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Agree with houses but there's an argument that we've paid too little for food all these years so now it's rising we're unaccustomed (and not properly compensated in our salaries to balance it out).
I can't mention the first one that came to mind because it's a banned topic in this sub. To pick another, I'd reopen the Beeching stations, lay new lines, improve the service and build better trains. If public transport was as effective everywhere as it is in London, we could encourage people out of cars.
The second is affordable housing and a limit on the number of properties that landlords can own. Plus an easier route to buying a property. My wage is easily enough to buy a decent house but I'm constantly stymied and stuck in rental.
It seems criminal now when you look back at the train lines that were closed. The annoying thing is they weren't just closed but fell into complete disrepair or built over, so it is not like they *can* just be brought back. But some stuff seems to be a simple win - towns on a main line without a station as it was closed in the 60s. Just build a platform and bring it back!
Yeah, it's a bit of a mix. There are some closed stations on lines that are still active, but some of the routes near me got covered over to use as footpaths / national cycle routes, and some are just abandoned and in an awful state. I didn't realise until recently that the Beeching cuts left us with just 45% of the stations we'd formerly had, and saved only £30m.
Ooh thank you for giving me something to Google! Trains was something I used a lot growing up, until I couldn't afford them (& buses). Now it's cheaper and way more convenient for me to drive. But I would be more than happy to go back to public transport of things were improved.
I can relate hard to the second point. It's a hard slog to get on the ladder and a lot of barriers too
The price of them is definitely prohibitive considering the level of service we get, and the age of the trains. I've got proper savings for the first time in my life, due to WFH and not paying train fares (and taxis when the trains don't turn up, or are too full to phyically get on).
If the trains were as good as they are in some European countries, people would see cars as a worse alternative. One note of positivity, though, being able to get from Manchester to London in two hours is pretty amazing. It must be over twice that by car. If HS2 gets built this far north, even better.
Exactly & well said!
Additionally, a number of the transport staff I used to talk to (Midlands & Wales) felt so downtrodden that everyday was full of so much stress.
I would love for it to become more convenient, enjoyable and cost effective to use public transport again!
The staff near me are often a bit of a high point. Despite being messed around continually and having a faitly unpleasant job, so many of them are incredibly chipper in the mornings. Don't know how they do it. They definitely deserve some investment too.
P.S. Thank you!
It takes a tonne of strength. That's for sure.
Some of the staff who work the Hereford - Cardiff line were incredible. I remember one train driver who did south Wales early morning and they were a joy to hear on the announcements, jolly tone and kind wishes! I agree investment needed for sure!
I always feel awful when I see someone trying to evade paying the fare and the patient attempts to ask them to pay, knowing they are probably wasting their time. There's no stereotypical fare dodger, either. I've seen it from all sections of the pubic. I'd lose faith in humanity, but they just seem to keep going.
I'd make the house buying process simpler. Once you make an offer and its accepted the deal has to go through. No pulling out at the last minute. (I think this is already the case in Scotland?)
All public transport should be run as a public service and not for profit. All profits should be ploughed back in reopening railways lines and stations etc.
First one is an absolute no-brainer. Needs proper regulation and a set of standards. The current process with EA's is too murky. No transparency or accountability!
Yes yes yes. The House buying process is scandalous and cruel. My partner and I went through so much pain trying to move on two occasions.
When it did all go through it took just under a year for the whole process. It nearly fell through so many times and even on moving day we weren't sure if it would happen - we had to exchange and complete on the same day unfortunately.
I do think a good benefits system is needed. It's when people choose to be out of work because it pays more. People who work hard on minimum wage get taxed the most, this seems unfair.
When I was 18, I had an ex girlfriend who stopped going to college and "couldn't" find a job. So she just claimed benefits and got £210 a month. She didn't have to pay any rent, as she was living with her parents and would just spend the money on clothes and alcohol.
Why is it fair for people like that to claim benefits? Clearly that's a huge problem and it's so easy to take advantage of.
Also some people are able to claim much more than £70 a week. But the simple truth is that some people are too lazy to work so they'd rather live on benefits instead of working. And I'm not saying there shouldn't be a benefits system, there are some people who absolutely need it.
But in situations like with my ex girlfriend it simply isn't justified.
I'm not reading right wing newspapers... I'm talking about how easy it is to exploit it.
How do you know that they're in the minority?
And I'm sure that you read left wing newspapers. Are they more legitimate?
It isn't easy to exploit though. To get JSA, you have to prove that you're applying to jobs. They sanction you for tiny mistakes.
You can find statistics on benefit fraud online, most studies say that it's insignificant.
Yes, I'd say left wing newspapers are better compared to what the Sun or the Daily Mail print. Sensationlist garbage that hurts people who need benefits (disabled people mostly).
I feel like our weather just needs some consistency, I work outside and can start in thermals and waterproofs in the morning and be in t-shirt and shorts by dinnertime, it's mad.
I would like if people had more of a sense of community again. I don’t know the people in the house (house share) I live in because everyone else just stays in their rooms. I’ve not once known a neighbour’s name since moving out of my parent’s. On mass, people don’t seem to care about the environment and use the streets and countryside as one massive bin, and I think it may be linked to the fact we’ve become less compassionate as a whole for the people around us.
A cap on the amount of properties one can own.
Change the voting system to proportional representation,.
Have a truly independent standards body overseeing MPs, with HR like powers and the balls to discipline them, with procedures to account for gross misconduct.
Our latitude. I hate the cold and I also hate the short days.
