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The UK today

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hammerman | 08:30 Sat 30th Sep 2006 | Body & Soul
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What ONE thing would you say has had the biggest negative impact on the UK and our way of life.

Personally, i feel that since the introduction of the "compensation culture" where people sue everything and everyone in a bid to "get rich quick" has seen a terrible rise in the "i'm alright Jack" type attitude of people.

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Morning Hammerman - think everybody else is having a lie-in!.Good question by the way.
Personally I think the way our benefit system is run is wrecking our country.It is far too easy to not work and claim,Job Seekers Allowance,Invalidity Benefit,Imcome Support etc,and several people I know who are on these are far better off than if they worked.
I agree with Pink.

This culture seems to have bred a nation of people who feel they can have what they want, when they want and it has drastically disintegrated society to such an extent where ''hard work'' are two dirty words.

The benefits system appears to too often fail those who need it, and pay those who don't.
When the banks and building societies started making mortgage loans against two peoples salaries....it almost overnight escalated the cost of property which led to:


Women having no choice but to go back to work after having children.

More children than ever spending their early years in day care.

Whole streets empty during the day which means no one knows their neighbours and community spirit has dissolved.

No community spirit, no gentle policing of children like our Mum's and neighbours did to us, meaning children don't play outside anymore.

Children are unable to entertain themselves because they can not develop through outside play and adventures's

Higher divorce rates because Mum's and Dad's are stressed out.

Debt because Mum's and Dad's feel guilty about not being with their children and try to make it up to them with material things.

Materialistic children who have very odd values.

And it goes on and on and on......

(I would also say the media have had a detrimental effect on everyones mental well being they whip up negative stories and make people think this is a horrible country...and it's not.)


T


I can think of two main things, I agree with the Ladies but one big spiral we are on is the open door to Migrant workers,,a lot of whom are being paid below the minimum wage and those that are paid the correct wage are then fleeced of most of the wages they earn for food and lodgings, a lot of locals are being laid off because of this [edited by ABED].
Oh and I totally agree with Pink.

That's my other bug bear successive governments have got rid of engineering and manufacturing that provided factories that offered employment to non academic but skilled workers so we had a proper 'working' class.
We now have a whole section of society who are unable to get suitable jobs and have created a 'benefit' class of people who may never work...and why should they if evrything is given to them on a plate!!!!!!
I'm with Ray on this one!! but also agree with all the others
Well, we could mention the NHS! We are fortunately with BUPA, through my husband's work.
2 months ago, he developed sciatica after lifting an exhibition stand. This led to complications like not being able to urinate fully, numbness in legs and lack of sensations in other more 'delicate' areas. He went to our Dr. Within 2 weeks, he had seen a specialist, had a full MRI scan and returned to the specialist for results. Within another 2 days, he had had his first physio treatment.
Similarly, another guy he recently met has exactly the same problem. He has no private cover. He has to wait 20 weeks to have a scan!!
My husband was told that had his problem been left, he may have suffered permenant nerve damage.
So that is my answer .... NHS and it glut of 'managers' and obviously not enough ground floor staff.
GREED wanting everything and wanting it now.
Morning all! All of the above are absolutely right! I would add to this strong list the destruction of the NHS. I lived on the continent for half my life and at that time the NHS was highly respected and admired throughout the world. Subsequent governments have totally eroded the NHS to where we are way down the league in health care in Europe! This is backed up by the World Health Organisation and many, many doctors and nurses who have to work within it. Their courage and hard work is all the more to be appreciated as they really do have a difficult job working within a system that every day fails them.
I have often been told that one of the main causes of my son's death was failures within the NHS system. He died of a treatable brain cancer because our local doctors were not aware of available treatments in Bristol and London that would have saved his life. They refused him treatment for a year and a half - lost time which cost him his life! The circumstances of Kevin's case were so traumatic and so wrong that Panorama made a film about it. Not a lot has changed since then.
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Blimey. Sorry about that carakeel. :o( ....words fail me.
-- answer removed --
Carakeel, I am so, so sorry, you have my deepest condolences, I had no idea.
I agree with you about the NHS, it has been systematically dismantled also the situation within the Education system where teachers are no longer free to teach kids about being a decent rounded person but are more concerned with exam passes. Kids are branded successes and failures and 7 years old because of SATS tests and the state is taking too hard an interest in what local schools do, meaning that emphasis is not about being a kind, good or nice person who might do ok for themselves if they work hard, it's about sod your characteristics and everything else, just pass this exam so our school looks like a success. That has bred a generation of kids with very negative values who value material things and success above the higher things in life. A big mistake, that can only lead a lot of kids to dysfunction, disappointment and all of the frustration that goes with that. Frustrated people are agressive and selfish so it's a lousy basis for a society.
The Daily Mail??

