When did it all start to go wrong in the UK...?

[Will]

A lot of us have not left, and have no overpowering desire to leave permanently.

[Patf]

Jura wrote" I was simply asking the members here, who mostly would be British, just when did THEY start to see a difference in their own nation...when did they think to themselves...'right, it's time to leave...'

Clair wrote "The assumption here is that people are somehow forced to "leave" because they have a negative view of the UK."

Good point Clair - I don't see the connection either. Why not get stuck in and do something about it?

We were in Singapore 1966-8 and when we returned I noticed a difference. Before that, late 50s and early 60s there was huge enthusiasm and positive attitudes, rebuilding after the war. On return people seemed worried, self critical, depressed. Then followed eventually the "PC " cycle. I never found out what had happened while we were away.

 

[Russethouse]

If Jura read a little more history she would learn that the UK has always attracted immigrants and always had a goodly amount of emigrants too - I'm not sure why she thinks there is any mythical 'tipping' point.

[YCCMB]

It was about 2 years ago when I think we decided NOT to move permanently to France......................[:D]

[Sunday Driver]

I suppose things started going downhill when the welfare state was introduced in the middle of the last century to accommodate all those scroungers and spawning females who breed without discrimination.

I'm just surprised at how long it's taken everybody to notice.....[8-)]

 

[Lizfjr]

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]

I suppose things started going downhill when the welfare state was introduced in the middle of the last century to accommodate all those scroungers and spawning females who breed without discrimination.[8-)][/quote]

Or help, apparently...

And let's not forget the introduction of the old age pension which singlehandedly cost tax payers their hard earned cash AND allowed feckless oldsters to be a burden on the state by not actually starving to death. What sort of society is that?

[Dick Smith]

"At this festive

season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen,

"it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision

for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many

thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are

in want of common comforts, sir."

"Are there no prisons?"

asked Scrooge.

"Plenty of prisons,"

said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

"And the Union

workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"

"They are. Still,"

returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."

"The Treadmill

and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge.

"Both very busy,

sir."

"Oh! I was afraid,

from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in

their useful course," said Scrooge. "I'm very glad to hear it."

Does it for me.

[NormanH]

It was with the election of New Labour.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Dick Smith"]"At this festive

season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen,

"it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision

for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many

thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are

in want of common comforts, sir."

"Are there no prisons?"

asked Scrooge.

"Plenty of prisons,"

said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

"And the Union

workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"

"They are. Still,"

returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."

"The Treadmill

and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge.

"Both very busy,

sir."

"Oh! I was afraid,

from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in

their useful course," said Scrooge. "I'm very glad to hear it."

Does it for me.

[/quote]

Oh course! It's all clear now. The poor were given the opportunity to get above themselves and stopped having any respect for their social betters. So the rot set in when proper, sensible controls such as workhouse (and transportation to the colonies) were abolished by looney-left disabled-lesbian mollycoddling councils (I'll admit my history is a little hazy on the details). Well, that's settled then. [:)]

[Hoddy]

I wonder if we are all on the wrong track here.  Perhaps we all begin to think that the country is going to the dogs when we reach a certain age ourselves. I think it was about 45 for me.

Hoddy

[Bugsy]

[quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]

.................................. were abolished by looney-left disabled-lesbian mollycoddling councils ..........................

[/quote]

You missed out 'vertically challenged' and 'politically correct'........................[:D][:D]

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]

.................................. were abolished by looney-left disabled-lesbian mollycoddling councils ..........................

[/quote]

You missed out 'vertically challenged' and 'politically correct'........................[:D][:D]

[/quote]

Well, I said I was hazy on the details, but I'm sure that that's basically how it all happened.

[Val_2]

The day that criminals are more protected and practically rewarded than the innocent victims who cannot even raise a hand in defence as they will come off worse.

The day that live reality TV kicked in and spawned a generation of wannab celebs or wags without lifting a finger to earn a wage

The day that OAP's are more than willing to do time for refusing to pay astronomical council taxes when the scroungers get it all paid for them.

The day the do-gooders took over the asylum and stopped teachers from putting plasters on a child's leg pouring with blood.

I could go on and on and can only say, I'm glad we got out when we did before Labour and all that got into power.

[Dick Smith]

The day people started believing everything they read in the Daily Mail?

[mint]

Or, indeed, the Daily Torygraph?

