How do you feel about the state of the UK?

[CharlotteACavatica]

I rarely come accross anyone that doesnt have ALOT to say about how bad its all getting, me and dp are planning to move abroad to get away from this fast declining country - but how do all of you people here feel about it? My sister thinks this country is great and its getting better if anything!!!

tiredmamma yes its a disgrace, police officers and firefighters get something in the region of 16k to train dont they (before someone throws stones on me this is not an exact statistic please correct me if I am wrong).
I would love Tony Blair to work as a nursing auxilliary for a day and see if he agrees with what they get paid, and then take on the responsibility of a qualified nurse for what they get paid, I'm sure he would take a different view then

its actually more than that mosschops believe it or not

The NHS is something that as a country we should be proud of, unfortunatly because we have idiots without a clue running it, its an embarrasment. Compared to other countries, it is most probably a fantastic set up - pity its been allowed to rot.

Im under no illusion what I am letting myself in for, most days when I am sat at Uni, i wonder why I bother - im certainly not doing this for money- good job really eh?

Yes tm, we are certainly not doing it for the money .

Just think that there are lots of professions that are important and should be recognised and rewarded instead of paying footballers £100k a week.

Teachers, nurses, social workers, carers, our armed forces, etc etc all get a bum deal in my opinion and this country should stand up and recognise the contribution people make

mrsdolots if you want to stay and fight I salute you, but I'll be waving from the tarmac at the airport I'm afraid.
I have no desite to let my children grow up here

People have a lot more choices open to them nowadays and are a lot more mobile. So people move to different countries and hope to find that better life. I'm vaguely aware some papers have been running little campaigns about so many Brits leaving the country because of its dire straits and that hacks me off actually.

But wherever you go there'll be people who moan to fuck about the state of their homeland. Crikey, it's all relative.

I feel alright about this country, some problems here, some problems elsewhere. I may leave one day but not because I don't like the UK, merely because I want a change.

Agree with expat's 'the grass is always greener...' post.

And nearlythree, great post.

I'm happy and contented with my lot so I'm staying put. However, this is because my husband and I searched long, hard and carefully. There are some awful places in this country where, I afraid to say, it's probably best if the area is pulled down and rebuilt from scatch. Find a good place to live in the UK and you are the luckiest person on the planet as I feel at the moment.

I reckon if the media went back to reporting news factually rather than "analysing" it endlessly, we'd all be a darn sight happier.

I love England. Very proud of our history of accepting and welcoming immigrants (eventually!) and enjoying the contribution to national life. Hugely proud of our stoicism and bravery from the Armada to the Blitz. Love the British tradition of scepticism about royalty and politicians. Love our uniquely beautiful country of towns and villages, hills and green fields. Love our beautiful and expressive language and our sense of fun. Cannot think of another country on earth I'd rather live in.
And do you know what. I think the idea that we are all going to hell in a handcard is one of the many things I like about our country, despite the fact that nobody could honestly say they'd rather live in another era (plague? public hangings? no nhs? I don't think so)

I feel that you can have great life in the UK if you have enough money to

1. be able to afford a nice home (with the UK property prices being much more expensive than most countries' and the overall build quality not great!)

2. be able to look after your health privately (as the NHS is objectively quite inefficient and performs below the health care systems of other western developed countries)

3. be able to afford privately organised childrens activities/secondary schools etc.

Having lived in Germany for a few years, for example, I did find that the overall quality of life, was a better: you could afford a nice home, practically all schools were free, (private schools are very rare), the health system is much better, and the crime is lower (most children do walk to school, for example).

Also the wages for nurses, teachers and all other non-finance/lawyer type jobs are higher than they are in the UK.

Of course other countries have problems too (German unempoyment, for example, is very high at the moment...) but I do think that the UK is a relatively expenive country with a very average quality of life especially if you do not earn an above average income.

I worry about crime and the threat of terrorism.

I hate the government for going to the war and exposing us to more extremists and fanatics who would happily see us all dead.

The threat from the Taliban made on Skynews last week sent shivers down my spine. Are we really portrayed as a country of people who laugh at the needless killing of innocent civillians, women and children? The death of innocents is not something we enjoy - it's tragic and horrible.

I doubt Tony Blair would be the Prime Minister if any of us had seen what was coming. You can vote them in, but can't get rid of them as you'd like the minute they p*ss you off!

I want our troops to come home and the government to focus on putting it's own country to rights first.

And with regards to the NHS - of course we know it's a success story, that's why so many people from other countries avoid paying for medical treatment at home and come here to get it free! What other country in the world would allow it citizens to pay for a precious resource and give it away freely to the rest of the world, keeping those who funded it waiting for years for important operations...

