What's the one main thing you'd change about our great country?
Posted by ChublesNubles@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 225 comments
General question.
For example, I've just had some disturbing news that a teacher who taught me for years has gone to prison for SA of a minor.
He's got 18 months in prison.
Another guy from my school, good person but made poor decisions. He's just been caught setting up those IPTV services. (Not providing, just setting them up)
He's got 5 years in prison.
I'd personally change the way we sentence people.
coffeewalnut05@reddit
More affordable train travel and cleaning up all the litter and fly tipping in this country.
Thomasinarina@reddit
I had no idea until I moved to the countryside how bad flytipping was...it is truly shocking.
theocrats@reddit
You can always tell when driving around country lanes when you're approaching a McDonald's or a coffee shop.
The amount of rubbish people throw out of their cars is disgusting.
Also, piss bottles. Major routes are littered with piss bottles.
StressedOldChicken@reddit
Ah, you've been to Ashford, I see!
theocrats@reddit
No 100 miles away. It's everywhere in the UK
filbert94@reddit
McDonald's opened near me. It had a lot of opposition.
Oh look, consistent youth and litter problems. Worra surprise.
Zippy-do-dar@reddit
I don’t understand people if you’ve gone to the effort to drive into the countryside to flytip why don’t they just go to the tip.
Adrian_Shoey@reddit
Because councils have made it harder and more expensive to use the local tips - with charges and needing to book a slot. The council where my parents live does that, and they have a problem with fly tipping. My council doesn't give a flying fuck who you are or where you rubbish came from. There's always tradies in the tip, and there's no fly tipping problem.
NorthCountryLass@reddit
Yes, booking a slot is a real pain. People have working lives and private lives. Trying to fit something else in as well is such a nuisance. They could just say’please avoid weekends if you can’, then that might reduce the numbers who turn up then
NorthCountryLass@reddit
Probably because it’s too much rubbish or commercial rubbish that they would be charged for
Sophiiebabes@reddit
The tip by me you have to book in advance (they tell you when your 'slot' is to show up), you can't be driving a van, you have to tell them what you are bringing, and if they don't like you on the day they can just not let you in.
Doesn't make it okay, but that, along with the fact that bins have been disappearing, doesn't leave many options....
RevolutionarySelf988@reddit
The industrial estate where I work is litter picked monthly by volunteers and not a week after they're finished it's back to the state it was in before. It's such a small change individuals could make that would make everyone's life slightly better.
KlutzyWillingness248@reddit
People referring to this shithole as a great country
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Feel free to leave 👌
KlutzyWillingness248@reddit
Thanks pal, I really needed your permission! Your mates should have been sentenced for much longer in my opinion. We let criminals off far too easy. Should get minimum 10 years for kiddy fiddling
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Okay, so you can't read.
KlutzyWillingness248@reddit
I got bored
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Unfortunately not bored enough to not comment.
Feisty-Magician-5509@reddit
The way we look at drugs. Our drug laws are stupid and hurt more than help
Acrobatic-Unit-3348@reddit
Higher tariffs I reckon
UpsetInteraction2095@reddit
Which "great" country? The Internet is worldwide so you could be talking about anywhere!
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
I'm gonna let you figure this one out...
stevie855@reddit
Politicians need to prove that they are fully qualified for the job.
Famous_Elk1916@reddit
Stop calling it great would be a good start !!
Low_Resolve9379@reddit
The "Great" in Great Britain isn't supposed to be self-aggrandising. It's a geographical term, contrasting it with "Lesser Britain", the continental region known as Brittany.
Famous_Elk1916@reddit
And your point is?
Low_Resolve9379@reddit
That it doesn't have the implication you appear to think it does?
Famous_Elk1916@reddit
I don’t believe you know that you know what my point is?
snakeoildriller@reddit
Aye! There was a time when "Little Britain" was a comedy series but now I can't help thinking it might be more appropriate.
Famous_Elk1916@reddit
It’s an appropriate name.
My son lives in Queensland and I believe our land mass would fit into Queensland 7 times over !!
We know longer have an Empire and we’ve barley got Commonwealth now.