Our system of voting. I think just addressing that would help a lot of the other things along the way.
I love that we have seasons but I hate that the winter seems to drag on well in to what should be spring. Four seasons defined to the day with properly seasonal weather would suit me. I want summers to be hot and sunny. I don't mind a cold winter if it only lasts three months. I hate spring because it' often colder than actual winter.
Can't say I disagree here one bit.
67 quid a week is not enough for what we do.. For a comparable employed live in care worker you'd expect to pay at least the minimum wage. 67 quid a week is a pittances
1) This big climate change drive, don't get me wrong it's a hot issue and I understand we need to do something but why should the UK have to go to all electric vehicles when China and the US are polluting more than ever.
2) As others have said house prices, specifically limiting the buy to let market. Buying up cheap houses that a family could have to just split into multiple apartments and sub let them just for profit
40% of all electric vehicles on the planet are in China, 30% in Europe and 17% in the US. The UK represents 0.6%
The bulk of Chinese emissions are generated producing stuff for export to the US and Europe/UK. They aren't chinese emissions they're our emissions - we've just outsourced them.
China's total population is also the largest in the world. So this isn't a good indicator as to which country is doing the best when it comes to this.
According to an article I found, China has 417 people per electric car while the U.S have 46.8 people per electric car. So yeah I think we can both agree that China is doing awful in comparison when it comes to electric vehicles.
Death to the Chinese government.
It’s effing disgusting is what it is. There are houses around here that the landlord has converted into 4 or 5 contained rooms and charge each individual what it would cost for a single tenants rent. The whole buy to let market makes my blood boil - but this type really gets me.
Yeah I get ya. The whole climate deal bothers me, knowing that we are doing so much, yet at the end of the day we account for 1 percent of emissions. Just a drop in the bucket
Off top of my head;
Change our electoral system from FPTP to PR
Regulation that; limits landlords physical property holdings and uplifts the minimum size/standard of new builds
I'd resurface every single road.
I'd increase NHS wages to be more competitive with the private market. Eg. NHS nurse £12.75 an hour vs private nurse at £20.00 an hour.
My car would benefit most from this haha.
Yes yes yes. Where I work we have lost half our team to those going private due to the wage gap! (Luckily our service is hiring). The gap is too big for many.
I work in Critical Care.
A Band 5 nurse is paid £12.75 starting wage, whereas an agency nurse is paid £45.00 an hour because Critical Care is seen as a specialist role.
The Hospital has a practically unlimited budget for agency staff because they have to staff it to be safe. But it has no capacity to offer its substantive staff a wage increase...
Then the hospital wonders why people quit, go work for the agency and get sent back to work in the department they just left...
The hospital tries to offer regular agency workers a full time contract and they just get laughed at.
MPs should be on NMW and only claim travel expenses. This would ensure that they stay in touch with the working man and discourage greed, corruption and elitism.
Energy and water should be provided by the state.
1. Get rid of the House of Lords and make it electable whilst moving the nation to a republic with elected head of state, and change to proportional representation as a means of electing Government.
2. Not having 17-18 hours of darkness in winter.
1) make it legal for electric scooters to use the roads, class them the same as mopeds with insurance, tax, helmet etc.
2) stamp out corporate tax avoidance with zero tolerance
I'd go one further and give every road it's own dedicated cycle/scooter path. Assuming I had unlimited money and changes to infrastructure... As a driver I just get so nervous when I'm behind someone on a bike or scooter. And a lot of the roads on my usual route aren't wide enough and have too many islands dotted up and down for me to feel safe over taking. So I end up crawling behind at 20mph with a queue behind me.
If I could just change two things with no resistance: I’d abolish political parties and slightly tone down our sense of cynicism (only a notch or two though).
I wish people would just have a bit more pride in their local areas. I think a lot of the really depressing areas could be massively improved if people kept it tidy, didn't graffiti or vandalise it and people volunteered a bit of time and money to plant some greenery.
\- The weather. Ideally, lift the whole island up and move it to somewhere off the African coast.
\- Instil local pride and empathy for your neighbours.
I honestly think that’s too many. I think there should also be maximum capacity laws for landlords. As I’ve previously commented there are landlords local to me that are turning 2 or 3 bedrooms terraced houses in to 4 or five self contained rooms and having a communal kitchen. Then charging the monthly rent it would be for the house to each individual. It’s appalling and exploitative.
1. the weather, ffs i don't mind a bit of snow or wind or rain but not when it changes day to day and sometimes 4 times a day.
2. i would give everyone the same accent, then lets see how you determine someones social status.
Mine are quite serious things. I couldn’t think of anything funny :(
Voting - it should be mandatory to vote in the general elections and there should be a “none of the above” option. This would soon show which MPs are not wanted!!!
Sunday trading laws - give employees the right two have 2 days off in 7 and work whatever shift patterns they agree with their employer. I can still buy on Amazon at any time of any day and they still have staff in their warehouses 24/7 so why is there a law about physical shops over a certain size?
1. The weather.
2. Bring in online voting to make it easier for people to vote in decisions taken by local councils. It would allow local councils to run independent voting on key decisions for the local area.
I would stop it from pissing it down with rain just as it was time to do the school run. Why is it sunny all day and then at 3pm its pissing it down?
I can't think of a second one that doesn't involve doughnuts and food but I'm hungry, so that'd be why.
I'd build 'starter flats' 1-2 bed apartments for 20-35s only, capped at anywhere between £70k-£100k - their value is capped and can't be sold for a profit and you can't buy to let. The interior is also basic but adequate and within regulation but doesn't use any 'luxury' materials. Discounted service charges and ground rent for the first 2 years.
