If so, how is it that we no longer fund $service adequately any more (where $service is any and all of them)? How is that possible after so much has been privatised leaving so many fewer to fund publicly? Why can't we afford enough police?
Why can't we afford adequate library provision? Interesting that parliament keeps their public library though, isn't it?
How is it that in a time of highest levels of employment food banks have grown from barely existing to being everywhere? Could it be that policy has resulted in deliberately inadequate welfare provision? How, in a time of such extensive employment, are wage rises barely noticeable?
If your definition is a few incoming oligarchs buying up expensive property they never set foot in, or someone putting up a willy waving skyscraper sure UK is doing great. By every other measure, including levels of mental health, poverty, satisfaction etc, UK has effectively shot itself.
Oh, and don't hold up Tories being elected as some sort of proof when our democracy is one of the least representative on the planet[1]. Our system is biased both systemically and demographically.
It feels like a corrupt, broke country, especially after a visit to London. It feels like somewhere to be deeply embarrassed of, and I mostly am these days.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rGX91rq5I CGP Grey's "Why the UK Election Results are the Worst in History" on the 2015 results.
Maybe read other news stories apart from the ones that aren’t just anti-Tory.
My real peeve is what the party system has become, even compared to when I first joined the voting electorate during Thatcher's first term.
The centralisation, and disenfranchisement and corrupt use of private capital in PPP was just as bad under New Labour.
Anti Tory sources? Thanks, that made me smile. For most of my life the Telegraph and weekend FT were the primary sources delivered to house, with Economist and New Scientist subs. I'd buy a Guardian periodically for balance, sometimes the FT full time. I no longer read the Telegraph since it became a rubbish tabloid Daily Mail 2.0 which leaves only Reuters, Guardian and to a lesser extent Independent as serious UK sources online.
They got 36.9% at the last election.
They also fought against moving towards proportional representation because they knew it reduce their power.
There has been no public service ethic in government since the 80s. Government has become a tool for leveraging policy for personal and corporate wealth extraction and the promotion of privilege. Promotion of common welfare and social investment are currently absolutely taboo.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/07/mp-owen-pat...
The reason the Tories keep scraping through election wins is because the UK media are institutionally right-wing. The Tories rely on a base of confused pensioners and - increasingly - dog whistle racists. Latterly, BBC editorial has been obviously compromised, with BBC News failing to challenge or question government policy in any way, and selective reporting making dissent seem either small or irrelevant.
The result is that British voters are probably some of the least educated and informed in all of Europe.
None of this is good. I left the UK last year, and I genuinely fear for the future of the people I left behind. Historically, the next step in this kind of post-imperial malaise is traditionally a military dictatorship. I hope the UK can pull itself together and avoid that, but I worry that it's going to be a very close thing.
I wouldn't say 2.8 % [1] of UK works on zero hour contracts mean the job market is 'devoted' to zero hour contracts. Just because it is in the news a lot doesn't mean it happens all the time.
Honestly your post makes it seems like the UK is this corrupt, broke country when it couldn't be further from the truth.
All I see is posts against the tories online but every election they've been the majority.
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwor...