Is Britain a better place since 1997?

[north stand falmer]

If you go back to my post, it was in reply to the accusation that people who are "young" today, will know nothing about Thatcher. I was pointing out that history might teach about Thatcher. "Britain since 1930" would cover Thatcher.

What has Thatcher got to do with this debate. Thought this thread was about if Britain is better now than before 97. If you want a debate on Thatcher - Blair then start another thread and I’ll be more thsn willing to debate the subject.

 

[Yorkie]

Of course Britian is a better place. The economy has grown which means that people have more money and the Government has more tax to spend. That doesn't mean it couldn't be better.

Health provision has got far better. 10 years ago the papers were filled with horror stories of people waiting 3 years for operations. Now if you wait 3 months it is considered a failure.

Please tell me why Ned has had to wait two years for a hearing aid. We can't afford digital hearing aids for him.
I couldn't walk with sciatica earlier this year and had to pay for private physio because there was a 6 month waiting list for an NHS physio.

 

[British Bulldog]

billions pumped into the neglected rail network

Where's it gone then because I hav'nt seen any improvement?

 

[north stand falmer]

Of course Britian is a better place. The economy has grown which means that people have more money and the Government has more tax to spend

Wasted 99.9% of it.

Health provision has got far better. 10 years ago the papers were filled with horror stories of people waiting 3 years for operations. Now if you wait 3 months it is considered a failure

Horror stories, the super bugs are out of conrol, nurses and doctors are being saked like Prescotts lover. Hospitals A&E are closing.

On crime, the reason why our jails are busting open is that Governments have been increasing jail terms in reaction to pressure from the public. Crime is going down.

The reason crime is up is because this goverment has given the signal for every villian to help them selfs and if caught you'll get a slap on the wrist let alone a prison sentance.

The worst thing that has happened in the last 10 years is the increase in fear. Everyone is afraid that they will get mugged the minute they walk out the door. Every parent fears that they kid will get abducted by a paedo the second they let them out of their sight

Blair have brought terror to our door step, don't need to explain.

Now has crime gone up? No it's gone down. Is there really any more paedophiles now than there was 20 years ago? I doubt it

Wake up and smell the coffee.

 

[Yorkie]

The worst thing that has happened in the last 10 years is the increase in fear. Everyone is afraid that they will get mugged the minute they walk out the door. Every parent fears that they kid will get abducted by a paedo the second they let them out of their sight.

Now has crime gone up? No it's gone down. Is there really any more paedophiles now than there was 20 years ago? I doubt it.

I do agree with this part of your post.

 

[gjh1971]

I do agree with this part of your post.

So do i Yorkie, but I feel it is the fault of the media rather than the government for people's fear

 

[dougdeep]

Where's it gone then because I hav'nt seen any improvement?

Err? The trains?

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Forget the politics, how many of us had, in 1997, a home PC, a DVD, MP3, playstaions, mobile phones, flat screen TV's, most of these were either not invented of just for the very rich. Now most, even chavs, have them.

In 1997 Churchill Square was like a ghost town, the seafront was a scary, run down, place. The Marina didn't know what it was there for, North Lainewas for poor people and there was a waste land from Brighton Station to London Road.

BUT>>>>>






In 1997, well for 4 months of it, we had The Goldstone!!!!!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Where's it gone then because I hav'nt seen any improvement?

Er... Southern trains with working aircon, much improved punctuality, more twelve carriage trains when it matters etc etc

All seems to have bypassed ThameslinkFranchise mind, but otherwise very few complaints anymore. And I speak as someone who used to absolutely DESPISE the twin evils of Connex and Railtrack

 

[British Bulldog]

Err? The trains?

Yeah but thats like investing in new cars when the motorway system is f***ed! It just gives you something more comfortable to sit in when your going nowhere!

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Please tell me why Ned has had to wait two years for a hearing aid. We can't afford digital hearing aids for him.
I couldn't walk with sciatica earlier this year and had to pay for private physio because there was a 6 month waiting list for an NHS physio.