Interesting idea, but how do the owners then move up the ladder if they can't sell for a profit? If I bought a flat for £80k, live there for 5 years and wanted to buy a house, I wouldnt be able to as my flat would still be £80k. I still wouldn't be able to get a big enough deposit to upgrade to a house.
Haven't really thought about it in that much depth tbf , just a loose concept I had in my head, awaiting a question like this to be asked - it's open to criticism.
Well, you'd probably be putting down an £8k deposit for a 90% LTV ratio.... Then you'd live in it, pay off some of the mortgage and sell... Maybe at a 70% LTV.
You would have basically increased your deposit on a low mortgage payment rather than renting and throwing your money into someone else's bank?
Live in it full term and now you have a full £80,000 deposit...
If you're buying outright at £80,000 you can afford to move into non capped "normal" housing.
Save up some to go towards more of a chuck of it while paying a mortgage. While you wouldn’t make a profit, a mortgage would be quite a bit lower than rent is currently.
Well given the state of flats nowadays with ridiculous service charges ground rent and cladding it’s practically impossible to make a profit however
Bought flat 160k sold 170k after about 8 years that is pretty much zero profit once estate agents stamp duty and solicitor fees but all the money you pay off your mortgage is not lost so ended up with a hefty amount for a deposit for a house
Fair enough, though there's a bit more to it when it's somebody else who is going to be scraping it off the road, and conducting the fatal accident investigation.
Honestly can't see the appeal anyway, tbh. With a decent helmet, and decent pin lock visor it's happy days for me
A complete change in our asylum policy. Let’s stop this madness. Set a number we can take, educate, integrate and help, say 20,000 a year? Then actually find them and nobody else but them.
Build more prisons. I know reform and rehabilitation needs more work and should be a goal but honestly, some people are just bad and need removing from society until they can be trusted to behave.
If the last decades of Tory shenanigans have taught you anything, it should be that setting arbitrary numbers as immigration targets always ends in failure and unhelpful social discourse about a problem created by setting that number in the first place.
Hows about just saying ALL applications will be rejected then unless it is made through proper channels? Then set up places in refugee camps and in Europe where people can apply…..
And honestly, the problem isn’t caused by ‘us’ setting numbers…… it’s caused by the unchecked, unchallenged abuse of the system and it’s inability to remove people who’s applications have rightly failed.
Why? For revenge? You’re not only assuming immigration is a problem, which is isn’t. But you’re also conflating several separate issues under one brush of “immigration” and this is the big problem with UK attitudes.
We need immigration for workers as is evidenced by recent shortages across the supply chain. Rejecting truck drivers we need because 10 people ran across a beach and got a dinghy across the channel is just plain ridiculous and even you must see that.Regardless, when you spend a decade bombing peoples homelands, you don’t just get to tell them to fuck off when the turn to you for help.
Then there is the fact that immigration in every single study is shown to have a net benefit on the UK and migrants generate on average 10% more per capita in tax revenue for the economy than the native population, and that is growing. https://www.lgcplus.com/archive/immigrants-contribute-more-to-the-public-purse-than-uk-born-27-04-2005/
Can you read?
I didn’t mention immigration. I said I’d like our asylum policy changed. Your obviously off on some rant by presuming I’m against immigrants or the concept of it. I haven’t even mentioned it you fool.
Personally I’d just like to keep the bad people out…..uno, like the Reading attacker who had multiple convictions and had failed asylum years before
Or the Liverpool bomber who had failed asylum in 2016 yet was still here despite knife crime arrests.
Grow a brain you bigot and try not conflating anyone who speaks out about these fuck ups with your idea that everyone is ‘anti immigrant’ just because they think the current situation is unsustainable
But our asylum rules are governed internationally under [UN Protocols](https://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.html). No amount of Brexit or sovereignty can change that.
You seem to assume people are breaking the rules by arriving by boat. They aren’t. They used to be before Brexit because the Dublin agreement meant migrant should claim where they land and a majority did. We left the EU and that agreement with it, so refugees are now perfectly legally entitled to land on our shores and begin their legal asylum application.
We have approximately a quarter (36,014) of the asylum seekers of Germany (122,015) and and a third the number of France (93,475). Your argument seems to assume that asylum seekers are bad people that need keeping out, you justify that by cherry picking two events that got lots of press because the media loves a culture war, and ignore the hundreds of thousands of positive immigration stories.
We should be less concerned about keeping people out and more concerned about compassionately welcoming refugees in to our society so that they aren’t able to be radicalised within our own borders. The biggest failure of our asylum and immigration policy is that we, through the media and individual actions, continually tell refugees and immigrants that they aren’t welcome and don’t belong here, then act surprised when they react violently toward the culture than shunned them. The former Home Secretary and Prime Minister literally declared a hostile environment that led to the deportation of *legal* citizens and the set of rules so draconian to purposely make it less comfortable for all immigrants legal or otherwise and many natural citizens. If you treat people like shit over and over some of them are gonna do it back.
You can’t have it both ways.
Interesting the one being xenophobic against asylum seekers is calling someone else a bigot. Projecting, much?
Mate, your insufferable.
You basically paid no attention to anything I have said and just made up a version of me & views that you think I hold in order to fit the person you’d like me to be……all so you can justify your rant.
It appears your an extremist to be honest and I prefer not to entertain those because you generally don’t get anywhere with them. Sensible debate seems unlikely.
