Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Sarin anyone? ;)

Private rents in England unaffordable, says Shelter
 

Private rents in England unaffordable, says Shelter :frown:

Private rents are now unaffordable in 55% of local authorities in England, the housing charity Shelter has said. Homes in these areas cost more than 35% of median average local take-home pay - the level considered unaffordable by Shelter's Private Rent Watch report.

The charity said 38% of families with children who rent privately have cut back on buying food to help pay rent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15284892

Re: Private rents in England unaffordable, says Shelter
 

Maybe you could slow up a little on the endless posting of links and snippets of doom and gloom news. Instead perhaps you could participate more and rather "discuss" the issues. Looking back over your posts the majority seem to be content similar to this but not much discussion from you. Can I ask are you planning on moving back to the UK?

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

But you don't seem to be looking at the whole picture. Instead you are ignoring the reality of the people you know (and all the people we know) and instead focusing solely on negative media stories. The UK media is notoriously negative anyway and you seem to be looking for the worst news.

It seems as though you have decided to ignore what's in front of your eyes in favor of believing media fear-mongering. That's why people are not taking your posts seriously - there's no balance to them.

Personally, I think you're looking for reasons not to go back and this is all one big projection. (I'm not a psychologist but I play one on the Internet.)

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Okay, I will stop posting stories about the problems in Britain. Just a little disappointed that other posters didn't give their personal views on the issues and why they are occuring. Britain has changed a lot since I lived there and I am often shocked at some of the changes. I know that every country has its problems, but this topic was about 'unhappy Britain,' not unhappy Australia, America or Japan. Just wanted to get peoples' views on Britain itself. Cheers!

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

There's nothing wrong with that with sharing news articles and stuff, just so that's not all you share. What are "your" views on the articles you've shared? Are you moving back and concerned about your future life in the UK?

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Okay, point taken. I will, in future, try to post my own personal opinions on this topic in the future, not reported facts.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

The Daily Fail's not known for its adherence to "facts".

Anyway, I see plenty of opinions in this thread, but none from you.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

I could fill a 5 page thread with negative news stories on Australia or America or indeed Japan but really what would be the point ? We are moving back to the UK later this year or in the new year because we love England and what it will offer us. That decision wont be influenced by the fact that unemployment is 8% or 5% or 20% or that more kids live in poverty or pensions are being hit hard because all those things are happening where we are now.
You mentioned earlier that the UK has changed since you left and I often hear people say that but I would love to hear of a country that HASN'T changed in the last 5 or 10 years.
If you want to report facts then why not try reporting some positive good news facts ? There are plenty of them :)

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

If I were moving back to Britain in the near future I would be somewhat worried. As I mentioned before, for some, it might be like jumping out of a frying pan into a fire. The financial and social upheavals going on in the U.K. at the moment are pretty worrying in many areas of society. Even pubs are getting hit. Apparently, two pubs, on average, are closing down every day. :frown:

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Perhaps the pub closures will help some of the other ills you have found in the UK.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

I think many young people are drinking themselves silly by buying cheap booze from supermarkets. In fact some publicans blame the cheap booze available in supermarkets as part of the reason pubs are going out of business. The phrase 'binge drinking' is another phrase that I had never heard of when I lived in England; along with ASBO (Anti-social Behaviour Disorder).

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

25+ years ago my friends and I (and everyone else at university) "went out for some beers" - this generally involved getting drunk, talking rubbish, trying to pull - now it's called binge-drinking, but it's the same deal. Getting drunk with friends is a fairly normal pastime in many countries, I seem to remember the Japanese like to do it in Karaoke bars.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

The financial and social upheavals going on IN THE WORLD are of course worrying, maybe you are to some degree isolated from these things in Japan ? I don't really see anything happening in the UK that isn't happening in most other Western countries to be fair. Binge drinking here in Australia is a huge problem as is youth unemployment, crime blah blah blah. We also have AVO's which are the equivalent of ASBO's.
I can sort of understand that from your cotton wool wrapped life in Japan it probably appears that the UK or indeed the rest of the world has gone to pot but quite honestly having been back to the UK late last year I saw no evidence of it. In fact I thought the Daily Mail was reporting on a parallel universe.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Exactly right, we would regularly get full of beer and then drink some more and then ride our motorbikes home, nothing much has changed just the terminology.