It makes me more than a little concerned and yet even now we shit on people who where loyal subjects ie Ghurkers people from Hong Kong and Singapore etc
Unfair-Ad-9479@reddit
We have to pick only ONE??? Oof.
yojifer680@reddit
Immigrants out
DistributionFew3962@reddit
Agreed
boredsittingonthebus@reddit
I wish we all had a bit more pride in our communities. People dumping litter everywhere makes the place look like a tip.
Teembeau@reddit
I would get government out of education. I would have schools that were based on what parents want for their children, schools competing for business (whether profit businesses or charities).
Most of school is just absolute bullshit. Kids have like 6 hours per day + homework and maybe half of that is actually things that prepare most of them for adult life. A tiny, tiny number of kids will ever have to solve a quadratic equation again, but bad economics affects all of us. We teach kids roman or tudor history which has no bearing on the state of Britain today. We don't teach children about our government structures, rights or legal systems. How taxes are paid for by the people, not from some magic cloud. We don't teach children to drive, even though it's one of the most important life skills, one of the most common requirements for a job.
glasgowgeg@reddit
Learning that stuff you think is useless teaches problem solving and logical thinking, which is what personal finance is.
If you know arithmetic and algebra, you know basically everything you need to know for personal finance for your average person.
Teembeau@reddit
You don't need to learn solving quadratic equations, or most trig to do personal finance.
And economics isn't personal finance.
glasgowgeg@reddit
I never said you had to, so maybe some comprehension lessons could be in the stars for you.
beachyfeet@reddit
I'd quite like infrastructure bodies that are used by the public and which were once publicly owned to be back in public ownership. Ridiculous I know but a girl can dream
zone6isgreener@reddit
The trouble is they were truly awful when they were in public ownership as bodies like the NHS will always win in the annual budget fight over sewage upgrades or end up rationing demand like the GPO used to with phones.
beachyfeet@reddit
They weren't. That's just what we were told when they were sold off.
zone6isgreener@reddit
Of course they were. Water for example had many billions in liabilities about to hit because of EU legislation due in. Wanting a landline (as they were then) meant you had to go on a waiting list plus you got charged for extra extensions in your house plus all sorts of fun around being allowed or not allowed to use your own equipment.
Steelpraetorian@reddit
So it was eu legislature dragging the service down, not the service failing?
zone6isgreener@reddit
What on earth are you going on about?
Western_Squirrel_700@reddit
They were awful, but that was a very different time... there was a real us-vs-them between "management" and unions, and the government ran these services down before privatisation.
And thinking about it, I'm not sure they were as awful as they are now.. it just seemed awful at the time.
Richard__Papen@reddit
Do you mean utilities as well? Most that were sold off have not proved better value for customers as often promoted. Obviously - shareholders want their cut.
NorthCountryLass@reddit
Yes, especially broadband and TV service suppliers. They are really ripping people off and no-one is stopping them
beachyfeet@reddit
I mean mainly utilities. Everyone needs power and water to exist but the onus is on shareholder profit in all of these companies instead of customers.
GeordieAl@reddit
I’d say out of all the privatizations only BT and British Airways were successful and provided benefits to consumers. British Rail did provide some benefits early on but mainly limited to a handful of main lines. Gas, Water, and Electricity have all just ended up with a small number of companies in control that care more about shareholders than investing in the improvement of the systems.
ATSOAS87@reddit
Maybe I'm too stupid to understand it, but why is it more cost effective to bail out a company like Thames Water for billions, instead of bringing it back into public ownership.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
It isn't but because they are internationally owned and many by foreign state bodies, we'd get sued under international law for doing that.
Quiet-Hawk-2862@reddit
I'll take "corruption", Bob!
ARobertNotABob@reddit
"Privatise the profits, socialise the losses"
Since privatisation, it has cost us an average 3x the amount it would have cost us for a service than if the relevant industries were still nationalised.
That figure doubles when reviewing the standards and breadth of services provided then as now.
BabaYagasDopple@reddit
Especially as it’s our money bailing them out, through taxes and now bill increases!