I think media sensationalism and a thirst for scaremongering really changes the way people perceive this country.

The reality is that (with the exception of the recent terrorism threat) not that much has changed in recent years, but what is deemed to be newsworthy has. Why aren't we picking the country up and printing some positive stories alongside the 'teen hoodie threat'-style headlines?


Sorry chrissiekins, can't agree with you. Things have indeed become worse in so many areas of life in the UK. Nolumos, thanks for your kind words. You make an excellent point about education. My daughter is a teacher and she too is disheartened by what has happened to education here. Nox, your words are so true. Education was one of the things for which the UK was once held up as being among the top in the world. This is sadly no longer the case. Chrissiekins, we cannot change things for the better if we do not recognize the demise that has occurred in this beautiful country. If you are blind to the problems how can you ever put things right again? There is no country in the world that gets everything right! Look at Ireland which has had a huge economic boost in recent years, thanks to the hard work of its people and a few sensible political decision along the way. Whereas the UK has had a downturn in so many vital areas of life, Ireland has had a great turnaround and is now among the most healthy and respected countries in the world. There are still a lot of things that need to be put right there, but at least things are an awful lot better than 20 years ago. There is no way you can say that about the UK, unless you turn a blind eye to the world around you. The question raised was - ' what has had the most negative impact? - so pointing out the positives on this thread would have defeated the purpose, right?.
I agree with a lot of whats been said already, but one thing, or person, covers the lot, TONY BLAIR.
I totally agree with you all on what has been said. But I think things are going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

We have been swamped with migrant workers here, They are being exploited by the two main employers of the town, who also happen to own the house they are renting. They rent the houses on a revolving bed system as one gets up to go and do his shift another gets in his place while he is at work, Our local paper highlighted the case. But we as a community are suffering, we have a population of 6,000 this has risen to nearly 8,000 in 12 months and you can guess where the extra has come from.

We have the back lash of those workers too, as they sit around the canal drinking from dawn till dusk and more, throwing bottles at the wildlife and chucking them in the canal, mugging people and looking very threatening.

The government is run by a bunch of no brains and who ever gets into power next is going to be the same, they have one goal and that is How can I make it better for Me?

Same as the I'm alright Jack thing that hammerman mentioned.

Carakeel I am very sorry to hear about your Son that is a horrible thing for him and your family to have to live through and still live with.

I could go on and on but I will shut up now and let some one else have a turn.

Sorry on another note the Compensation culture has made it so that I have to sign a form now for teachers to be able to put a plaster on my son if he cuts himself at school.
I recently looked at a list of about 25 jobs on offer at my local council. 22 of them were in administration. Only a couple were actually carrying out work in the community.
Thats what I think is wrong with England. Our taxes are pathetically mis-spent.
Carakeel, I hear what you're saying - but the question asked for one example and my inclusion to the debate was SPECIFICALLY the way in which the written media chooses to address it's readership. Certain readers are unaware of the agendas that these papers follow and often believe a lot more than you or I would take with a pinch of salt - and I just think that this is irresponsible and can seriously have an impact on public opinion.
I agree that many aspects of Bristish society are suffering at the moment - the NHS and the education system in particular (and lets not mention the pensions saga), but sensitive cases like immigration where papers like The Daily Mail refuse to distinguish between genuine asylum seekers and illegals genuinely stirs bad feeling.

I stand by the fact that many things are good about this country, but we can save that for another debate ...............

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