"Great" Britain?

I'm following on from Ra Ra Rafa's comments in the 'Absolutely Shocking' topic, about the state of affairs in this country. He believes Britain is a crap place to live now & I have to say I agree with him.

The latest incident is an 11 year old boy getting shot dead, and the sad thing is I bet a lot of us weren't surprised to hear this, I know I certainly wasn't. Gun & knife crime are now rife in our communities, the perpetrators just kids themselves. We see images of kids with guns in third world countries, is that really what we should expect here, a supposedly 'civilised' nation?

The question I ask is whether Britain is really such a great place to live any more. Personally I don't think it is & I can't wait to get out of the country. Due to finances it's going to be a good few years yet before I can move away, but I can't wait until that day arrives. Near enough everything about the way this country's run bugs me when I compare it to the majority of the rest of the western world. The problem amidst youngsters today is just the tip of the iceberg for me, there are plenty more complaints besides.

The first thing I'd like to know is where the F**k does all our money go? We pay tax on the money we earn, when we spend it we pay tax on it again (VAT), when we save it we get taxed on it (Interest tax), when we use it to make money we get taxed (Capital Gains Tax), when we buy our own little part of this country we get taxed on it (Council Tax) and when we die anything we leave gets taxed (Inheritance Tax). We pay more tax on our money than any other country in the EU, and what do we get for it? The NHS has always been a major defence by any government to justify the higher taxes we pay in this country, has anyone had to go to hospital recently? The system's on it's knees, it takes hours for you to get seen & the service you get when you do finally get seen is atrocious. Now I'm in no way blaming the grass roots workers in the NHS, my girlfriend's a nurse & it's not their fault, the whole system's being badly managed from the top. The average health insurance premium paid by private patients in this country is less than the tax paid per head that goes towards the NHS, yet private patients get better treatment. If the private hospitals can offer a good service on less money then where's the NHS going wrong? The answer is they don't care as they don't have to achieve a profit, it's only the public purse so they can spend as much as they want. The police force isn't any better either. Some of you will know the other day my car got broken into. The police told me they didn't have the manpower to look at the CCTV so they were just going to close the case without investigating it, sod the fact that I had to pay the excess on my insurance. What makes this even worse is that my car was one of nine damaged in that one car park, yet they still couldn't spare the time to look at 10 hours of CCTV footage. Again I ask where is our money going? On the same day the police wanted to speak to my dad as he'd shouted at a mechanic who'd tried to rip him off, they could spare two officers to look at three different addresses just to give him a verbal warning when they found him. They obviously knew they were only going to tell him off before they looked for him, yet they decided this was worth officer's time but investigating a real crime wasn't. These are just two examples of public 'services' that we are supposed to be recieving for our money, but we're not getting value for money at all. There are more examples, refuse collection, road maintenance, public transport, but I'd be here all night if I went through all of them in detail.

The second thing I'd like to know is how come we have the highest rate of illegal immigration in Europe, when we're an Island and in theory it's a lot easier to police our borders. The influx of illegal immigrants has caused many problems in our country relating to crime, housing and the economy, why has the country done nothing to stop it? With the technology now in place we could effectively police our borders at less expense than we currently incur as a result of illegal immigrants. For some reason the government decides to do nothing to stop the flow of migrants, and worse still grants the majority asylum when they are found to be in this country illegally. Now before anyone complains I do understand that some people genuinely are persecuted in their own countries and do need to get away, but if someone's made it to France why do they need to come here? They're already in a safe country, but France makes immigrants work for a living rather than giving them handouts, which is why the majority can't wait to come here. I can't say I blame them, if I was in their position I'd do exactly the same, it's down to the government to stop making life so easy over here so that only people who genuinely NEED to come do so. In the meantime until something is done about it, it's me & you footing the bill. This is a problem the government could be doing something about, yet instead they try to brush it under the carpet, manipulating statistics so things don't appear as bad as they are.

The other major gripe I have is the whole notion of political correctness, and more importantly the Human Rights Act. The whole country seems to have gone absolutely crazy, banning Christmas as it may be offensive to non Christians & renaming it 'Winterval', ruling that an innocent nursery rhyme, 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' is offensive to Black people, police having to bow to criminal's religous beliefs when doing so risks escape, absolute madness. I'm a firm believer in equality, but surely it should mean just that, the country seems to be so eager to prove it's not prejudiced that it's not just treating minorities equally but favourably. I'm sure there will be someone who will try & read this as me being racist or bigoted, I just want to clarify that I'm not in any way shape or form, and if you do feel this way then you are exactly the sort of person I'm talking about. People aren't free to speak their minds for fear of being labelled something they aren't, by some do-gooder who has too much time on their hands. It isn't just race this applies to, everyone's jumped on the human rights bandwagon. Prison inmates now expect to be treated as equals despite the fact that they've broken society's rules, and the Human Rights Act says we have to treat them so. Suspected terrorists, who are a potential threat to our lives aren't allowed to be monitored as it infringes their 'human rights'. We're not even talking about restricting these people just monitoring their movements, after all they are a threat to our lives, but we're not allowed to. If it were down to me hte Human Rights Act would be torn up with immediate effect, it's caused far more problems than it's resolved.

These are just the major gripes I have with this country, the total list is far too long to go through. Sadly I think we're probably past the point of no return, I can't see any possible solution to the mess this country's got itself into which is why I plan to leave. Great Britain? I don't think so.

Feel free to add your own gripes or indeed tell me I'm chatting sh*t & this country's brilliant, these are just my thoughts.

Rant over.