AlGunner@reddit
While they are still paying huge dividends to share holders.
Additional_Ad_3044@reddit
That's why they do it. They use OUR taxes to bail out THEIR investments.
zone6isgreener@reddit
The state isn't proposing a bail out though.
There is legislation in place to take over the water firms if they fail to keep them operating. That isn't a bail out.
ImpressNice299@reddit
When they're back in public ownership and still useless, then what?
beachyfeet@reddit
So nobody should attempt to improve or change anything in case it goes wrong?? That's terribly sad.
ImpressNice299@reddit
There are all sorts of things we could do. Why is the solution always the one thing we previously tried that didn't work?
Pleasant-chamoix-653@reddit
It worked when people and CEOs had a sense of pride and honour and cared about what communities thought of them. Now they just care about cashing in their £20m shares before they get found out for asset stripping and adding no value for anyone except predatory shareholders
JustLetItAllBurn@reddit
Hey now, most of our infrastructure bodies are publicly owned. Just not by our country.
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
No argument here! I'd like most things to be publicly owned.
lostandfawnd@reddit
Hate. Get rid of it.
People seem to hate things so deeply, without understanding them, or even wanting to try an understand.
ImpressNice299@reddit
You want to get rid of "hate" (a normal human emotion) because you hate it?
pajamakitten@reddit
Hate is normal, however it seems to have been turned up to eleven in recent years, to the point where are a lot of people are angry all the time about something inconsequential.
Puzzled-Leading861@reddit
We've gone beyond telling people what to think to banning human emotions. Welcome to reddit!
lostandfawnd@reddit
Disgust is an emotion.
Sorrow is an emotion.
Hate is not an emotion, it's an uncontrolled, unreasoned, reaction to emotions.
ChallengingKumquat@reddit
Weird take. I hate celery. Like, it's disgusting and I can't stand it.
I also want to retain my hate for child sex abusers, murderers, rapists, and some other wrong'uns. I hate them even more than celery.
But in your Orwellian post-hate world, I wouldn't be allowed to or able to hate any of these things or people.
Hate can be a force for good. If we as a society hate child abusers, that alone is enough to make some of them at least curb their tendencies a bit and do it less, and it can compel government to introduce laws to prevent child abuse.
lostandfawnd@reddit
Weird response.
All you have written proves the point. You don't hate celery, you dislike it, at worst, you have a distaste for it. Your hate of it is an overreaction of your distaste, meaning you can't control your emotions.
Strange how you choose the extreme examples of things that are already crimes. Yes, they are disgusting crimes, note disgust, is a viceral reaction, not hate. Hate is an extreme emotion from the disgust, why does your overreaction in hate change the crime?
Nazis hated Jews, that is what uncontrolled emotion ends up doing.
Can you name something good, that was a direct result of using hate (a clear point, of using hate) to achieve it?
It is already illegal, and already has prevention laws (that social services enact). Could you elaborate on "introduce laws to prevent child abuse"?
Or do you just want to make excuses for your uncontrolled emotions to dictate how criminals/thise suspected of crimes should be treated?
How do you reconcile your hate with miscarriages of justice?
You will note, nowhere have I said you shouldn't feel anything, you are right to feel disgust at those crimes, hate is an overreaction to it.
Actions should have consequences, hate does nothing to except wind you up and make you do something stupid.
So yes, get rid of hate.
setokaiba22@reddit
I think a massive part of this is the rise of the internet and social media to be fair.
Early days of social media were just sharing photos of friends and such on MySpace & such then businesses heavily became involved on Facebook and it’s just become a cess pity. Now all I see is AI posts across tons of Facebook groups that are suggested
Instagram also provides us with so much fake and altered versions of people’s lives people are continually judging themselves against things they can’t have or that doesn’t actually exist. Which creates self hatred, depression and anxiety too.
Jijimuge8@reddit
You sound like Steve Hughes
Suspicious_Juice9511@reddit
I also dislike it 😉 ❤️
lavenderacid@reddit
Train prices. I don't mind a train journey one bit, but I do when it's over £100.
pajamakitten@reddit
I want trains that run on time and that are not constantly cancelled too. I hate not knowing if the train I need will actually exist or not.