[woolybanana]

Or the Guardian

[Renaud]

Hey! Paws off the Torygraph.

[mint]

You mean the Gruniard?

[tegwini]

How about when criminals cost the taxpayer more to house than staying at the Ritz ?

                                                                                 Prison vs Work

 

@ PRISON	@ WORK
You spend the majority of your time in a 10X10 cell @ PRISON	you spend the majority of your time In an 6X6 cubicle /office @ WORK
You get three meals a day fully paid for @ PRISON	you get a break for one meal and You have to pay for it @ WORK
You get time off for good behavior	you get more work for Good behavior
@ PRISON The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you @ PRISON	@ WORK You must often carry a security card And open all the doors for yourself @ WORK
You can watch TV and play games @ PRISON	you could get fired for watching TV and playing games @ WORK
You get your own toilet @ PRISON	you have to share the toilet with Some people who pee on the seat @ WORK
They allow your family and friends to visit @ PRISON	you aren't even supposed to speak To your family @ WORK
All expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required @ PRISON	you get to pay all your expenses to go To work, and they deduct taxes from Your salary to pay for prisoners @ WORK
You spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out	you spend most of your time wanting To get out and go inside bars
@ PRISON You must deal with sadistic wardens	@ WORK They are called managers

I couldn't manage to put the pictures of a new luxury prison- but it's clear life isn't so hard 'inside' and therefore  there's no serious consequences for commiting  crimes - or fear or respect of authority figures, or fear of anything really.

Tegwini

[cowoman]

For me personally

I think  it all went wrong when Tony Blair won the nation over with his beaming smile and got elected.  He introduced us to the human rights act which was brilliant for him and Cherie as Cherie made such a lot of money out of defending the rights of "victims"  Political correctness has got out of control and nobody takes responsibility for anything, no one resigns unless pushed.  This comes from the top downwards.  The unelected prime minister can stand  at the despatch box and not answer serious questions put to him , he can lie and not get pulled up on it,  basically he can get away with murder.  For me the Labour years have have been the worst ever and it will take a lot to put it all right when they finally get rejected.

 

[The Riff-Raff Element]

1989.

I base this on the following observation.

I was a teenager growing up in Norwich in the early 1980s. Now, there were one or two pubs that had something of a reputation as rough houses, but everyone knew where they were and it worked rather well like that. Otherwise I was able to ars* about to my hearts content in pretty much secure in the knowledge that no-one would be trying to hit me with a bottle.

In 1985 I went to university in Bristol, a far rougher proposition to be sure, but I went home fairly regularly and Norwich remained a haven of relative Friday night peace. In 1988 I settled in London and in spring 1989 I took a week off work and went to stay with my brother back in Norwich. In the space of that week we were attacked in the street twice. We were largely unscathed (my brother for various reasons being rather adept at defending himself) but rather bemused. He commented that it had "been like that" since Christmas.

So that was the year.

I don't know why of course; maybe they started adding flouride to the drinking water or something.

[Chancer]

I could not tell you what exactly was the turning point for me but Val2 and cow-woman (only kidding) seem to put my feelings into words.

I voted for Tony Blair and was really proud to see what appeared to me to be a normal family at the door of number 10, how wrong I was.

Give me another 10 years to put it all in perspective and to be wise enough to answer the question and I will probably say "the Blair years" even though I had previously been really anti-Thatcher it was during her time that I was able to climb out of the gutter and create something which in turn allowed me to move here.

[cowoman]

I can honestly say that I didnt vote TB in.  But I know loads of people that were taken in by him even my mom in fact,  I didn't like that cheesy grin from the beginning and didn't like his policy's ......and couldn't stand the scene of Cherie  going round shaking peoples hands and grinning as if she had been elected !  I think they havn't had a clue about running a country and  have only got away with half of it because TB was a smooth talking  you know what.  Brown is a different story.......I wont say anymore because I dont want to offend any labour supporters ,  if there are one or two of them out there,

[tegwini]

How about when it became so easy  for young people to arrange their  lives so as to spend most of the day in bed/watching TV, funded by others,  and thus having excess energy and could be out on the streets until the small hours ...  

 And,   no fear of getting the sack for arriving late at work, or  fear of  anything  ...

Tegwini

[Frenchie]

[quote user="cowoman"]..and couldn't stand the scene of Cherie  going round shaking peoples hands and grinning as if she had been elected ! [/quote]

Sounds like Carla to me !