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Yet in 8 years of mythical "austerity" the Tories have managed to gut every service to breaking point. Education is so broken that tertiary education has become

Yet in 8 years of mythical "austerity" the Tories have managed to gut every service to breaking point. Education is so broken that tertiary education has become an exercise in marketing and delivering least for the £9k a year. Schools are so starved of funding that 80% report being in crisis, as do Police, NHS, libraries, well everything really. Local government funding is more centrally funded that at any point in UK history, and the last 8 years have brought an insane skewing of an already heavy skew in favour of London and the South East. The North-South divide is 2:1 for pounds spend by government now. 8 years to destroy every achievement of inclusion and protection since the war. 8 years to put a third of UK children into poverty and a welfare system actively designed to get people to choose to give up. The bastards even knew that whilst rolling it out. I'm also looking to leave. I really, really don't want my retirement here any more as we abolish everything that was once worthwhile about the country and rush to public services that work as well as the US (ie not at all). The UK has become, surprisingly quickly, a terrible place to live and work, with widespread poverty and low wages, and a job market devoted to zero hours contracts for all.

lewis1028282 8y ago
> he UK has become, surprisingly quickly, a terrible place to live and work, with widespread poverty and low wages, and a job market devoted to zero hours contracts for all. I wouldn't say 2.8 % [1] of UK works on zero hour contracts mean the job market is 'devoted' to zero hour contracts. Just because it is in the news a lot doesn't mean it happens all the time. Honestly your post makes it seems like the UK is this corrupt, broke country when it couldn't be further from the truth. All I see is posts against the tories online but every election they've been the majority. [1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/contractsthatdonotguaranteeaminimumnumberofhours/april2018 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwor...
- keithpeter 8y ago
  Age and education selection when comparing HN with general population.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  > makes it seems like the UK is this corrupt, broke country when it couldn't be further from the truth. If so, how is it that we no longer fund $service adequately any more (where $service is any and all of them)? How is that possible after so much has been privatised leaving so many fewer to fund publicly? Why can't we afford enough police? Why can't we afford adequate library provision? Interesting that parliament keeps their public library though, isn't it? How is it that in a time of highest levels of employment food banks have grown from barely existing to being everywhere? Could it be that policy has resulted in deliberately inadequate welfare provision? How, in a time of such extensive employment, are wage rises barely noticeable? If your definition is a few incoming oligarchs buying up expensive property they never set foot in, or someone putting up a willy waving skyscraper sure UK is doing great. By every other measure, including levels of mental health, poverty, satisfaction etc, UK has effectively shot itself. Oh, and don't hold up Tories being elected as some sort of proof when our democracy is one of the least representative on the planet[1]. Our system is biased both systemically and demographically. It feels like a corrupt, broke country, especially after a visit to London. It feels like somewhere to be deeply embarrassed of, and I mostly am these days. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rGX91rq5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rGX91rq5I CGP Grey's "Why the UK Election Results are the Worst in History" on the 2015 results.
  - lewis1028282 8y ago
    Seems like your pet peeve is the Tories. I mean i still think you’re massively over exaggerating, the UK is one of the best places to do live and do business. Maybe read other news stories apart from the ones that aren’t just anti-Tory.
    - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
