By 2023, 40000 miles of roads in th3 U.K. will become unusable according to a report in the Telegraph.
Why?
Potholes of course. No money to repair the roads because of Tory cuts. Councils have a £556000000 shortfall.
Many roads are set to “fail” in the next 12 months.
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News & politics
Everything is wrong in this country
(339 Posts)Everywhere you look and everything you read.
Health service imploding
Poverty levels retreating to Dickensian levels
Mortality rates increasing
Life expectancy decreasing
Food banks
Social care crises
Public services like libraries, grass cutting, weeds on verges, potholes.
Housing crises
Cuts in education, schools struggling
Academies failing
Students with huge debt
Corruption in our political class
Public broadcaster under severe criticism for bias
Media concentration threatens the public interest and our democracy
Police struggling because of cuts. Leave cancelled and overtime compelled to fill gaps.
Military funding at an all time low.
Prison service under severe pressure because of cuts
Welfare cut to the bone squeezing the poor to 1930’s style welfare support.
Transport almost at developing country levels
Hate crimes at a record high
Racism increasing
We are one of the richest countries in the world.
Excellent post Opal.
"I have never met a Tory voter who wasn't living a nice little life in a comfortable house, inherited money from the family (gained from property price inflation) funding a second home in Europe, children/grandchilden in private schools, probably a private or professional pension, shops in Waitrose, has several cars, holidays overseas, income never a problem."
Well, you haven't met me then. I vote Tory and yes I am now living a nice little life, because I WORKED for it - ordinary working class background, left school at 16, worked hard ever since as has my husband, who comes from a similar working class background, we've bought our own property over the years, never received benefits, our kids went to state schools, we paid to get them through uni, we saved for our retirement and paid into a works pension, now retired, have never inherited anything, don't have a second home, have one or two holidays a year, and have one car. I have not had any more or less opportunity than anyone else, but have made a success of my life by working hard, always living within my means - and believe me we were bloody hard up when our kids were little, my husband worked two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. This country is one of the best countries in the world and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Yes, the UK has its faults and there is always room for improvement, but people need to learn to help themselves and not just rely on the State to provide. I also agree with a previous poster - if you have a young family, and you are hard up, then stop having more kids! Single mothers with six kids? And they expect the State to keep them? That is wrong on so many levels. Rights also come with responsibility, and we should all learn to exercise both.
Austerity is officially over haven’t you heard? Let’s get Brexit done (well, the WA bit) and watch the Tories spend some money on us all. It’ll seem a lot better soon WWmk2 you’ll see.
You seem of a gloomy disposition if you don’t mind me saying so! All your threads are put downs of the Conservative Party.
WWM2, I can't help feeling that you are wasting your breath (words) on the brainwashed majority. They sit there in their rose-tinted spectacles reading the Tory tabloids, watching the Tory BBC, happily convinced that all is well.
Despite all the evidence, it's only much later, when they rely on the so-called state 'care' system, having lost every penny, that the true reality hits!
My goodness Whitewavemark2....you are a depressing person. Your face must be so long your chin is dragging the ground...Hahaha. Try being more positive. There is beauty all around to see and positivity. Now smile and bring that chin back to where it should be.
Of course we have poverty. Almost all countries do. It’s a very sad fact of life. But, we also have free education for every child, free healthcare for all who need it. Our elderly have free access to public transport, prescriptions etc. Our unemployed have free financial support. Many of our poor families have free housing.
Compare all of this with some other countries like Africa and parts of S America. It doesn’t sound too Dickensian to me.
A tweet
Today
@BorisJohnson
lied to the BBC, claiming child poverty had gone down.
In fact, it’s gone up every year since 2010. Now, a staggering 4.1 million British children live in poverty.
A government allowing this is disgusting.
A prime minister lying about it is inexcusable.
Whitewave.
Pleeeese get a life!
oh dear, you are the negative moaning empty glass type whitewavemark2.
Someone to be avoided at all costs.
Doom, doom; thrice times doom.
1 in 7 children in the UK go to school hungry.
Children fall asleep in class through hunger.
Teachers are freely giving children breakfast, as they find it too distressing to watch a struggling hungry child.
This report was in 2013 and the numbers have risen since then.
Don’t tell me that we are not regressing
Really, compared to where? Have you lived outside UK.
Lucky Girl. Sorry I dont know whee you live but I. just cannot believe you only know the people you describe. I come fom a working class family and have voted Conservative for many years. I believe my parents chose to have an only child they both came from big families. Both workedvery hard. My husband left school at 14 also worked very long hours and finished with own business. We had many friends all working class who managed to la good life. Please stop generalising. I will not be voting the same this time noR for Labour while J C IS Leader.
Poverty is dreadful but to some extent it could be improved if people behaved more responsibly.
The other day I was in a shop where a woman was walking around looking at toys accompanied by her three under school age children.
One little girl asked if they could buy a toy for the baby and the mother said they must wait until the baby arrived.
On the television I saw a “one parent family” mother with six children complaining that she found it hard .
I bet she did.
So would I but surely by now she knows how these children have arrived and nowadays there are ways of not letting that happen-apart from the obvious way.
Absolutely agree.
I'd suggest that analysis of the the UK in that much depth is not particularly common in the countries they are coming from. They see that the UK is wealthy and don't realise/understand how skewed the distribution of wealth actually is.
Very possibly MaizieD, very possibly. But then I'd be expecting them to be desperate to get back out of the UK once they'd realised that the UK wasn't the utopia they'd believed it to be. But they aren't. They're settling in and many are making successful and happy lives for themselves by using the opportunities that are available to them here. There is barely a day goes by, reporting of a success story, of how people who have sought sanctuary here have made happy, productive lives for themselves, in a safe country.
Poverty is what you see in African Countries and parts of India/Bangladesh/Afghanistan etc.
And if you were one of the 14 million people living in poverty in the UK how many blessings would you have to count? ?
Whitewave2;I guess you are a glass half empty.
You might find it hard but try to find one good thing that has happened to you during the day and write it down.
There will be something.
It doesn’t matter how small it is .
Well said
The main problem in this country is that people moan and are never satisfied with what they have. Start counting your blessings instead!
We should be grateful that we live in a Country that allows lists like this to be aired. In China, you would be in trouble.
Well said, Beanie
Reasons for emigrating to the UK?
Relatives already here
Can already speak English
Better educational opportunities
Wages 'appear' to be better than those they can earn in their own country
No threat of war
If the UK is known for being such an inhospitable, debt ravaged, uncaring nation, why would they want to risk their lives still further to get here?
I'd suggest that analysis of the the UK in that much depth is not particularly common in the countries they are coming from. They see that the UK is wealthy and don't realise/understand how skewed the distribution of wealth actually is.
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