwives people are turned away to deliver their own babies.

Gosh I may go on all day.

And none of these things were true 15, 20 years ago, atlantis - really? And how many people are actually being turned away to deliver their own babies, of all the babies being born every day? When was this golden age when all hospitals were perfectly staffed and people weren't poor?

FWIW, I have no problem with any opposition party saying, well, we think xyz could be better, and here's how we'd do it, and this is why you should vote for us. Of course things could be better, and we should strive to improve what we can, but that doesn't mean that there ever was or ever will be a Golden Age where things are ideal. And things make newspaper headlines because they are newsworthy i.e. out of the ordinary, not the norm - yet people read them and extrapolate wildly to assume that these are norms rather than aberrations.

Well, I think if Britain is broken (which I don't honestly think it is, it's just politicians spouting wank so people vote for them), then it's not the government's fault necessarily, but maybe, um, people's fault? If parents don't want their daughters buying into the whole raunch culture thing and dressing like little streetwalkers, well, then don't buy them that sort of clothing. Don't be harangued into buying it because every other girl at school dresses like that. Value education. Teach your children that they are precious and loved and valued. If you're not talking to your neighbours, have you ever tried talking to them? Tried fostering neighbourly feeling?

Habbibu,

But surely the point should be we have had a labour government for the last 12 years, all the things they claimed were wrong under a tory government are still there, they haven't gotten rid of them if anything they have made them worse.

Atlantis - if you read the articles I linked to, you would find that actually (objectively measured), things have not gotten worse. DC was spouting crap.

Yes, there are problems in the UK (as every country has) but all the stuff that DC has said is worse and has gotten worse under the Labour government is actually complete wank. It's lies, all lies.

Precisely, serenity. It's human nature to see more of the faults in a government whose politics don't accord with yours than one you favour. Doesn't make it objectively correct.

"It's human nature to see more of the faults in a government whose politics don't accord with yours than one you favour. Doesn't make it objectively correct. "

Well that also applies to people who don't like the conservative party doesn't it? Or just to people who don't agree with your views?

Well, from my point of view, all political parties are as bad as each other. I've never lived under a Conservative government, so I wouldn't know what it's like to live under a conservative government, so don't have an axe to grind with them.

My reason for posting this is because DC was coming out with blatant lies. He shouldn't be allowed to do that; it shows a blatant disregard for integrity and morality. I would hate having someone like that as a leader. I equally despise Tony Blair for blatantly lying about the supposed threat from Iraq. In my opinion, the leader of a country should know better than that and should behave in a better manner. It starts with lies like this, for political means, and ends where? 1984-type scenario?

"and ends where? 1984-type scenario? "

What do you think your living under now? The labour party believe in state control, you'll be surprised how much freedom you will have under the conservatives to make your own choices and decisions.

"Well that also applies to people who don't like the conservative party doesn't it? Or just to people who don't agree with your views?"

Of course it does, atlantis. Don't be rude.

And by 1984 type scenario Serenity was describing the Blair government. atlantis. Not that I put too much stock by the panacea of "choice" - a choice between two bad options isn't usually any better than no choice.

"And by 1984 type scenario Serenity was describing the Blair government."

And were now under the Brown government who are also orwellian.

" a choice between two bad options isn't usually any better than no choice. "

Agree. But thats all we have. More of the same or the hope of a new start.

"Don't be rude. "

I apologise.

Well, in terms of choice I was meaning the idea of "patient choice" or "parental choice" which is sold - by more than one party - as a cure-all; but if all your optiions are rubbish, or inaccessible, or very imprtical, that doesn't work, and I'd hazard that most people would prefer good and local to "choice".

Thanks for apology!

But Atlantis, if it's generations of the same family claiming benefits, presumably the development isn't all that recent?

As for the credit card thing, it sounds very much like buying things "on the never-never" as described by George Orwell in the first half of the last century. If you read the Road to Wigan Pier, you will find that sink hole estates and a no hope attitude again are not exactly new phenomena.

I suppose in a way it is, kind of, with all the surveillance and encroaching on civil libterties. But, I'm not entirely convinced the Tories would be much better. They've already said that they would do away with the Human Rights Act if they got in. Did you know that before that came into being, the UK was the worst offendor for human rights abuses in Europe? Prior to the HRA, there was no right to privacy under English law? There is a famous case (the name escapes me now) where the individual had had his telephone conversations recorded and monitored by the Post Office. Naturally, he took the case to the courts, saying that this was a violation of his right to privacy - the House of Lords said that no such right existed.

For credit cards as well, it isn't necessarily a Labour thing - there was a general relaxation of credit requirements globally (but particularly in the UK and US), and to be honest, the reasoning behind credit ratings was/is completely barking in the Anglo Saxon world (that you have to have a credit card and debts in order to be credit worthy). As for people buying on credit - those are millions of individual's choices. Stupid ones (I'm also guilty of it), but still ultimately up to the individual. There was no government official standing over them with a gun forcing them to get 110% mortgages. And finally, the relaxation of regulation of the financial sector which in part led to the financial crisis was started by ... Thatcher's and Regan's governments. (not Labour).

d) dislocation of family, community

Who gives a toss about family? Get on your bike and find a job!

To be honest, most politicians are simply parroting the line dictated for them by the press, who in turn are following the dictates of their owners, and their readers.

Which gives us such wonders as the Dangerous Dogs Act, the outright ban on the depiction of ninja stars anywhere at all, and the Tory pledges to repeal the Human Rights act and the Data Protection Act.

Not because they're good ideas, but because they will pacify a subset of the tabloid readership. (And making it legal for large orgs. to swap and leak whatever data they like about you will probably prompt a few sizable campaign donations from corporate donors.)