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Tried to go see my dying grandmother last year... £300 return to London.
Absolute joke.
lavenderacid@reddit
I live really close to London and it's consistently cheaper for me to fly to Milan than it is to get a train to London.
ImpressNice299@reddit
I can never follow these arguments. The train to London is really busy and the air routes to Milan are not. You don't pay by the mile.
AnxiousTerminator@reddit
You kind of should though, environmentally and financially it should cost more to operate an aircraft to Milan carrying say 200 people than a train from Manchester to London carrying 200 people when you take into account fuel, vehicle construction and maintenance, necessary staffing both onboard and at the station and airport etc. The cost for the train is cheaper but passengers pay a premium because the companies operate a monopoly on most routes and can charge what they feel like regardless of their operating costs.
ImpressNice299@reddit
That's not how the price of anything works. Everybody wants a seat on the train to London so the price is high. Nobody wants to fly to Milan so the price is low. The cost of provision doesn't come into it.
chat5251@reddit
Everyone wants food to, does that mean we should make it so only the wealthiest can afford to eat?
ImpressNice299@reddit
I hope for your sake that you're arguing in bad faith.
AnxiousTerminator@reddit
It should is what I am saying. The operating costs of the service should be taken into account for public transport, given the government's alleged envirommental commitments. It should be run at cost by the government, not by private companies who can charge what they like because there are no other realistic options, and they have a monopoly. Public transport should not be run for profit as it is now.
linkheroz@reddit
I saw a story once in the news about someone who flew from Manchester via France to London because it was cheaper than a train
turtleship_2006@reddit
There were 2 friends who flew to spain cuz it was cheaper for both of them to do that than for one of them to take a train to the other side of the uk
ImpressNice299@reddit
Wrong target. If you brought train prices down, you wouldn't be able to get on a train.
Capacity is what's needed.
lavenderacid@reddit
I don't really give a fuck to be quite honest with you. When I'm trying to travel to look after my mother going through cancer, it would be nice to not have to worry about not being able to afford food every time I go there. I'd happily stand the entire way crammed in like a sardine if it meant it was cheaper.
NWTravellerUK@reddit
inequality
Ok-Tomorrow-7158@reddit
Nothing, it’s great as is, and is getting better all the time
Oh wait
Forgot I don’t take in half a billion a year
becca413g@reddit
A system of road and footpath infrastructure that's the same across the country like Holland have.
The lack of tactile paving, dropped curbs and safe cycling routes and footpaths is a huge barrier to travelling independently and maintaining their health.
I've walked into a road and not realised because there wasn't any tactile paving or raised curb to indicate it was a road (visually impaired long cane user). It scares me to go anywhere I don't know off by heart but I don't really need to live with that level of fear and restriction on where I can go if people just designed things properly.
I've also crossed onto an island where the pedestrian crossing was on a raised platform so it took ages to find the pole to find the button because I kept thinking I'd missed it when actually it wasn't where it should have been. It's also then too far from the tactile paving that's there so I had to stand off to the side to feel the cone turn so I knew the light had turned green for pedestrians and then walk over and find the tactile paving to line myself up with the other side of the crossing (the spaces between dots should line up with the other side) and then cross. I have no idea if it was still green by the time I got to the other side. It's hugely anxiety provoking on a 40mph junction.
My friend has to travel in the road because no dropped curbs were available and even she managed to ram her way into the footpath cars block it anyway which is especially risky as a wheelchair user who's much shorter and slower than what drivers are looking out for. Not only that but drivers shouted abuse at her, she literally has no other choice and has to do this daily in order to leave her home.
A good system makes it safer for everyone, drivers know what to expect and vulnerable people have a safe option.
Special-King3125@reddit
Thank you, I learnt something new, I just read that the Netherlands has standardized footpaths for blind and partially sighted individuals using tactile paving. Great suggestion.
AlexanderNiazi@reddit
Clean the underground ?
