Your opnion on living in Britain

[tom_nieto]

The weather in the UK is great.

Agreed. If you want crap weather head to the south of Norway. It never stops raining. It's not a winter wonderland, it's miserable! At least we do get some sun. Of course if you live in the northwest of the UK then this statement doesn't apply!

 

[theleg]

It doesn't even happen everywhere in the UK. Thats another bizarre one.

'I once went to Mosside in Manchester and somebody broke into my car, the UK sucks'

There isn't a single country in the world with nil crime rate and no vehicle crime. There are many with higher rates than us, though.

No, you're right..Its what I said earlier.there are places in the UK that don't have as much of a problem, but they're getting hard to find.

There are countries with extremely low levels of petty vandalism and violent/petty crime though.

Im not saying we are the worst by a long shot, but this is a thread asking our opinion on living in the UK

 

[theleg]

Agree with everything you said apart from this bit. There's nothing wrong with rolling hills, forests and countryside. I don't really want to live in the jungle or next to an active volcano!

The Friday night complainers should try going to better pubs. There's trouble in every city around the world. If you think we drink lots in the UK (we do compared to the UAE for example), take a look at Northern and Central Europe. Even in Southern Europe where people aren't out to get rat arsed, whilst you won't get assaulted on a night out, you'll get pickpocketed.

Oh, and for the person who said it's a bit of a rat race and everyone is out to get you, try living in Italy. People there are far more dishonest in business.

Sweeping generalisations aside, I stand by my earlier point that the UK is the most civilised place in the world and I wouldn't want to settle anywhere else. I certainly do want to live abroad for a year or two though.

More about the way we handle our drink than the amount. In general, the brits cannot handle their booze...Im sure that will get a negative reaction from a few in here

Id be interested to see whether you chance your mind about settling elsewhere after living abroad for a year or two I certainly did.

 

[theleg]

I like UK weather

 

[Dave85]

No, Scotland's scenery is stunning - hence 'other than Scotland...'.

Apologies lad my mistake I read that sentence back a few times until I realised I misread it I even put my specs on

 

[GSDog]

I love it here, we have so many opportunities which people don't have in other countries. I often wonder if the reason why some people are so miserable living here is because they expect everything to be handed to them on a plate. Work hard, make the most of opportunities here and you will be rewarded.

I've travelled to quite a lot of countries and I do plan to move abroad for a couple of years with work just to get some experience working abroad, but I'll always come back.

 

[englishpremier]

I love it here, we have so many opportunities which people don't have in other countries. I often wonder if the reason why some people are so miserable living here is because they expect everything to be handed to them on a plate. Work hard, make the most of opportunities here and you will be rewarded.

I've travelled to quite a lot of countries and I do plan to move abroad for a couple of years with work just to get some experience working abroad, but I'll always come back.

Presumably you don't mean other western EU countries though.

Most are pretty much the similar but with relatively minor differences. Of course all those differences add up to changing your life in some way or another.

 

[Stretch]

It could be worse, you could be French

Or kwek.

 

[Energize]

We have a fantastic healthcare system - yes, thats right Energize. It is one of the best in the world *and* its free at the point of delivery. And if you hate it that much you don't need to use it and are entitled to go private - at least you have the choice. Which you don't have in the USA, for example.

Yeah waiting 4 months to see a therapist and 2 months to see a consultant for serious medical conditions is great treatment. Because of the NHS monopoly you don't have the private treatment options you have in the USA which you used as an example. When one is forced to pay tax for the NHS, we don't get it refunded for going private in an attempt to receive adequate medical care. And having to pay an NHS tax for prescriptions is not free at the point of treatment either. The knowledge of GP's when it comes to treating certain medical conditions is also quite poor as are the number of medications approved to treat them compared to the USA. There is also a major under treatment of conditions like pain where GP's refuse to prescribe strong enough pain killers even to acute trauma victims (in breach of analgesia guidelines), for non medical reasons and only prescribe over the counter medications, this has the knock on effect of wasted money through unproductive GP visits.

