Little Britain - the state of England today

Callistemon

Alegrias1

I do.

Not irretrievably, but it has fallen from its place in the world and dragged Scotland, Wales and NI with it.

In your opinion.

When HK is listed as one of the top ten places to live in the world one does wonder who compiles these lists.

Yes, in my opinion. Which as you say yourself, is perfectly allowed.

It seems to me that most countries have cause for complaint.
However although I thinkOP maybe phrased her comment in an unfortunate way she was expressing valid concerns about some issues. I don’t however think the “what are you doing about it” is a good way to get your point across.

It is inevitable that if criticism of UK comes from anyone living elsewhere it will be exceedingly unpopular.

I think OP probably wanted to know what people thought about issues such as the water companies point?

Then you would be arrogant and opinionated Alegrias. But I think I already knew that.

Glad to live up to expectations Chewbacca.

Lucca - the voice of reason

Says it all …

lemongrove

It reads Dinahmo that you are simply having a moan about the ‘state’ of the UK, whilst not living here to really know much about what’s going on and thinking things were better in ‘the good old days’ here.Things are much better now!
You also know that France has many of the same social problems that we do here.

I have mentioned little about my life here in France, neither have I made any comparisons between the two countries.

Considering that the two are separated by 22 miles of water and have a shared history of warfare and support over hundreds of years it is surprising how different the French and English are.

I do know what is is going on in England - I lived there for most of my life. I have several close friends and some family with whom I am in regular contact. Just because one moves abroad doesn't mean that one forgets their previous life nor that one doesn't take an interest in their home country.

Lucca Thank you for your last post.

GrannyGravy13

Says it all …

I live in Scotland

GG13 Dare I say it - it looks like something the NF would produce!

Dinahmo

GG13 Dare I say it - it looks like something the NF would produce!

Absolutely no idea where it was produced or by whom!

Just so totally fed up with having the Country of my birth and where I currently live constantly trashed by people who do not live here.

There are some negative things in the U.K. but fortunately they are vastly outnumbered by all the positives.

Elliananne Your comment made me smile. When we bought our cottage in Suffolk the vendors pointed out that the greenhouse, which had good soil compared to the rest of the garden, was built where the previous occupants had their hole in the ground. Those same people told us that where they lived, prior to buying the ruin that later became our house, the houses across the road where still dependent upon collectors of night soil.

As a descendant of refugees from French persecution and looking across the Channel at their history and present day unrest I'm rather thankful to live here.

Of course, those living in rural Britain and rural France may have quite different experiences of life than those in overcrowded cities.

Callistemon that’s the same worldwide, rural idyll as opposed to city dwelling.
There are some parts of London that many years ago were full of house is multiple occupancy, now they are much wanted (expensive) large family homes.

Ellianne

Aha I see this is meant to be exclusively about politics and the disgraceful mess the UK is in, so I'll give it a rest now. Maybe the OP's inclusion of depressing British TV, building houses in France with 3 toilets, expats, charitable works confused the main issue but thank you to those who looked beyond and brought up some interesting points.

My OP referred to my home in France, but did you not read the next sentence - the one about tens of thousands of people living in substandard housing?

You are not the only to refer to the 3 bathrooms. I suspect that there are many on here who live in equally comfortable houses.

My other responses were to the replies that other people gave and not part of my original post.

My OP referred to my home in France, but did you not read the next sentence - the one about tens of thousands of people living in substandard housing?

I'm still not clear whether this means substandard housing in England where the lavatory may be situated in the bathroom or whether you are referring to the disgraceful slums and shanty towns where thousands live in France.

Judging by the reference to the riots in France I can only assume that many of you are unaware of the riots in England in the 80s. I was living in Brixton then and the first riot started in Railton Road, just around the corner from me. A few hundred yards down Railton, houses and a pub were set alight. The houses weren't that important per se because they had been condemned some year previously and were squats before the riots. Also, eventually some decent housing was build in their place.

Is anyone bothered that children 'in care' are moved hundreds of miles away from their families and communities?

How about the detainment of people with learning disabilities under the mental health act being sectioned and driven miles away to private facilities where they are detained indefinitely and often meet an early death.

Is anyone bothered about that? Or do you just want to have a go at Dinahmo about her extra toilets?

There are lots of things that could be done better and cheaper in this country (test and trace springs to mind) I don't know why everyone is so apathetic

Ah, the 70s and early 80s in London.
I remember them well - strikes, no rubbish collected, rats, riots, dirty dealings in the GLC etc.
We'd just moved from our rural idyll to London, what a shock that was.

Callistemon

^My OP referred to my home in France, but did you not read the next sentence - the one about tens of thousands of people living in substandard housing?^

I'm still not clear whether this means substandard housing in England where the lavatory may be situated in the bathroom or whether you are referring to the disgraceful slums and shanty towns where thousands live in France.

There was a feature on the news about a large block of flats on an estate in south London which is used as a dumping ground for homeless people - by local authorities. The conditions were appalling and as a result childrens' health was suffering.

No doubt there are thousands of people living in shanty towns in France in dreadful conditions. There are many things to be critical of in France but France is not the subject of discussion here, as afar as I am concerned, other than to respond to points made by others.

What often happens with homeless families living in London is that the Local Authority responsible for them offers them no alternative accommodation in London, and coerces them into moving to another cheaper part of the country. The London Authority pays the rehousing costs for a set period of time, and then abandons that family to the receiving LA. This often means them living many miles from the rest of their family and social connections. I don’t think that is a compassionate society.

Many of the responses to my original post have been to attack me, rather than address the points that I raised.

You have pointed out that of I only got my information from English television then had no idea of what was actually happening in the country.

I listed 7 topics taken from a 1 hour news programme, that are of concern to me. I'm not a football supporter but I listed it because of the behaviour of the supporters at both the semi and the final.

You have picked on me because I referred to some of the homes in which I lived but I note that there has been no response to my latest posts on that subject.

You have made assumptions about me which were unnecessary and bore no relation to my first post.

You have asked me what I do by way of charitable work and the amounts of donations I make and to whom.

All you have done (most of you) is to say that I have no right to be critical and to state that you and the people you know do good works.

So thank you. At least responding to your comment has kept me from doing my own work.

A comparison: I have now lived in England for 50 years. I was born and brought up in Sweden. and I go back frequently to visit family and friends. Things have obviously changed in Sweden since I lived there; some things for the better, other things not. But if I have criticised something I have never been met with ”you have no right to criticise, you don 't live here any more/oh well, things are just as bad in England”. People seem much more willing to discuss issues and are not immediately on the defensive.

As for the silly poster. You could easily change the text: ” England, a place so great nobody is allowed to criticise it”

I think, Greta that Things have obviously changed in Sweden since I lived there; some things for the better, other things not is true of most countries.

I have seen and been horrified by the substandard housing
endured by at least one woman and her young son featured on ITV news where the ceiling collapsed. These were not ancient tenements so what has gone wrong?
What did I do? I contacted the journalist but got no response at all - did he find a story to upset and enrage and then move on? Should I harangue the council concerned until they do something? I don't live in that area, nor that country.

Did I sign a petition about racism in the social media after the football? Yes.

Are music and arts on the school curriculum? Yes, they are here. Should I protest that they are not elsewhere?

Water companies - not-for-profit Welsh Water has a shocking record of sewage spillage. Did I want water companies privatised? No and thought the Blair government would stop it going through, but they did not.

Cuts to overseas aid - probably not a good idea and short sighted but it does need an overhaul. It will be at similar % of GDP as eg France
Everywhere has to recover post-Covid including the UK.

I have no idea why the subject of loos and bathrooms were introduced but it was in the OP.

I think it was these unpleasant accusations, rather than pointing out where things need improvement, that annoyed posters:

Why aren't you all caring about the wrongs? And, if you do, why aren't you doing something about it?

Perhaps you could try watching a different news programme which shows all that is good about the UK and how people have been caring for others, especially during this pandemic.

I admit it, I haven`t read all these posts.

so perhaps I have missed the good (imo) posts that actually tell us what we CAN do about the injustices etc.?

me, at advanced years,physically, I have learned, rightly or wrongly, I can only do what I can do in my part of the world.

voting? waste of time,, imo,, nothing comes from voting.

England has/is going down the gutter ??not sure if it will/can be great again ??