Expensive, inefficient and Rip-off Britain

[Dassie]

There must be many ABers who have either left this Country or travelled only to find costs are cheaper elsewhere BUT the standard of living is higher there than in the UK.
From my own experience on a recent trip to Cape Town, petrol 45p/litre. 2 litre bottle of Coke 70p. Cappuchino in a decent coffee shop 75p.etc etc
So why is it we pay over the odds for the same items, coupled with poor service, underfunded hospitals etc when this is supposed to be the 4th or 5th richest nation in the world?

[rabbitygirl]

And yet still more come into the country than go out. What we have here is supply and demand. Those in charge supply us a great country second to none (or people wouldn't move heaven and earth to be here or choose to stay) and then feel justified in demanding hefty prices and taxes for the privilege of living here.
The reason why hospitals and other services are generally poor is because the country sucks at management.

[Ethel]

Cape town has an astonishing crime rate and serious poverty - did you go to Cape Flats?

You ask the people living their about the heath service they are entitled to.

I'd rather pay �1 a litre for my petrol than live there.

[jno]

prices are low because workers aren't paid much. Poverty breeds crime. These two things are linked, as Ethel says. You were lucky: you got the cheap petrol but didn't have to pay the higher 'price' of being a crime victim. People who actually live there are not always so lucky. Some stay out of harm's way by paying more for extra security - a price that people in the UK don't have to pay. Swings and roundabouts.

[Dassie]

Ethel, jno. Yes I have been through the Cape Flats and crime is high in that area but this constitutes a small area compared to the overall greater Cape Town. It is no worse than Britain nowadays with its murders, stabbings and shootings. It's like all places ,just as in Britain there are poor run down areas and then more affluent. I wouldn't go into these dodgy areas in Britain let alone abroad.

[jno]

Dassie, it is very much worse than in Britain. The latest British murder rate I know of is 14 per million people. In South Africa it's 496. You sure you could live with that?

[Ethel]

It is a lot worse than Britain - my friend lives in Cape for her work. She lives behind high gates in a complex with an armed guard 24 hours a day.

There are armed guards at her place of work and her insurance costs are sky high.

She works with children who are seriously impoverished - malnutritioned and uncared for in a way that just does not happen here.
Nobody bats an eyelid at eight year old prostitutes, of both sexes, except United Nations.

If you are white and wealthy, prepared to live behind bars then Cape Town is a fine place.

If you're not, it's hell on earth.

[China Doll]

I would be inclined to ask that if the prices are so cheap then who is actually footing the bill? It's rarely the fat cats and chief execs so for all that cheapness I'd be willing to bet that someone is being trodden on for it.

But I could be wrong, it could be Utopia and as such I should be encouraging you to move there forever... soon.

[Dassie]

I think I shouldn't have mentioned Cape Town as everybody is now focusing on S.Africa for some reason when I was posing a general question about the UK.
Let me give you another example then from Spain. A box of 20 amoxicilin ( antibiotic ) bought at a chemist cost 3.16 Euros ( about �2 ) yet look what you have to pay here for a prescription charge! And nowadays the NHS is importing the cheapest tablets from Europe. As I said this is rip-off Britain. Ever visited Kew gardens at around �12 each?

[jake-the-peg]

Antibiotics are controlled in the UK to prevent their effectiveness dropping amoungst other reasons - I'm sure you know that. I'm a bit surprised you can buy amoxycillin over the counter in Spain, actually there are good arguments for moving to that here but that's another question - point is it's not a particularly good comparison because of the control.

Kew is expensive but it's hugely labour intensive and labour cost are high.

Maybe you should have gone to the National History Museum - that's free! or the Science Museum - free too! And the British Museum.

How about an Opera? Royal Opera House errect a big screen in the summer and you can watch some of the performances on it -!free.

The National Gallary in Trafalgar square- free! Tate Modern on Fridays and Saturdays -! free!.Tate Britain.

The Prado charges entrance, the Guggenheim in New York and the Uffizi in Florence are both about �10 for adults!

Rather depends what you're buying I guess!

if anybody's interested check out:

http://www.londonfreelist.com/home.asp

[WoWo]

Average wage in spain is about half that of the UK (�943 in spain �1939 in the UK) Therefore your 2 Euros in spain is equivalent to �4 over here.

As you can see here the actual cost of amoxicilin is less than a perscription charge...

http://www.psnc.org.uk/uploaded_txt/PPAJanuary 2007Tariff.pdf

What happens then in Spain if you fall ill and you need Rifampicin at �85 a pop? Rip off Spain I call it.