I want my children to grow up without being scared. I want to be able to take them out for the day wthout worrying we might not make it home.

And I want everyone to play a bigger part in saving the environment!

My grandad did not fight in the war for the freedom of this country and others just to see pigheaded, self important politicans louse it up!

Oh I am ending here I could go on but fear I have already said too much!

Well, I take my kids out all the time and never worry about them dying on the way! I think that's a really unhealthy and excessive worry. I am sure they are no more likely to die on their way home from an outing here than anywhere else in the world, and much more likely to live a long, healthy life than most places on earth. I like that my kids get looked after sometimes by an Eastern European au-pair. She's lovely and sweet and they like her and enjoy hearing her language and about her homeland.
One of my children has a disability and the NHS has been bloody amazing and fantastic.
I am anti-war, as are the majority of people in this country.

I do worry about terrorism but then like most of us I grew up with the threat from the IRA and we just got on with things. At the end of the day our dcs are more likely to die when we put them in the car to go to school or the supermarket, and wherever we go in the world we will almost certainly use motorised transport of some kind.

"I also read on another thread that in Germany the Jewish kindergartens need armed guards."

Can someone please tell me where in Germany Jewish children need armed guards?
I live in Germany, and this is certainly not the case in our city, which is probably the most racist in Germany.
Lets have the truth of this statement please, and not just more anti-German propaganda.

We are much better at using Fair Trade stuff than a lot of other countries too...[random aside emoticon ]

i think i am blessed. £12 pm prescription charges keeps me alive. as many docs appointments as i like for me and my children free vaccinations. visits to nurses etc.

i couldnt do this anywhere else could i?

slight fever - off to docs
kid sick in night? off to docs

kid fell over - off to A&E

its great. i am truly blessed.

I read about the German kindergarten needing armed guards from someone living in Germany. It's in the Shana Tova thread.

I am not a liar and object to being called one.

Agree with Tinker's posts on here. And I like living in London though I am not sure how representative it is of the UK as a whole.

Just got back from half term in the 'Low Countries'. Belgium a bit grubby but everyone very laid back & friendly - like their irreverent attitude. Netherlands horrendous traffic jams but again - really lovely people.
Back via Calais - toilets totally disgusting wherever we went - but maybe that's because it's full of Brits on weekend 'booze cruises'.
I always appreciate the good things about other countries, but they do have grotty estates, graffiti and crime just like us.
If you visit tourist hotspots it's a bit like going to the West End or the Tower of London - things are vastly different there compared to a poor inner city area. Similarly, you wouldn't describe Devon or Cornwall as typical for the average Briton, but a foreigner visiting there would probably think Britain is idyllic.
Every country has good and bad points. The whingeres ought to listen to people like my neighbour, who is a Polish lady in her 80's. She was freed from Auswitch at the end of the War, having spent just 10 weeks there. She came to Britain soon after and says it makes her very angry when people run this country down. In HER opinion most people here are very fair minded, democratic and stick up for the rights of others. She thinks it's the best place in the world to live.

nearlythree,
you repeated what you saw on another thread, which doesnt make you a liar. However, I would add, that this is not, ime typical across Germany. I believe that SSandy is in Berlin. I read a magazine article recently, citing Berlin as one of the worst places to live in Germany, high crime, and recently, I recall, a Nazi rally.

There are National Front blackspots in teh UK, but I wouldnt generalise about the UK from them.

"I also read on another thread that in Germany the Jewish kindergartens need armed guards."

Having lived in Germany for many years myself, I would also like to contest this statement very strongly! I have never, ever come across any children needing armed guards!

From my own experience, children generally walk to school from a relatively young age and have a very nice childhoold with lots of free schooling and activities on offer.

Lets please not make statements without any knowledge or research on the matter. Its fine to have an opinion, but not to make factual statements without any foundation.

It's not my opinion that Jewish children need armed guards, it has been stated by a fellow munetter as fact and I have no reason to doubt her word. (thanks btw schoko for explaining that SSSAndy lives in Berlin). I agree that parts of the UK have racist enclaves, although I don't see any police with machine guns around. I think this sounds more like the sectarianism in NI tbh. But neither side in NI nor the BNP have in recent memory tried to wipe out a whole race of people. I have always accepted that Germany has moved on from its past and this and other things that I have seen reported in the press and on television recently are deeply shocking, as is the rise in anti-semitism Europe-wide.

And before I upset anyone I would like to add that I know most Germans don't think like this and that the Holocaust extended to many other parts of Europe. That's why to find this happening even in just a small part is so frightening. (sorry, getting way off topic now)