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
I think they do... It's just a vile sesspit 🤣
Special-King3125@reddit
Implementing a 4 day work week. Trials have shown enhanced productivity as employees are energised. Of course, it will improve employees' well-being. It could also reduce unemployment as the shorter work weeks would create shift patterns and more jobs. This will also mean that the service industries will see a more balanced flow of customers throughout the week and not a huge influx on a 2 day weekend.
Child nutrition program (similar to Japan). With a universal free school meal program, We can improve the base health of all young people through nutrition education. It will also help families who are poor financially and reduce the stigma of inequality amongst the students. The long-term benefits are a stronger healthier next generation who will put less strain on the NHS.
This one is controversial - Safe spaces for sex workers. Where they are protected from exploitation, they have regular health check ups to reduce sexual transmitted diseases (like in A'Dam). This will reduce associated crime (human trafficking & organised crime). It will mean legalising it will contribute to the economy through tax and licences. Just for context, I live on a street where there are several vulnerable women being taken advantage of by men. These women are treated like scum by the neighbourhood and the clients. The police try to help where they can, but the women keep ending up back on the streets. I really can't think of any other way to protect women in this space.
yojifer680@reddit
You're free to work 4 days a week if you want, but why do you feel entitled to dictate how many days other people should work?
Special-King3125@reddit
The OP asked, "What would YOU change?" I am not 'dictating' this to anyone, so I'm not sure why you're so aggressive, Don't worry, I'm not coming for your job.
I am talking about legislation that would mean employees could opt into a 4 day work week like the trials (in Belgium) where individuals can opt to do 38 hours 4 days (9.5 a day), Some people might like to do this and it might really benefit some companies. I would say having more options available to you would be better, wouldn't you agree?
yearsofpractice@reddit
I have no idea how to on this, but homelessness is something I think should be something that’s straightforward (not easy or cheap) to fix. Homelessness is just so inhuman.
yojifer680@reddit
If homelessness is so "straightforward to fix" then why has no society in the history of the world been able to manage it? I suspect this is an example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, whereby your limited knowledge of the problem causes you to underestimate its complexity and overestimate your own ability to fix it.
yearsofpractice@reddit
Ooooh! So close to the flex you were going for! You’ve clearly just learned about the DC effect and your clumsy attempt at a dunk - whilst adorable - shows a limited comprehension ability.
Have a quick re-read of my original comment - slowly - and you’ll see that I used words like “I have no idea how to do this” and “not easy or cheap”
Actually… is this a DC example of someone overestimating their comprehension of the DC effect?!
Keep going though you little rascal - you’ll get there.
EitherChannel4874@reddit
Politicians can only be paid as much as the lowest paid people in their constituency.
Watch minimum wage shoot up quick.
yojifer680@reddit
Or the quality of politicians shoot down.
Adept_Thanks_6993@reddit
Nationalise or renationalise virtually everything.
yojifer680@reddit
You want the government to control the food supply? What could possibly go wrong?
Adept_Thanks_6993@reddit
Some of it. Enough to have a reasonable emergency supply and keep prices non-exorbitant
sponjebubble@reddit
Education. Wish there’s more awareness of learning for people to grow once you leave school institutions.
I’m 24 and I’m going back to learning 5x a week bc my job is shit and unfulfilling.
NorthCountryLass@reddit
I agree. Adult Education with evening classes needs reviving. Try to find somewhere to study any Science or Maths A levels in the evenings. It’s very difficult. If you are working, you have to try to do it online, alone at home, with no support. The only other alternative is to attend college (which you can’t do if you work full time). Yet the country wants highly qualified people who have good maths abilities!
sponjebubble@reddit
I suggest using websites online like UDEMY.COM
You can find reliable courses with many reviews, courses can contain 50-70 hours, courses are cheap (£15-£75) and its online so you can do it anywhere.
Life has been fantastic since I have studied again, I see the long term benefits again
Robmag89@reddit
The UK would be great if this English weren't in it tbh
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Snore.
VampKissinger@reddit
Federalize England based on the same system as Australian states. Honestly this would solve so many issues it's unreal it's not already a major political movement.