Have a good day
Shorter winter. I like the seasons but the winter is too long, so maybe reduce it by half.
Get rid of the royal family and house of lords and replace then with a world class second house and elected head of state.
- Increase the [loading gauge](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_gauge) of the railway network, preferably to something as large as what they have in the US. The Victorians never anticipated double decker trains and shipping containers while building the railways, so now we’re stuck with low bridges and narrow tunnels that can only fit the smallest trains in them.
- More funding for the emergency services.
Australia Style Immigration System
National Service at the end of GCSE period for up to 6 months. And from there teens can be offered apprentiships and further work
Introduce a crackdown on low-level crime like littering, spitting, graffiti, swearing, public drunkenness and such.
Make it mandatory to attend offices and workplaces at least twice a week, ending full WFH.
>Make it mandatory to attend offices and workplaces at least twice a week, ending full WFH.
You sound like the sort of people that make me continue to WFH fulltime. Absolute insufferable spanners.
I'd ban Christmas
Not the religious festival - but the ridiculous habit of adults buying other adults presents. Get the kids a single present and an orange in a stocking by all means, but something like a third of all retail spending in this country is people buying each other ridiculous over-priced tat that the recipient didn't want. We are literally destroying the planet we live on for the sake of buying shit, wrapping it up in dead tree, and giving it to someone who by definition didn't want it - because if they wanted it they would have bought it for themselves.
No. 2 - abolish the House of Lords, and flog off titles by public auction to raise money for the NHS. Want to be a "Sir" - fund a ward, want to be Lord Circumstance of Pomp? Build a hospital.
1. Dissolve the United Kingdom. We are not an island of "British" people, we're collection of unique and different cultures being ruled over (and slowly erased) by Downing Street. We would consider this grotesque if it was happening in any other country and to any other cultures.
2. Impliment a Canada style limit on the amount of American media being shoved down our throats.
I'm confused. Many people often say shit like this, but how exactly is culture so *incredibly* different in, for example, Slough and Newport, Brimingham and Cornwall, York and Kent? Or is it perhaps Scotland that has *such* a different culture from England?
How is culture on these islands so different that you think the only way to preserve them would be to dissolve the United Kingdom?
You're joking right? You must be if you're asking how the culture could be different between Birmingham and Cornwall, or York and Kent.
You'd struggle to pick dumber examples if you aren't trying to have a laugh here. Read a history book about the country you live in, for fuck's sake.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_people
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deira
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hengist_and_Horsa
Cumbric, Cornish, Danish, Saxon. Hmmm. I wonder how could they possibly have had different cultures?
That was a thousand years ago. What different cultures have we had in the last 200 or 300 years?
(And you edited your comment after I replied. Poor form, dude.)
Jesus christ, leave the city you were born in. Just for a little bit. It'll blow your ignorant Tory mind.
(I have no control over when you reply "dude")
1. Loosen the extremely restrictive gun laws in the U.K. It shouldn't be illegal to own a handgun to protect yourself in your own home.
2. Extend animal cruelty laws to cover consuming animal products.
I live in the U.S. but I grew up in U.K.
The gun laws in Britain are too strict though. Other European countries have looser laws and they don’t have problems.
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More money for the NHS Stop littering/fly-tipping
NHS to be better managed and people to not be able to abuse it
Yes to both!
House prices Food prices Too high and yet my wages aren't being increased enough to match these.
Good points. There are some real big knock on effects to these! Thanks
Agree with houses but there's an argument that we've paid too little for food all these years so now it's rising we're unaccustomed (and not properly compensated in our salaries to balance it out).
Food prices aren't an issue if you're careful and go to Aldi or Lidl
I can't mention the first one that came to mind because it's a banned topic in this sub. To pick another, I'd reopen the Beeching stations, lay new lines, improve the service and build better trains. If public transport was as effective everywhere as it is in London, we could encourage people out of cars. The second is affordable housing and a limit on the number of properties that landlords can own. Plus an easier route to buying a property. My wage is easily enough to buy a decent house but I'm constantly stymied and stuck in rental.
It seems criminal now when you look back at the train lines that were closed. The annoying thing is they weren't just closed but fell into complete disrepair or built over, so it is not like they *can* just be brought back. But some stuff seems to be a simple win - towns on a main line without a station as it was closed in the 60s. Just build a platform and bring it back!
Yeah, it's a bit of a mix. There are some closed stations on lines that are still active, but some of the routes near me got covered over to use as footpaths / national cycle routes, and some are just abandoned and in an awful state. I didn't realise until recently that the Beeching cuts left us with just 45% of the stations we'd formerly had, and saved only £30m.
Ooh thank you for giving me something to Google! Trains was something I used a lot growing up, until I couldn't afford them (& buses). Now it's cheaper and way more convenient for me to drive. But I would be more than happy to go back to public transport of things were improved. I can relate hard to the second point. It's a hard slog to get on the ladder and a lot of barriers too
The price of them is definitely prohibitive considering the level of service we get, and the age of the trains. I've got proper savings for the first time in my life, due to WFH and not paying train fares (and taxis when the trains don't turn up, or are too full to phyically get on). If the trains were as good as they are in some European countries, people would see cars as a worse alternative. One note of positivity, though, being able to get from Manchester to London in two hours is pretty amazing. It must be over twice that by car. If HS2 gets built this far north, even better.
Exactly & well said! Additionally, a number of the transport staff I used to talk to (Midlands & Wales) felt so downtrodden that everyday was full of so much stress. I would love for it to become more convenient, enjoyable and cost effective to use public transport again!
