Is this country going to the dogs?

An example of this country going to the dogs

“The UK’s proposed laws to restrict civic freedoms such as the right to peaceful assembly and protest means it is now classified as “obstructed” – putting it alongside countries such as Poland, South Africa and Hungary.”

The Civicus Monitor, which tracks the democratic and civic health of 197 countries across the world, said the UK government was creating a “hostile environment” towards campaigners, charities and other civil society bodies.

It’s not as good as it was pre-covid is it ? We seem to have more cafes and restaurants and second hand shops and less clothes shops. More and more beauty parlours and massage parlours and more boarded up small shops. More non Australian goods , more Chinese areas and imports. Some places look exactly the same as Beijing now with all the new high rise buildings.

I've been in France 30 + years and never known rural France
do anything but struggle, that never changes.

halfpint1 Yes, that would be our experience as well. Even the coastal strip of west Normandy flourishes June - September, but is empty the rest of the year.

Whitewavemark2

Not sure what smart restaurants have to do with the country going to the dogs though🙂

Who was it described private wealth and public squalor ? - sums up this country pretty well.

Galbraith I think.

It was indeed J K Galbraith who described the US as having private affluence and public squalor. Given the vast inequalities of wealth and incomes in the UK and the appalling state of public services cut to the bone by the Tories it is applicable here too. Many of the shortfalls in public services have been highlighted on TV and elsewhere. Last night on QT from Bristol was mentioned inability to afford to buy a house. The Tory Minister on the panel never answered any of the points made by the audience and tried to bluff his way through the crime statistics imho.

Talking about squalor - I see that the recommended fine of £150 million for sewerage discharge by water companies has been turned down by this government.

All the time the fines are less than the cost of renewing the infrastructure this savage destruction of our water quality will continue.

The EA is appalled at their hands being so tied by this government, as they watch so much of their expensive river renewal being destroyed, and their inability to prevent it.

Urmstongran

I bet Romans in their togas sat about and bemoaned the state of affairs even back then.
😁

Well look what happened to them!

More people must be eating out if the vast number of restaurants are anything to go by. All different cuisines ranging from Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Indian and these are all within a stonesthrow from where we live.

Where I live all cafes and coffee shops still do great trade, seems everyone has money to eat out still.

Not in the Uk according to what I read recently. It said supermarkets are doing more business as people are eating out less.
Though cant say I have seen a difference in either personally. But I wouldnt set too much store by that!

My reply was to nanna8

MaizieD

^Added to the above the grass is always greener on the other side along with things were so much better when we were younger along with any similar tale and you get headers like the OP…^

I have to say, as Essex born and bred, I don't recall no-go areas being reported in any of the coastal resorts when I lived there...

There aren't any now either.

The Romans, Urmston, were every bit as nasty as any modern Eutopean imperialists, incliuing the British Empire.

In my small town in the early 1960s a woman left her husband because he beat her. Most people thought it was disgraceful - NOT the beating but the fact that she left him. The thinking was that even a bad husband was better than none. Hard to believe but true. Men ruled back then whatever they were like. My grandmother and mother both accepted this.

The media and some old misery guts would want us to believe the country has gone to the dogs but it hasn’t. Some european countries are much worse. Far more people own their own houses here than places like Germany and France where renting is the norm.

I was out for lunch with my daughter today in a very nice garden centre and it was packed with people and it is huge. No evidence of belt tightening.

I see young Mums up at our village school with BMWs, Audis, Range Rovers and kids all beautifully dressed.

Pretty much everybody I know gets a foreign holiday every year.

We’ve just had a pension rise too.

An elderly man behind me in Tesco today was buying 6 bottles of wine so he could get his 25% off and I pulled his leg but he took it in good part and we agreed you are a long time dead (as my Mum used to say).

I actually felt that King Charles' speech in Berlin the other day was proof enough that our country isn't going to the dogs. If we can achieve reconciliation with a nation that was once the enemy, if we can forgive, and if we can now show unity, working together for peace in Ukraine, then our moral standards renain largely still intact. I think that, in the bigger picture, things are set to improve.

Even ancient Egyptians moaned and harked back to a nonexistent golden age. Mrs Thatcher wanted us to go back to Victorian values - just another backwards look. We need a forward looking government capable of sorting out the current mess.

Far more people own their own houses here than places like Germany and France where renting is the norm.

This is totally irrelevant primrose. It's more important to have good housing than to own it ourselves.

Apparently, one in ten owner-occupied homes face basic health hazards and our private rented sector has the worst housing conditions of all (here in the UK).
We need to invest in quality homes and insist that all new building meets the best standards of our European neighbours.
Health is inescapably linked to housing. Merely owning a property means nothing if you can't afford to maintain or heat it.

www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/uk-has-some-of-the-least-energy-efficient-homes-in-europe/28434/

I see young Mums up at our village school with BMWs, Audis, Range Rovers and kids all beautifully dressed.

You are lucky to live in an affluent area Primrose. I see young mums walking to school in all weathers with babies and toddlers in tow. As for home ownership, you must be aware of the shortage of affordable rental properties in the UK and that there is little security of tenure.
Count your blessings if you know nothing of such hardships.

Whitewavemark2

Talking about squalor - I see that the recommended fine of £150 million for sewerage discharge by water companies has been turned down by this government.

All the time the fines are less than the cost of renewing the infrastructure this savage destruction of our water quality will continue.

The EA is appalled at their hands being so tied by this government, as they watch so much of their expensive river renewal being destroyed, and their inability to prevent it.

Just read this morning the government is scrapping any cap on penalties. The Environment Agency will be allowed to impose unlimited fines without going through the courts. Full article in today’s Times.

Compared with the times of the Roman Empire we have a much,much higher population so I don’t think comparisons are that valid. That’s our real problem - too many people, not enough resources and no particular will to conserve and treasure what we actually do have.

Just read this morning the government is scrapping any cap on penalties. The Environment Agency will be allowed to impose unlimited fines without going through the courts.

I think I'll reserve judgement until this is proved to be effective, jaxjackie. It sounds too good to be true. And if something sounds too good to be true it generally isn't true

I agree Maizie. It looks like a loophole. I like the rule of law. I distrust self -governing bodies that are not answerable to the law courts.

I get feeds in Facebook from people, ordinary members of the public, who are working to clean beaches, rivers, and roadsides for no remuneration. This government has no shame despite it knows we know it's self serving, and despite it knows that we kn ow it's self serving.

I am ever optimistic 🙂.