Our laws are generally sensible and well thought out. I say generally - there are a few howlers in there and there are a few that make little sense but nobody is going to sentance you to death for anything, let alone saying the wrong thing about the wrong persons religion, and you've more chance of a fair hearing than anywhere else in the world.

No but you may end up being prosecuted for writing works of fiction or having an amusing animated video on your PC which some nutter has deemed obscene. Or even be convicted of having sex with a bike.

 

[Macky]

Probably not as bad as it's made out to be. It does slowly appear to be becoming worse however, ridiculous laws, tax, more tax oh and a bit more. We do get the NHS though which is priceless really. I'd certainly rather be in the UK than Afghanistan it's fair to say.

 

[Simon]

I lived in New Jersey for two months, I was opposite side of the Hudson to New York City.

When your out there and not on holiday it's a completely different experience. It was awesome or sure but I also didn't mind coming home. There are some proper rough areas in Jersey City, a few teenager chats are nothing compared to the black gang operated areas.

The roads were boring to drive on, traffic did my head in, too many fast food restaurants. The infrastructure there is like going back in time too. Power cuts were common after a bit of ind as all the power lines are above ground.

One thing I really hated we're supermarkets. They were either like waitrose or proper gypo full of coupon carrying overweight people. Food is really expensive too, you can see why most americans eat out or get takeaways. Id constantly wish there was a Tesco there !

Sure I'd go back but wouldn't want to emigrate. There are a lot of things we have here that you don't realise until its taken away

 

[Stretch]

Yeah waiting 4 months to see a therapist and 2 months to see a consultant for serious medical conditions is great treatment. Because of the NHS monopoly you don't have the private treatment options you have in the USA which you used as an example. When one is forced to pay tax for the NHS, we don't get it refunded for going private in an attempt to receive adequate medical care. And having to pay an NHS tax for prescriptions is not free at the point of treatment either. The knowledge of GP's when it comes to treating certain medical conditions is also quite poor as are the number of medications approved to treat them compared to the USA. There is also a major under treatment of conditions like pain where GP's refuse to prescribe strong enough pain killers even to acute trauma victims (in breach of analgesia guidelines), for non medical reasons and only prescribe over the counter medications, this has the knock on effect of wasted money through unproductive GP visits.

The US healthcare system is crap. We get better healthcare in this country compared with everyone except the richest of Americans. No amount of "refunding" your pitiful NHS contributions is going to come close to affording you equivalent levels of private of care. If you can afford it you can always go for abroad for treatment. Many Americans lose everything if they get seriously ill, and rack up huge debts for relativly minor treatments like a broken limb, appendicitis or tonsillitis.

 

[Energize]

The US healthcare system is crap. We get better healthcare in this country compared with everyone except the richest of Americans. No amount of "refunding" your pitiful NHS contributions is going to come close to affording you equivalent levels of private of care. If you can afford it you can always go for abroad for treatment. Many Americans lose everything if they get seriously ill, and rack up huge debts for relativly minor treatments like a broken limb, appendicitis or tonsillitis.

I don't advocate the US healthcare system. There are tons of different options other than the NHS or every man for himself.

You are also wrong about the cost of private care, my contributions have exceeded the cost of private healthcare for me.

 

[Will21st]

As always there are some hilarious reasons why apparently our country is so terrible in this thread. I particularly liked 'draconian laws' and 'poor medical treatment'.

I agree that Brits love to moan and whinge about how carp everything here is....
I don't agree on the medical treatment.Having lived in Germany for a long time and moving back home now 10 years ago, I have to say I was shocked by how poor the NHS is. Nothing to be proud of,imo.

I've been to quite a few other countries now and enjoyed them all in different ways but whilst each trip is enjoyable it also provides plenty of reasons why we shouldn't be quite so harsh on Britain.

Agreed.

Sadly the weather here does suck. It's always 'meh'. It's never interestingly cold, or really nice and warm - its just usually meh. But it's never hurricane force winds or wildfires either and you don't need to work in 45c heat every day so I guess you can't have it all.