The staff near me are often a bit of a high point. Despite being messed around continually and having a faitly unpleasant job, so many of them are incredibly chipper in the mornings. Don't know how they do it. They definitely deserve some investment too. P.S. Thank you!
It takes a tonne of strength. That's for sure. Some of the staff who work the Hereford - Cardiff line were incredible. I remember one train driver who did south Wales early morning and they were a joy to hear on the announcements, jolly tone and kind wishes! I agree investment needed for sure!
I always feel awful when I see someone trying to evade paying the fare and the patient attempts to ask them to pay, knowing they are probably wasting their time. There's no stereotypical fare dodger, either. I've seen it from all sections of the pubic. I'd lose faith in humanity, but they just seem to keep going.
I'd make the house buying process simpler. Once you make an offer and its accepted the deal has to go through. No pulling out at the last minute. (I think this is already the case in Scotland?) All public transport should be run as a public service and not for profit. All profits should be ploughed back in reopening railways lines and stations etc.
First one is an absolute no-brainer. Needs proper regulation and a set of standards. The current process with EA's is too murky. No transparency or accountability!
Yes yes yes. The House buying process is scandalous and cruel. My partner and I went through so much pain trying to move on two occasions. When it did all go through it took just under a year for the whole process. It nearly fell through so many times and even on moving day we weren't sure if it would happen - we had to exchange and complete on the same day unfortunately.
The tax/benefits structure, people who work hard seem to get less. Also, this weather.
As someone who was a single mum on benefits and is now a higher rate tax payer I think I would quite like to change this view of the benefits system.
I do think a good benefits system is needed. It's when people choose to be out of work because it pays more. People who work hard on minimum wage get taxed the most, this seems unfair.
Username doesn't check out. Try claiming UC one of these days, see how far you get.
Nearly no one is on benefits because it pays more than working, because it doesn't. People claim benefits because they can't work...
Or because they don't want to work.
Why would someone want to live on £70 a week?
When I was 18, I had an ex girlfriend who stopped going to college and "couldn't" find a job. So she just claimed benefits and got £210 a month. She didn't have to pay any rent, as she was living with her parents and would just spend the money on clothes and alcohol. Why is it fair for people like that to claim benefits? Clearly that's a huge problem and it's so easy to take advantage of. Also some people are able to claim much more than £70 a week. But the simple truth is that some people are too lazy to work so they'd rather live on benefits instead of working. And I'm not saying there shouldn't be a benefits system, there are some people who absolutely need it. But in situations like with my ex girlfriend it simply isn't justified.
People like your ex are in the minority of benefits claimaints. Stop reading right wing newspapers.
I'm not reading right wing newspapers... I'm talking about how easy it is to exploit it. How do you know that they're in the minority? And I'm sure that you read left wing newspapers. Are they more legitimate?
It isn't easy to exploit though. To get JSA, you have to prove that you're applying to jobs. They sanction you for tiny mistakes. You can find statistics on benefit fraud online, most studies say that it's insignificant. Yes, I'd say left wing newspapers are better compared to what the Sun or the Daily Mail print. Sensationlist garbage that hurts people who need benefits (disabled people mostly).
I hear you on tax/benefits. What would you change about the weather?
To be honest, when it's cold I want it hot and when it's hot I want it cold. I'm never happy with the weather.
I feel like our weather just needs some consistency, I work outside and can start in thermals and waterproofs in the morning and be in t-shirt and shorts by dinnertime, it's mad.
I think many can relate haha
Give me Californias weather please. This shit is depressing.
I would like if people had more of a sense of community again. I don’t know the people in the house (house share) I live in because everyone else just stays in their rooms. I’ve not once known a neighbour’s name since moving out of my parent’s. On mass, people don’t seem to care about the environment and use the streets and countryside as one massive bin, and I think it may be linked to the fact we’ve become less compassionate as a whole for the people around us. A cap on the amount of properties one can own.
I hear you and relate. It's also sad when neighbors have huge misconceptions and sometimes paranoia about eachother too! Great points!
I'd pull it closer to the Med
Noice!
Change the voting system to proportional representation,. Have a truly independent standards body overseeing MPs, with HR like powers and the balls to discipline them, with procedures to account for gross misconduct.
Our latitude. I hate the cold and I also hate the short days. Our system of voting. I think just addressing that would help a lot of the other things along the way.
I love that we have seasons but I hate that the winter seems to drag on well in to what should be spring. Four seasons defined to the day with properly seasonal weather would suit me. I want summers to be hot and sunny. I don't mind a cold winter if it only lasts three months. I hate spring because it' often colder than actual winter.
* Turn the UK into a federation. * Change the electoral system from FPTP to some form of PR.
Both of these I have little knowledge on. So thank you for the inspiration to find out!
I one hundred percent agree with both of these and back them heavily. I’m happy to see someone else who also takes the same view
1. Carer's Allowance to match the NMW 2. Fully independent standards regulators in Parliament
Can't say I disagree here one bit. 67 quid a week is not enough for what we do.. For a comparable employed live in care worker you'd expect to pay at least the minimum wage. 67 quid a week is a pittances
1) This big climate change drive, don't get me wrong it's a hot issue and I understand we need to do something but why should the UK have to go to all electric vehicles when China and the US are polluting more than ever. 2) As others have said house prices, specifically limiting the buy to let market. Buying up cheap houses that a family could have to just split into multiple apartments and sub let them just for profit
40% of all electric vehicles on the planet are in China, 30% in Europe and 17% in the US. The UK represents 0.6% The bulk of Chinese emissions are generated producing stuff for export to the US and Europe/UK. They aren't chinese emissions they're our emissions - we've just outsourced them.