North East - 8.2 Million
North West - 7.5 Million
Midlands - 10 Million
South East - 9 Million
South West - 6 Million
London - 9 Million
Suddenly you can take a lot of pressure off Councils and have their funding being allocated on a state level, you can finally have State level Infrastructure projects that don't involve individual Councils shitting on major projects due to NIMBYism, States can engage in policies actually suited for the region not being crapped out of London, Local revenue raising can be more accurately and efficently done on a state level.
Pair with reformed house of lords and porportional Senate based on each state getting a Senator based on every 200k votes, shock you have a massively more efficent and representative structural system in the UK that isn't highly centralized by toffs in a single city who hate the rest of the Country.
chat5251@reddit
I like this.
CleanMyAxe@reddit
Ban ownership of homes by companies except for brief periods by mortgage companies who have repossessed a property and are looking to sell it, whilst capping individual home ownership to just a few to allow people to still build and own annexes, second homes for work or whatever. The rental market should be in public ownership by large.
chat5251@reddit
Congrats you just plunged millions into negative equity and created a financial crash slow clap
Professional-Money49@reddit
And after which there will never be another home built again
CleanMyAxe@reddit
How did houses get built when about a third of homes were council homes and the remainder were majority owner/occupier (almost 2 thirds...), not owner landlording via ltd companies?
Weaving-green@reddit
I’d rejoin the EU.
Simon_Drake@reddit
Sounds good to me. If you haven't already you should consider joining r/RejoinEU
Puzzled-Leading861@reddit
I would like it is tall poppy syndrome was a less prevalent feature of our culture.
shelfside1234@reddit
97% of the people
NorthCountryLass@reddit
I’d increase or introduce youth clubs everywhere. They kept the young off the streets and provided them with responsible adults they could talk to who weren’t in the family. I’d also bring back skating rinks and inexpensive swimming pools. They were incredibly popular and could be so again
NorthCountryLass@reddit
I’d stop people parking their large transit-sized business’s vans on residential streets at night. I had to pay to park at my workplace and yet these employers are getting free parking because they let their employees take the vans home overnight. There is no room for residents to park their own cars because of commercial vehicles
doctorgibson@reddit
I would ban all vehicles from our roads
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
That's an interesting one 🤣
How would the logistics of that work?
GeorgeHSpencer@reddit
Bin off the nudge unit
Steve522q@reddit
reintroduce shame again. people have no shame anymore
SpinyGlider67@reddit
Did it work?
Ticklishchap@reddit
I would like to be able to make a simple ‘phone call to a public service, business or bank, which would be answered promptly (without having to ‘choose’ from a plethora of ‘options’) by someone who is polite, efficient and speaks clearly without using jargon.
Everything I have listed above is all but impossible to achieve in the current ‘iteration’ of Britain.
lamaldo78@reddit
Please listen carefully to the following options
Calls are recorded for quality and training purposes
If you know the extension number if the department or persons you are trying to reach, please enter now
😒
Mroatcake1@reddit
"Your call is improtant to us" is my favourite.
Herrad@reddit
There's some serious user experience issues with this that you might not have realised. Firstly, when users are speaking to a real human it often takes them significantly longer to actually get to what they're phoning for than they do when it's a robot because there's inherent wiggle room in their expectations. The human taking the call can only answer one at a time so that's already a big impact on efficiency. If we're incorporating politeness as a measure then we introduce the lonely old person problem where people will sit and have a chat with a human if they feel like they have established a connection. This also dramatically impacts efficiency and any measures to hinder this leaves individuals feeling worse than they would if they never had the option in the first place.
Add on to this that there are now probably twice as many people who need to call services like this than there were when we had human agents directing calls. The humans that take these calls also have a horrific job because the majority of people they speak to aren't happy to be calling. If you're mandating that these individuals also have expert domain knowledge you're going to need to spend a lot of money to have these people do an absolutely horrible, thankless job.
Basically there's a good set of reasons we use robots for these sorts of jobs and it's not just outright penny pinching. I can tell you for a fact that absolutely no one misses taking calls in a call centre to simply redirect them. It's one of the worst modern jobs we have as a society.
toby1jabroni@reddit
Yeah that’s pretty messed up, I’d agree with you. I think it’s symptomatic of the political and economic system in which we live, where those with wealth are better off in almost every sense.