I was talking about that to someone just recently... no Hurricanes,Blizzards,Typhoons and what not for us. It's a blessing all too often forgot.

We have a fantastic healthcare system - yes, thats right Energize. It is one of the best in the world *and* its free at the point of delivery. And if you hate it that much you don't need to use it and are entitled to go private - at least you have the choice. Which you don't have in the USA, for example.

If you compare like for like I don't think our healthcare system is very good at all.

snip Transport Network.

So bar the comments you made about Australia and the US you are saying the British Motorway network is better than the Autobahn Network?
I mean,I know the 270 degree ramps you refer to.... you can slow down,no? I do agree that they can be tricky and are not always optimal.[/QUOTE]

We have a decent rail network. No, again, stop laughing. In isolation it might suck but comparable speaking I have never travelled by train anywhere and found the experience to be even on a par with doing so in the UK. Punctuality can be better elsewhere but the actual trains themselves are usually (exceptions to every rule) of better quality and finished to a higher standard in the UK. Get a non ICE train in Germany or a regional train in Belgium and First Class looks no better than Standard is here!

Ummmm,ok.Having just recently travelled all over Germany I can assure that you are absolutely correct.
However,the lack of a British equivalent to the ICE or Shinkansen is quite grating,imo. There are way too many faults and delays,too,imo.

Our laws are generally sensible and well thought out. I say generally - there are a few howlers in there and there are a few that make little sense but nobody is going to sentance you to death for anything, let alone saying the wrong thing about the wrong persons religion, and you've more chance of a fair hearing than anywhere else in the world.

Ok,so are you saying that you don't get a 100% fair hearing except in Britain?
Wether or not the Jury system is optimal is another matter.I'm not entirely sure about that,however it is what we have.

Our police do not rule with fear and do not carry guns - because 99% of the time they don't find a gunfight going down when they are called out, unlike some parts of the world.

You gotta explain this one,though.... so you're saying that practically all police forces of the West and elsewhere rule with fear cause they are armed? No,not really.
Also,it's about time the police was armed in this country,give our bobbies a fighting chance when they need one... as rare as that may be.

We don't have a huge plethora of wildlife looking for interesting new ways to kill you.

True,I guess our criminal underclass make up for that though.

We have ridiculously tight consumer protection laws (Perhaps too tight in some regards)

You do realise that most countries in the EU have 2 year warranties,right?

We have sensible laws around pricing - none of this rubbish of quoting the price of EVERYTHING excluding tax so you don't really know what you are paying until you reach the tillpoint.

OK,is there another country except the US that does this?

We just love to whinge. We love to find somebody else to blame for whatever is wrong in our lives and its far better to think our country sucks and we'll move to America where nobody pays tax or Australia where you just chill on the beach all day than it is to look at the real cause of whatever it is that makes you unsatisfied.

There is much that sucks about life in the UK. But don't let that make you forget that there is equally if not more stuff that sucks about life elsewhere in the world.

Oh, btw. Our scenery is fairly crap. Other than Scotland its pretty boring.

Agree with most except the scenery thing.... England has some incredible sceneries,some very beautiful spots. But as you said,Scotland is uber-bonnie and as a Jock I agree

 

[Tediore]

I love it. My friends and family are here. I like the diverse weather. We as a people have a great sense of humour, and can make fun of ourselves. We get free health care. We have a diverse culture. On the culture point, people go on about Britain not being Britain any more because of foreign influence, but honestly, it's because we have this foreign influence woven into British culture that it's such a good place to live. I've tried so many different foods, among other things, as a result of having friends from all over the world.

Sure, Britain has many problems, but I think the US has more problems than we do. The ridiculous gun culture; the politics; the religion, and the enormous divide between the haves and have nots. It's not the teeming metropolis of wealth and prosperity people think it is. As for land of the free... yeah, right. They have more draconian laws than we do. And they enforce them.

Went off on a bit of a tangent there, but I'm tired. In closing, though, Europe > the US. As for Australia, no thanks...

As for the guy that said it would be better if you could own a gun... I hope you're kidding.