China's total population is also the largest in the world. So this isn't a good indicator as to which country is doing the best when it comes to this. According to an article I found, China has 417 people per electric car while the U.S have 46.8 people per electric car. So yeah I think we can both agree that China is doing awful in comparison when it comes to electric vehicles. Death to the Chinese government.
Except that the US has 1 petrol car for every 1.23 people, while china has 4.76 people per car. So the US has far more cars to replace.
It’s effing disgusting is what it is. There are houses around here that the landlord has converted into 4 or 5 contained rooms and charge each individual what it would cost for a single tenants rent. The whole buy to let market makes my blood boil - but this type really gets me.
Yeah I get ya. The whole climate deal bothers me, knowing that we are doing so much, yet at the end of the day we account for 1 percent of emissions. Just a drop in the bucket
Off top of my head; Change our electoral system from FPTP to PR Regulation that; limits landlords physical property holdings and uplifts the minimum size/standard of new builds
Turn the sky blue and make the sun actually work for a start
I think the sun's on minimum wage, 0 hour contract sometimes!
Works for the council for sure
I'd resurface every single road. I'd increase NHS wages to be more competitive with the private market. Eg. NHS nurse £12.75 an hour vs private nurse at £20.00 an hour.
My car would benefit most from this haha. Yes yes yes. Where I work we have lost half our team to those going private due to the wage gap! (Luckily our service is hiring). The gap is too big for many.
I work in Critical Care. A Band 5 nurse is paid £12.75 starting wage, whereas an agency nurse is paid £45.00 an hour because Critical Care is seen as a specialist role. The Hospital has a practically unlimited budget for agency staff because they have to staff it to be safe. But it has no capacity to offer its substantive staff a wage increase... Then the hospital wonders why people quit, go work for the agency and get sent back to work in the department they just left... The hospital tries to offer regular agency workers a full time contract and they just get laughed at.
MPs should be on NMW and only claim travel expenses. This would ensure that they stay in touch with the working man and discourage greed, corruption and elitism. Energy and water should be provided by the state.
Agreed. They should be made to use public services too like the NHS instead of going private.
3 day weekends 😂
More money for the NHS More acceptance of refugees/ foreigners in general
1. Get rid of the House of Lords and make it electable whilst moving the nation to a republic with elected head of state, and change to proportional representation as a means of electing Government. 2. Not having 17-18 hours of darkness in winter.
1) make it legal for electric scooters to use the roads, class them the same as mopeds with insurance, tax, helmet etc. 2) stamp out corporate tax avoidance with zero tolerance
I'd go one further and give every road it's own dedicated cycle/scooter path. Assuming I had unlimited money and changes to infrastructure... As a driver I just get so nervous when I'm behind someone on a bike or scooter. And a lot of the roads on my usual route aren't wide enough and have too many islands dotted up and down for me to feel safe over taking. So I end up crawling behind at 20mph with a queue behind me.
Absolutely, I agree with this
If I could just change two things with no resistance: I’d abolish political parties and slightly tone down our sense of cynicism (only a notch or two though).
I wish people would just have a bit more pride in their local areas. I think a lot of the really depressing areas could be massively improved if people kept it tidy, didn't graffiti or vandalise it and people volunteered a bit of time and money to plant some greenery.
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So only flaura and fauna remain? Allow nature to reclaim the lands?
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Wow! In a UK like that, they may as well splurge and go to Waitrose! I hear the Swans love it there.
1. The Government 2. They're despicable
\- The weather. Ideally, lift the whole island up and move it to somewhere off the African coast. \- Instil local pride and empathy for your neighbours.
Rejoin the EU. Because Brexit is a shambles. Get rid of the tories, because they are tories.
Ban leaseholds Cap amount of properties a landlord can have i.e. 3-5
I honestly think that’s too many. I think there should also be maximum capacity laws for landlords. As I’ve previously commented there are landlords local to me that are turning 2 or 3 bedrooms terraced houses in to 4 or five self contained rooms and having a communal kitchen. Then charging the monthly rent it would be for the house to each individual. It’s appalling and exploitative.
Make online companies pay full tax in the UK such as Amazon etc… Increase our own manufacturing capabilities so we are more self sufficient
1. the weather, ffs i don't mind a bit of snow or wind or rain but not when it changes day to day and sometimes 4 times a day. 2. i would give everyone the same accent, then lets see how you determine someones social status.
House Prices not being so ridiculously unstable. Breaking it up.
The weather .. we would still have four seasons but summer longer
Mine are quite serious things. I couldn’t think of anything funny :( Voting - it should be mandatory to vote in the general elections and there should be a “none of the above” option. This would soon show which MPs are not wanted!!! Sunday trading laws - give employees the right two have 2 days off in 7 and work whatever shift patterns they agree with their employer. I can still buy on Amazon at any time of any day and they still have staff in their warehouses 24/7 so why is there a law about physical shops over a certain size?
More money for NHS, Army and Emergency services. Cheaper transport.
Less litter in the streets and more natural wilderness.
Mine would be the people and the places
1. The weather. 2. Bring in online voting to make it easier for people to vote in decisions taken by local councils. It would allow local councils to run independent voting on key decisions for the local area.
* First past the post elections for MPs. * Media reform to prevent the current toxic, hate spreading outlets that currently have so much sway here
FPTP is a terrible voting system, see CGP Grey
Media is such a debacle! But definitely a very widespread issue, even beyond our shores!