Good post. The country is going to the dogs - principally because since the Poll Tax riots people in Britain have been all too willing to bend over and take a good shafting from the men in the suits.  People feel richer, rising house prices etc, so they seem to accept all the sh*t that is going on outside of their curtains.

The reason why people spend less on private healthcare than National Insurance is simple.  National Insurance is now just another tax.  I would be all in favour of transparent taxes so I now how much of my money went on the NHS, Police etc.  Fact is NI and Income Tax go in one big lump.  With the NHS we are also paying in for the kind of lowlife scum who go out and shoot 11 year old children.  But that's socialism.  As somebody who works in the NHS I can categorically state that the department is top heavy with pen pushers in every single area.

Most people join the health service because they do have some desire to help other people. Unfortunately if you want to rise to the top and get paid the best money - you have to move off the wards, away from the labs and in to an office where you can spend all day filling in forms, checking your emails etc etc.  The Health Service is possibly the only employer in the entire world where the people who get promoted are arguably the least intelligent, and least intent on helping to improve the service.

With regards to the Police - they should remember that they are paid by the public to protect the public.  The goons who vandalised your car, and the other eight in the car park, have cost 8 members of the public substantial amounts of money which will affect their lives to varying degrees.  I had my wallet stolen while having a meal in Manchester about 18 months ago.  The Police couldn't give a sh*t.  I had to replace all my cards, pay for a new driving licence etc.  When I spotted one card was being used at a service station (thanks to Internet Banking I had the time) I rang the police immediately to give them the time so they could check the garage's CCTV footage.  The goons would no doubt be caught on camera, hopefully alongside a car with it's licence plates clearly visible.

Where they interested?  Of course they F***ing weren't.  They were probably all sitting in a car at the side of a motorway, or on a motorway bridge, or in McDonalds.

I can't wait to leave this country too.  We pay well over the odds for every single thing.  British people go on holidays around the world and it's like stepping in a time machine to countries where the prices are stuck in the 1970's.  It's not a time machine - it's just that WE are getting ripped off all the time.

So, you're right. The country's gone to sh*te.  The Police couldn't give a toss anymore about the kind of distress that anti-social behaviour, car crime, mugging etc causes.  They would rather hunt some speeding motorist down (more exciting a police chase than doing some detective work isn't it).

But nothing will change - because for a country that once conquered the world we are now a nation of selfish 'turn the other cheek' citizens.

So Eddie, I'll have a nice cheap drink, in a nice hot country with you when we get out of this stinking backwater.

Brilliantly said mate.  I bet you feel lighter now after getting that off your chest!

As this year has gone by, it has just got worse, and worse.  Kids with guns, kids killing kids.  Madness.

Our Government are F***ing appalling.  Tax for this, tax for that.  I haven't even started a job yet and I'm really put off.

And the other week, my girlfriend was in an NHS Hospital, in the waiting room for at least 3 hours to be seen to - it's really not on.  Where our money goes on tax, in my personal opinion, gone on fancy cars, houses, for the government.  This country and the rest of Great Britain are in shambles, we are on our last legs.

Speaking of illegal and none illegal immigrants, they get a lot of priority over Citizens of this country.  For example, they have priority for the likes of Council houses if they need them.  I'm not being racist, it's just the fact of how much of an easy time they are getting over here.

Society today is in a wreck.  And I don't think it will ever get out of the mess it's got itself into.

As for the Police, half of them are absolute n*b heads.  I'll tell you a story now, my mate was out on the town for his birthday and he ended up having a fight with some bloke.  The Police nicked him, and slammed him in a cell for the night.  They took his coat off him, and it was a cold night.  Bear in mind my mate was drunk.  He was shouting out for a blanket to keep himself warm, but the scumbag of a copper continued to mock him for being in the cell.  He asked again, and the dickhead came in.  Said to him "are you going to shut the F**k up now?" and battered him.  Another one came in and let it carry on.  So my mate spat blood out at him and it hit him on the shirt.  Guess what?  The Copper charged him with 'assault on a Police officer' as soon as he spat his blood out at him.

The next morning he sorted a solicitor out, and explained the situation.  She said that it would be no use.  Because the Police would stick together, and deny all charges.  So basically case closed.  You have to keep your mouth shut even though you know you are right.

How fu**ed up is that?  Police are meant to uphold the law, not break it.  Police are useless.  Half of them are only in it for the authority and the good wage. 

Now I feel a stone lighter after getting that off my chest.  But it had to be said.

Growing up in this country,  I have been blinded from the truth that this country is a F***ing mess.  So in 10 or so years time fellas. I wouldn't mind joining you in a nice hot country with a cheap beverage. 

Can somebody give me a proper definition on exactly WHAT the royal family does besides wave at people?

Can somebody give me a proper definition on exactly WHAT the royal family does besides wave at people?

Absolutely sod all, just another example of how this country takes the piss out of it's citizens, expecting us to bankroll them. Royalists will always try to defend this expense by claiming that they generate more in tourism revenue, but I think this is bollocks. How many people do you reckon purely come to this country because of the royal family? Visiting royal residencys etc, is just one part of a holiday & their money would be spent elsewhere if they didn't exist.

Bloody bunch of Germans anyway, their surname's actually Battenberg but they changed it to Windsor during the war for propaganda purposes.

Can somebody give me a proper definition on exactly WHAT the royal family does besides wave at people?

the Queen keeps all the hat and handbag companies in business 

Well I got family in another country so I wouldn't mind going to live over there! Nice and hot coutry, the Med and everyone is friendly!

the Queen keeps all the hat and handbag companies in business 

dont forget heated toilet pots