      Not really - the system is just as unrepresentative for Tory voters in safe Labour seats. The net result is extreme lack of representation for just about everyone. It's the system that's broken - it's only functional for a two party system, yet still breaks for individual constituencies. My real peeve is what the party system has become, even compared to when I first joined the voting electorate during Thatcher's first term. The centralisation, and disenfranchisement and corrupt use of private capital in PPP was just as bad under New Labour. Anti Tory sources? Thanks, that made me smile. For most of my life the Telegraph and weekend FT were the primary sources delivered to house, with Economist and New Scientist subs. I'd buy a Guardian periodically for balance, sometimes the FT full time. I no longer read the Telegraph since it became a rubbish tabloid Daily Mail 2.0 which leaves only Reuters, Guardian and to a lesser extent Independent as serious UK sources online.
- TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
  The UK is a broke corrupt country. It has levels of inequality and institutional corruption the US can only dream of. There has been no public service ethic in government since the 80s. Government has become a tool for leveraging policy for personal and corporate wealth extraction and the promotion of privilege. Promotion of common welfare and social investment are currently absolutely taboo. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/07/mp-owen-paterson-lobbied-government-for-firm-he-worked-for https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/07/mp-owen-pat... The reason the Tories keep scraping through election wins is because the UK media are institutionally right-wing. The Tories rely on a base of confused pensioners and - increasingly - dog whistle racists. Latterly, BBC editorial has been obviously compromised, with BBC News failing to challenge or question government policy in any way, and selective reporting making dissent seem either small or irrelevant. The result is that British voters are probably some of the least educated and informed in all of Europe. None of this is good. I left the UK last year, and I genuinely fear for the future of the people I left behind. Historically, the next step in this kind of post-imperial malaise is traditionally a military dictatorship. I hope the UK can pull itself together and avoid that, but I worry that it's going to be a very close thing.
  - uxcolumbo 8y ago
    What countries do you recommend to move to?
  - sgt101 8y ago
    Well thanks for bailing, and thanks for the advice to those you've left behind. Your hopes are greatly appreciated and I am sure that if we do manage to avoid military dictatorship we will all be very grateful for your help and assistance in avoiding this dire situation.
- ZeroGravitas 8y ago
  > All I see is posts against the tories online but every election they've been the majority. They got 36.9% at the last election. They also fought against moving towards proportional representation because they knew it reduce their power.
screye 8y ago
Centralized retirement is such an opaque system. Invest into a system for 30 years so the older generation can live comfortable lives off your investments. The same generation being in power, guts your retirement because of austerity. The tension across generations is so large today, that I wonder if systems that establish intergenerational dependencies are ethical anymore. Why should a generation that enjoyed cheap education, be able to pull the ladder from behind them once they're done? Unpopular opinion, but I've wondered if in its pursuit of fairness, Democracy allows a people that are unaffected by a change to blissfully ruin things for those who are adversely affected by it. IMO, social democracies aren't equipped to deal with an "I got mine" tendency rooted in looser associations with traditional social structures. (such as family, religion or local communities. Not preaching, I am an aethist)
- sgt101 8y ago
  It should be noted that now ~45% of the UK population enter tertiary education vs <15% a thirty years ago [1]. This shift is necessary economically and yet politically unsustainable from general taxation. The shift to a debt driven system has been driven by this. [1]http://www.lse.ac.uk/assets/richmedia/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/slides/20131022_1515_ShapingHigherEducationSessionThreeBarr.pdf http://www.lse.ac.uk/assets/richmedia/channels/publicLecture...
ljm 8y ago
I've had similar sentiments, especially after enjoying life outside of the UK. Admittedly, part of that was supported by a London salary, although I could have lived on far less. The quality of life here, compared to other (even less well off) places is shockingly poor for how expensive it is, unless you're wealthy enough to avoid most of the problems (including the tax burden). I'm fine with staying in the UK in the short term but I have huge misgivings about starting a family and raising kids here. If I were to do so, they'd be enjoying the things that most people here don't have the luxury of (private education, etc.).

lewis1028282 8y ago

> he UK has become, surprisingly quickly, a terrible place to live and work, with widespread poverty and low wages, and a job market devoted to zero hours contracts for all. I wouldn't say 2.8 % [1] of UK works on zero hour contracts mean the job market is 'devoted' to zero hour contracts. Just because it is in the news a lot doesn't mean it happens all the time. Honestly your post makes it seems like the UK is this corrupt, broke country when it couldn't be further from the truth. All I see is posts against the tories online but every election they've been the majority. [1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/contractsthatdonotguaranteeaminimumnumberofhours/april2018 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwor...

keithpeter 8y ago
Age and education selection when comparing HN with general population.
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
> makes it seems like the UK is this corrupt, broke country when it couldn't be further from the truth. If so, how is it that we no longer fund $service adequately any more (where $service is any and all of them)? How is that possible after so much has been privatised leaving so many fewer to fund publicly? Why can't we afford enough police? Why can't we afford adequate library provision? Interesting that parliament keeps their public library though, isn't it? How is it that in a time of highest levels of employment food banks have grown from barely existing to being everywhere? Could it be that policy has resulted in deliberately inadequate welfare provision? How, in a time of such extensive employment, are wage rises barely noticeable? If your definition is a few incoming oligarchs buying up expensive property they never set foot in, or someone putting up a willy waving skyscraper sure UK is doing great. By every other measure, including levels of mental health, poverty, satisfaction etc, UK has effectively shot itself. Oh, and don't hold up Tories being elected as some sort of proof when our democracy is one of the least representative on the planet[1]. Our system is biased both systemically and demographically. It feels like a corrupt, broke country, especially after a visit to London. It feels like somewhere to be deeply embarrassed of, and I mostly am these days. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rGX91rq5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rGX91rq5I CGP Grey's "Why the UK Election Results are the Worst in History" on the 2015 results.
- lewis1028282 8y ago
  Seems like your pet peeve is the Tories. I mean i still think you’re massively over exaggerating, the UK is one of the best places to do live and do business. Maybe read other news stories apart from the ones that aren’t just anti-Tory.
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    Not really - the system is just as unrepresentative for Tory voters in safe Labour seats. The net result is extreme lack of representation for just about everyone. It's the system that's broken - it's only functional for a two party system, yet still breaks for individual constituencies. My real peeve is what the party system has become, even compared to when I first joined the voting electorate during Thatcher's first term. The centralisation, and disenfranchisement and corrupt use of private capital in PPP was just as bad under New Labour. Anti Tory sources? Thanks, that made me smile. For most of my life the Telegraph and weekend FT were the primary sources delivered to house, with Economist and New Scientist subs. I'd buy a Guardian periodically for balance, sometimes the FT full time. I no longer read the Telegraph since it became a rubbish tabloid Daily Mail 2.0 which leaves only Reuters, Guardian and to a lesser extent Independent as serious UK sources online.
TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
The UK is a broke corrupt country. It has levels of inequality and institutional corruption the US can only dream of. There has been no public service ethic in government since the 80s. Government has become a tool for leveraging policy for personal and corporate wealth extraction and the promotion of privilege. Promotion of common welfare and social investment are currently absolutely taboo. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/07/mp-owen-paterson-lobbied-government-for-firm-he-worked-for https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/07/mp-owen-pat... The reason the Tories keep scraping through election wins is because the UK media are institutionally right-wing. The Tories rely on a base of confused pensioners and - increasingly - dog whistle racists. Latterly, BBC editorial has been obviously compromised, with BBC News failing to challenge or question government policy in any way, and selective reporting making dissent seem either small or irrelevant. The result is that British voters are probably some of the least educated and informed in all of Europe. None of this is good. I left the UK last year, and I genuinely fear for the future of the people I left behind. Historically, the next step in this kind of post-imperial malaise is traditionally a military dictatorship. I hope the UK can pull itself together and avoid that, but I worry that it's going to be a very close thing.
- uxcolumbo 8y ago
  What countries do you recommend to move to?
- sgt101 8y ago
  Well thanks for bailing, and thanks for the advice to those you've left behind. Your hopes are greatly appreciated and I am sure that if we do manage to avoid military dictatorship we will all be very grateful for your help and assistance in avoiding this dire situation.
ZeroGravitas 8y ago
> All I see is posts against the tories online but every election they've been the majority. They got 36.9% at the last election. They also fought against moving towards proportional representation because they knew it reduce their power.

screye 8y ago

Centralized retirement is such an opaque system. Invest into a system for 30 years so the older generation can live comfortable lives off your investments. The same generation being in power, guts your retirement because of austerity. The tension across generations is so large today, that I wonder if systems that establish intergenerational dependencies are ethical anymore. Why should a generation that enjoyed cheap education, be able to pull the ladder from behind them once they're done? Unpopular opinion, but I've wondered if in its pursuit of fairness, Democracy allows a people that are unaffected by a change to blissfully ruin things for those who are adversely affected by it. IMO, social democracies aren't equipped to deal with an "I got mine" tendency rooted in looser associations with traditional social structures. (such as family, religion or local communities. Not preaching, I am an aethist)

sgt101 8y ago
It should be noted that now ~45% of the UK population enter tertiary education vs <15% a thirty years ago [1]. This shift is necessary economically and yet politically unsustainable from general taxation. The shift to a debt driven system has been driven by this. [1]http://www.lse.ac.uk/assets/richmedia/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/slides/20131022_1515_ShapingHigherEducationSessionThreeBarr.pdf http://www.lse.ac.uk/assets/richmedia/channels/publicLecture...

ljm 8y ago

I've had similar sentiments, especially after enjoying life outside of the UK. Admittedly, part of that was supported by a London salary, although I could have lived on far less. The quality of life here, compared to other (even less well off) places is shockingly poor for how expensive it is, unless you're wealthy enough to avoid most of the problems (including the tax burden). I'm fine with staying in the UK in the short term but I have huge misgivings about starting a family and raising kids here. If I were to do so, they'd be enjoying the things that most people here don't have the luxury of (private education, etc.).