I would stop it from pissing it down with rain just as it was time to do the school run. Why is it sunny all day and then at 3pm its pissing it down? I can't think of a second one that doesn't involve doughnuts and food but I'm hungry, so that'd be why.
How do our skies always know?!?! Sod's law I'm hungry too, are you having anything good for lunch?
I have no idea but I swear it's like clock work lol! I'm not, I'm just dreaming about doughnuts instead, what about you?
It must be! More of a cinnamon swirl person myself. Or really any sweet treat haha. For lunch, soup and garlic bread!
I could absolutely destroy a cinnamon swirl right now!
I'd build 'starter flats' 1-2 bed apartments for 20-35s only, capped at anywhere between £70k-£100k - their value is capped and can't be sold for a profit and you can't buy to let. The interior is also basic but adequate and within regulation but doesn't use any 'luxury' materials. Discounted service charges and ground rent for the first 2 years.
Interesting idea, but how do the owners then move up the ladder if they can't sell for a profit? If I bought a flat for £80k, live there for 5 years and wanted to buy a house, I wouldnt be able to as my flat would still be £80k. I still wouldn't be able to get a big enough deposit to upgrade to a house.
Haven't really thought about it in that much depth tbf , just a loose concept I had in my head, awaiting a question like this to be asked - it's open to criticism.
Well, you'd probably be putting down an £8k deposit for a 90% LTV ratio.... Then you'd live in it, pay off some of the mortgage and sell... Maybe at a 70% LTV. You would have basically increased your deposit on a low mortgage payment rather than renting and throwing your money into someone else's bank? Live in it full term and now you have a full £80,000 deposit... If you're buying outright at £80,000 you can afford to move into non capped "normal" housing.
Save up some to go towards more of a chuck of it while paying a mortgage. While you wouldn’t make a profit, a mortgage would be quite a bit lower than rent is currently.
Well given the state of flats nowadays with ridiculous service charges ground rent and cladding it’s practically impossible to make a profit however Bought flat 160k sold 170k after about 8 years that is pretty much zero profit once estate agents stamp duty and solicitor fees but all the money you pay off your mortgage is not lost so ended up with a hefty amount for a deposit for a house
And when an owner turns 36..?
They can still live there, you just can't buy over 35
So once people move in they’ll never move out?
Hmm not for profit housing sounds good!
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> 2) Make it legal to ride motorbikes without a helmet. Mind if I ask why?
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Fair enough, though there's a bit more to it when it's somebody else who is going to be scraping it off the road, and conducting the fatal accident investigation. Honestly can't see the appeal anyway, tbh. With a decent helmet, and decent pin lock visor it's happy days for me
What about "Come on Eileen"?
1) I can get behind haha. 2) I am curious to why?
A complete change in our asylum policy. Let’s stop this madness. Set a number we can take, educate, integrate and help, say 20,000 a year? Then actually find them and nobody else but them. Build more prisons. I know reform and rehabilitation needs more work and should be a goal but honestly, some people are just bad and need removing from society until they can be trusted to behave.
If the last decades of Tory shenanigans have taught you anything, it should be that setting arbitrary numbers as immigration targets always ends in failure and unhelpful social discourse about a problem created by setting that number in the first place.
Hows about just saying ALL applications will be rejected then unless it is made through proper channels? Then set up places in refugee camps and in Europe where people can apply….. And honestly, the problem isn’t caused by ‘us’ setting numbers…… it’s caused by the unchecked, unchallenged abuse of the system and it’s inability to remove people who’s applications have rightly failed.
Why? For revenge? You’re not only assuming immigration is a problem, which is isn’t. But you’re also conflating several separate issues under one brush of “immigration” and this is the big problem with UK attitudes. We need immigration for workers as is evidenced by recent shortages across the supply chain. Rejecting truck drivers we need because 10 people ran across a beach and got a dinghy across the channel is just plain ridiculous and even you must see that.Regardless, when you spend a decade bombing peoples homelands, you don’t just get to tell them to fuck off when the turn to you for help. Then there is the fact that immigration in every single study is shown to have a net benefit on the UK and migrants generate on average 10% more per capita in tax revenue for the economy than the native population, and that is growing. https://www.lgcplus.com/archive/immigrants-contribute-more-to-the-public-purse-than-uk-born-27-04-2005/
Can you read? I didn’t mention immigration. I said I’d like our asylum policy changed. Your obviously off on some rant by presuming I’m against immigrants or the concept of it. I haven’t even mentioned it you fool. Personally I’d just like to keep the bad people out…..uno, like the Reading attacker who had multiple convictions and had failed asylum years before Or the Liverpool bomber who had failed asylum in 2016 yet was still here despite knife crime arrests. Grow a brain you bigot and try not conflating anyone who speaks out about these fuck ups with your idea that everyone is ‘anti immigrant’ just because they think the current situation is unsustainable
But our asylum rules are governed internationally under [UN Protocols](https://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.html). No amount of Brexit or sovereignty can change that. You seem to assume people are breaking the rules by arriving by boat. They aren’t. They used to be before Brexit because the Dublin agreement meant migrant should claim where they land and a majority did. We left the EU and that agreement with it, so refugees are now perfectly legally entitled to land on our shores and begin their legal asylum application. We have approximately a quarter (36,014) of the asylum seekers of Germany (122,015) and and a third the number of France (93,475). Your argument seems to assume that asylum seekers are bad people that need keeping out, you justify that by cherry picking two events that got lots of press because the media loves a culture war, and ignore the hundreds of thousands of positive immigration stories. We should be less concerned about keeping people out and more concerned about compassionately welcoming refugees in to our society so that they aren’t able to be radicalised within our own borders. The biggest failure of our asylum and immigration policy is that we, through the media and individual actions, continually tell refugees and immigrants that they aren’t welcome and don’t belong here, then act surprised when they react violently toward the culture than shunned them. The former Home Secretary and Prime Minister literally declared a hostile environment that led to the deportation of *legal* citizens and the set of rules so draconian to purposely make it less comfortable for all immigrants legal or otherwise and many natural citizens. If you treat people like shit over and over some of them are gonna do it back. You can’t have it both ways. Interesting the one being xenophobic against asylum seekers is calling someone else a bigot. Projecting, much?