I’d change the system if I could, so that there is vastly more equality and no one without enough to survive, even if that meant no more billionaires at all.
PM_ME_VAPORWAVE@reddit
Assisted suicide available immediately for anyone over the age of 18
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Agreed.
With the proper precures and cautious put in place.
PM_ME_VAPORWAVE@reddit
No just straight up assisted suicide immediately
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Nah, people could easily abuse it.
PM_ME_VAPORWAVE@reddit
Alternatively, the mentally ill can finally get what they need
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Oh. You're one or those.
PM_ME_VAPORWAVE@reddit
By the mentally ill I mean myself.
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Oh have a day off.
Get some damn positivity.
PM_ME_VAPORWAVE@reddit
Cool bro
slintslut@reddit
Yeah, you don't fuck with the money. SA or rape? Yeah few years maybe.
Embezzlement from a multi-million pound corporation? See ya never
EELightning@reddit
Make second home ownership ridiculously expensive with a massive tax that's ringfenced for council house building. Stop people/companies owning more than two houses completely. And introduce new council house building program and put into law these houses cannot ever be sold.
Or...
Ban paid education.
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
I think they've done the second home part in Wales. It's great.
Interceptor@reddit
Switch up the media reporting laws. If you print news, you can say something happened, where it happened, and when. You can say why if there are facts to back it up (a volcano exploded due to a tectonic shift) , and add context "MP said X. They'd previously said Y, and another MP has said Q, which supports this) But you can't have an opinion on it.
Kapika96@reddit
I'd rename it the UR. United Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Oust the monarchy too, obviously.
LucDA1@reddit
Agreed. A teacher in my school got done for child pornography. He got 2 years.
A kid from the same school got caught in a big drug bust (a pretty big one tbf) and got 9 years.
Absolute joke.
Ill_Soft_4299@reddit
Poss8bly the first guy admitted owning the images, or provided helpful evidence, so hot a lighter sentence? If it's life, regardless, there's no incentive to confess or provide other evidence etc
dantownsend88@reddit
Everywhere just seems to be full of selfish twats littering, behaving like arseholes and treating the place like shit. A lot of this is on government to sort places out but have some fucking shame. I wish the government would also focus on integration, fed up of my town centre looking like downtown Delhi. Litter everywhere, people spitting and pissing in the street. It's a disgrace
Curly_Fried_Mushroom@reddit
I'd put a massive mountain range running down the length of the country, that would be cool
pikantnasuka@reddit
Wealth inequality and all that goes with it
Sentencing would be so far down my list
ButterscotchFormer84@reddit
‘Great’? You sure about that?
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Yes.
Name a country in the world that doesn't have problems.
ButterscotchFormer84@reddit
a country with problems (ie any country) can still be great.
Just don't think the UK is one of them
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
How so?
Spottyjamie@reddit
Littering is too normalised here
DrHydeous@reddit
I'd ban professional association football. It's an experiment that just hasn't worked.
MarshalOverflow@reddit
The political system.
The only parties who can form a government are two old busted flushes filled with careerists and ideologues who do nothing but tinker round the edges of systems that are no longer fit for purpose.
And politicians are rewarded enough without having a members dining room where they can engorge themselves on restaurant quality food and drink at 90's prices and subsidised by the taxpayer.
UniquePotato@reddit
Littering has a penalty that you need to litter pick until you collect 500kg of litter.
Orange-Squashie@reddit
Re introduce teachers smacking kids.
Oh and start military summer camp for shit head kids
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Not down with teachers smacking kids though I understand your logic.
Military summer camp is an interesting one.
Saying that, I was in cadets as a kid and now wouldn't let my kids anywhere near it.
Bull of bullying, mysoginy and rampant homophobia. Hopefully it's changed
Orange-Squashie@reddit
If my kids swore at a teacher I'd want them to ram their mouth full of soap
I left cadets right before covid hit, it was shite then
Leading_Exercise3155@reddit
Less immigrants who don’t respect us at all
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
I think controlled immigration is the key phrase here.