 

[eatcustard]

For me the UK was a great country to live in, but now with every Tom, Dick and Harry being allowed in, its going to the dogs.

 

[[TW]Fox]

If you compare like for like I don't think our healthcare system is very good at all.

Why?

So bar the comments you made about Australia and the US you are saying the British Motorway network is better than the Autobahn Network?
I mean,I know the 270 degree ramps you refer to.... you can slow down,no? I do agree that they can be tricky and are not always optimal.

Yes that is exactly what I am saying - the German network is held by many Brits as some sort of utopia but it really isn't. The lanes are narrow, they are almost always just 2 lanes and as I said the junctions often leave much to be desired. Ours are just better laid out, wider, more logical, infact just better except for one small point..

... we have a speed limit. But it did feel totally bizarre as I barrelled down a 2 lane Motorway more reminscent of the A38 just outside of Exeter than it was of the M1 or the M5 whilst totally legally travelling at 155mph...

You gotta explain this one,though.... so you're saying that practically all police forces of the West and elsewhere rule with fear cause they are armed? No,not really.

No, thats not really what I've said at all - you've gone on to assume that most of my points area areas where I think nobody at all is better than the UK. This isnt the case really - I'm sure there is at least one country, somewhere, that does anything you care to mention better than we do. The point is its a collection of things - its a list of things people moan about but which I think are really rather good here.

Yes, I'm aware that the EU has similar consumer protection laws - kinda obvious really given its the EU that shaped ours - but that doesnt stop them being another benefit of living in the UK over, say, other non European countries.

 

[Thrash]

As for Australia - If you aren't in Sydney or Melbourne - try getting a decent dentist or a medical specialist quickly. Forget about getting decent specialist foods in Australia and forget about cool looking / proper fitting clothes at normal prices ? It's like Britain was 30 years ago.

Nonsense, are you saying that Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane are backwaters with no decent medical care? Yes, if you stay in the country you may have a long drive or flight for specialist medical care but the system is geared up for it and the country can't help being so bloody big.

As for clothing, I can't see much difference. You see many of the same brands in the UK and Australia.

 

[englishpremier]

Why?



Yes that is exactly what I am saying - the German network is held by many Brits as some sort of utopia but it really isn't. The lanes are narrow, they are almost always just 2 lanes and as I said the junctions often leave much to be desired. Ours are just better laid out, wider, more logical, infact just better except for one small point..

... we have a speed limit. But it did feel totally bizarre as I barrelled down a 2 lane Motorway more reminscent of the A38 just outside of Exeter than it was of the M1 or the M5 whilst totally legally travelling at 155mph...



countries.

Oddly having travelled extensively in Germany, France, Austria, Hungry by motorcycle no less I found their motorways much smoother, less congested, drivers with better manners (so long as you move out of the way for faster vehicles, which many people in UK don't for some reason).

Never had a problem with the off ramps I liked the curves, they force you to slow down rather than approaching the junction or round about at 80mph.

Also remember that in many of these countries, their A roads are better (Germany, France, Austria) so these are often used as an alternative to the motorway. Meaning 2 lanes of traffic on the motorway is fine.

Our network of roads is pretty poor. All seem to lead to London with no real thought for those that want to travel cross country. Hell there is not a single stretch of motorway in the whole of my county (Norfolk)

Italy has absolutely shocking roads, the Autostrada is expensive and the surface compares to the uk.

I've also travelled extensively by train intercity and local (France, Germany, Austria) and never really come across a train of lower standard then some of the ones we get here in the East. What's more they were on time, and cheaper than the UK.

Taxis in France and Austria are bloody expensive though.

 

[Kellogz]

I lived in Cyprus myself last summer and i have to say i would love to go back. I lost faith in the UK a long time ago, i don't like the way the government runs things and how things are prioritized and the actual lifestyle to me is boring. Finding work in the UK for the average person is a nightmare, i spent months looking for a job with no success and had 3 job offers for the SAME pay as a UK job in a week. Yes you work hard and long hours in Cyprus but being able to come home and have a dip in the pool and dinner on the balcony is just something else.