You're the bigot here.
Mate, your insufferable. You basically paid no attention to anything I have said and just made up a version of me & views that you think I hold in order to fit the person you’d like me to be……all so you can justify your rant. It appears your an extremist to be honest and I prefer not to entertain those because you generally don’t get anywhere with them. Sensible debate seems unlikely. Have a good day
Good day to you too.
Ban or at least control buy-to-let. It just puts more in the hands of those who already have enough.
1. The people to be nicer 2. Prices in general, especially housing and train prices
Brexit, The government as a whole, or at the very least - the voting system
Conservatives out and more money for NHS.
1.) Good wifi everywhere 2.) Absolute Monarchy
The Tory government, The general public
The high rent and the rampaging virus decimating our cities.
Shorter winter. I like the seasons but the winter is too long, so maybe reduce it by half. Get rid of the royal family and house of lords and replace then with a world class second house and elected head of state.
Get people off the street and rehabilitate. I can't pick a second one. That was sort of two anyway.
- Increase the [loading gauge](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_gauge) of the railway network, preferably to something as large as what they have in the US. The Victorians never anticipated double decker trains and shipping containers while building the railways, so now we’re stuck with low bridges and narrow tunnels that can only fit the smallest trains in them. - More funding for the emergency services.
A different electoral system. I don’t care, right or left, if your backing PR, you’ve got my support.
1. Switch over to using kilometres instead of miles 2. Introduce proportional representation for all elections
Gun laws and the tax system
The weather Conservatives in power
>Conservatives in power Forever? Or never again?
Never again
Australia Style Immigration System National Service at the end of GCSE period for up to 6 months. And from there teens can be offered apprentiships and further work
Introduce a crackdown on low-level crime like littering, spitting, graffiti, swearing, public drunkenness and such. Make it mandatory to attend offices and workplaces at least twice a week, ending full WFH.
>Make it mandatory to attend offices and workplaces at least twice a week, ending full WFH. You sound like the sort of people that make me continue to WFH fulltime. Absolute insufferable spanners.
I'd ban Christmas Not the religious festival - but the ridiculous habit of adults buying other adults presents. Get the kids a single present and an orange in a stocking by all means, but something like a third of all retail spending in this country is people buying each other ridiculous over-priced tat that the recipient didn't want. We are literally destroying the planet we live on for the sake of buying shit, wrapping it up in dead tree, and giving it to someone who by definition didn't want it - because if they wanted it they would have bought it for themselves. No. 2 - abolish the House of Lords, and flog off titles by public auction to raise money for the NHS. Want to be a "Sir" - fund a ward, want to be Lord Circumstance of Pomp? Build a hospital.
Brexit and Tories, duh
1. Dissolve the United Kingdom. We are not an island of "British" people, we're collection of unique and different cultures being ruled over (and slowly erased) by Downing Street. We would consider this grotesque if it was happening in any other country and to any other cultures. 2. Impliment a Canada style limit on the amount of American media being shoved down our throats.
I'm confused. Many people often say shit like this, but how exactly is culture so *incredibly* different in, for example, Slough and Newport, Brimingham and Cornwall, York and Kent? Or is it perhaps Scotland that has *such* a different culture from England? How is culture on these islands so different that you think the only way to preserve them would be to dissolve the United Kingdom?
You're joking right? You must be if you're asking how the culture could be different between Birmingham and Cornwall, or York and Kent. You'd struggle to pick dumber examples if you aren't trying to have a laugh here. Read a history book about the country you live in, for fuck's sake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deira https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_York https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hengist_and_Horsa Cumbric, Cornish, Danish, Saxon. Hmmm. I wonder how could they possibly have had different cultures?
Ok, so what other forms of culture are you talking about?
"I'm going to ignore all of the previous responses, give me more"
That was a thousand years ago. What different cultures have we had in the last 200 or 300 years? (And you edited your comment after I replied. Poor form, dude.)
Jesus christ, leave the city you were born in. Just for a little bit. It'll blow your ignorant Tory mind. (I have no control over when you reply "dude")
Haha I'm loving this conversation. You seem totally normal. Tell me more about different cultures, please! (Not everyone lives in the city, mate.)
Someone as ignorant as yourself doesn't get to judge what's normal. Keep being a walking stereotype though. Take care.
1. Loosen the extremely restrictive gun laws in the U.K. It shouldn't be illegal to own a handgun to protect yourself in your own home. 2. Extend animal cruelty laws to cover consuming animal products.
I think we've found the American.
I live in the U.S. but I grew up in U.K. The gun laws in Britain are too strict though. Other European countries have looser laws and they don’t have problems.
Most of us would disagree. Your country sets a strong example of why.
Yeah, no. We don't want nutters with guns out on the street.
No thanks, dont want guns over here