I am not saying Britain is necessarily worse, but there are many things about the NHS that I do not understand.

We are paying more tax than ever, but are we receiving better services in specific areas?

I, too, would have had to wait two years for a digital hearing aid. Thankfully my parents were in a position to pay for them (£4,500). The Hearing departments seem to be highly under-funded. Appointments are scarce and the services are not good. Compare this to something like IVF (which I believe is free for the first session) - which costs around £15,000 for one course... I would say hearing is a little more fundamental than IVF, yet it is quicker to get IVF treatment than get digital hearing aids!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Yeah but thats like investing in new cars when the motorway system is f***ed! It just gives you something more comfortable to sit in when your going nowhere!

Rubbish. The punctuality is much improved. You work for the railways. Why are you talking bollocks?

 

[Gully]

I don't want to debate the rights or wrongs of the sinking of the Belgrano, it was in the 80's after all and this is supposed to be a thread about the last ten years, but there is one point that I think should be made. Following the sinking of the Belgrano it sent a message to the Argentinians that we would do anything necessary to regain the Falklands, they had a rather large aircraft carrier called the Viente Cinqo de Maio, it spent the whole of the war in port. The Argentinians were convinced that we had a submarine just off the shore of their country that would sink their carrier as soon as it set sail, if it had done they would have been able to provide far greater air cover to their troops, the course of history may not have taken the same course. We will never know, but my guess is that the Thatcher Government had considered that fact before ordering the sinking of the Belgrano, if ever an event could be considered to have won a war then surely that was it.

 

[dougdeep]

The NHS is a bit like Falmer though, it's a bottomless pit. The idea worked at inception but then there weren't huge drug companies raking off obscene profits.

 

[Yorkie]

I am not saying Britain is necessarily worse, but there are many things about the NHS that I do not understand.

We are paying more tax than ever, but are we receiving better services in specific areas?

I, too, would have had to wait two years for a digital hearing aid.

No we're having to wait two years for bog standard NHS hearing aids.
The NHS is a postcode lottery.

 

[north stand falmer]

Forget the politics, how many of us had, in 1997, a home PC, a DVD, MP3, playstaions, mobile phones, flat screen TV's, most of these were either not invented of just for the very rich. Now most, even chavs, have them

I bet you was swimming around in your dad ball bags when all this happened. The reason why all that happened is the word technology, just like another technology era in another decade. Please don't tell me Blair and co designed all these electronic gismos.

 

[bigc]

No we're having to wait two years for bog standard NHS hearing aids.
The NHS is a postcode lottery.

Yes that's true, but at the same time people hate directives being ordered from above, which I assume would stop the notion of a post code lottery because it would ensure all heath trusts had to offer the same thing, regardless of say one having more resources than the other.

Problem with these kind of issues is that either solution leaves alot of people with short thrift.

 

[Yorkie]

Forget the politics, how many of us had, in 1997, a home PC, a DVD, MP3, playstaions, mobile phones, flat screen TV's, most of these were either not invented of just for the very rich. Now most, even chavs, have them.

I did a debt counselling course last year. Part of the course showed that luxuries have come down in price but essentials such as rent/mortgage, council tax and fuel bills are taking out a much bigger chunk of wages now that they were 10 years ago. Gas for example 200% higher and as I pointed out earlier council tax bills are 110% higher.

 

[Gully]

Farang, I think you might find that Freddie is one of the more senior posters on NSC, hence his user name...a footballing great that even I, at the tender age of 41, can't even remember.

 

[British Bulldog]

Rubbish. The punctuality is much improved. You work for the railways. Why are you talking bollocks?

I'm not talking bollocks, Where have you seen investment in the infrastructure of the railway in recent years? What improvements have you seen to the track layout on the london - brighton line in recent years? And punctuality has got nothing to do with investment it's down to giving a few regulating decisions back to the signalmen like it used to be under BR.