We'd be nothing without immigration, it's just got out of hand somewhat.
Leading_Exercise3155@reddit
My husband is from Jamaica, he came to England and worked hard and respected our country so my issue doesn’t lie with all immigrants. I’m talking the ones who come here and scrounge, litter, disrespect and commit crimes. Sick to the teeth of seeing it and them getting away with it.
cmm46007@reddit
The PM
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
Who would you have instead?
furyspitfire@reddit
Poverty
ItWasTheChuauaha@reddit
The mass immigration. It has destroyed Britain.
Orange-Squashie@reddit
It's not the way we sentence people it's how long the judge decides to give.
hypotheticalfroglet@reddit
Our climate. I don't mind it raining half the year. Just pick a half and stick to it.
Afraid-Priority-9700@reddit
I'd definitely change sentencing, and the prison system in general, too. Much longer sentences are needed for murderers, rapists and child abusers. I think non-custodial options for non-violent criminals are generally a better option. When a drug addict repeatedly goes to jail for a few months at a time for shoplifting, it helps no-one. He doesn't get the help he needs, prison serves no purpose for him, and when he gets out he goes straight back to petty crime. These people need real intervention to change their lives- drug rehab, education, help to move away from their old contacts and build healthy lifestyles. Save prison for the real dangers to society.
I'd also change our education system, which seems to be failing a lot of kids. This may seem controversial, but I dont think mainstreaming has worked for a lot of neurodiverse kids or kids with learning disabilities. Mainstream schools are unable to give them what they need, while also serving the needs of 29 other kids in the class. Many kids are lost in a gap- unable to thrive at mainstream school, but with issues that aren't seen as severe enough for ASN schools. So I'd introduce more ASN schools, and change the eligibility criteria for them.
LemmysCodPiece@reddit
I want to abolish the Monarchy, just because I find the whole thing to be unjust. Why is it a family of Billionaires get to lord it over us and have us pay for the privilege?
Street_Inflation_124@reddit
I’d, uh, like a chat with your mate when he’s out.
CrazyCoffeeClub@reddit
I agree with you. Sometimes, justice just doesn't seem to make any sense.
ChublesNubles@reddit (OP)
I'm no lawyer and don't understand a lot of it, but it just seems unbalanced.
Previous_Kale_4508@reddit
Don't forget that the teacher will also be on the sex offender's register for life too: he'll never be able to get a job working with children or loads of other jobs for that matter. He might try to hide, but it tends to get found out and, right or wrong, people on the register tend to get hounded from place to place. To all intents and purposes, his life is over.
No-Strike-4560@reddit
Generally, unless it's murder , any crime that involves a company losing money will incur a harsher penalty than something done against the person.
Which should tell you something about what this country's priorities are.
Prestigious_Risk7610@reddit
Yet shoplifting is defacto decriminalised. I suspect you're picking up on large scale frauds of which they rightly get significant sentences
quartersessions@reddit
Yes, this is it. I too would like to see less tolerance of violent offences. But where fraud is concerned longer sentences are a clearer part of the calculation that this sort of offender more actively considers.
In many cases, it is also a means of seeking some recovery for losses. If you've nicked £5 million, you're still sitting on £2 million and the difference in sentence between giving it up and not is a year, you might well be inclined to keep the cash.
BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit
Not saying this to justify it in any way, but just might be interesting to know...
People are judged and sentenced according to the law and the guidelines at the time they committed the offence. Because this has changed over time, sometimes sentences for historical sexual abuse are pretty lenient by today's standards.
There was a teacher from my old school who was convicted for having sex with a 15 year old. It happened in the eighties, and got a light sentence in my view, but it was reported that it was because of the time frame. It seems like back then having sex with a 15 year old was treated as a more petty crime than we think it is today.
Suspicious_Juice9511@reddit
not disagreeing, but also with current guidelines he will do a third of that, unless has significant issues inside. not justifying, just context the 5 does not mean 5.
CrazyCoffeeClub@reddit
I believe that the justice system requires a well-defined strategy and framework for determining appropriate sentences for different crimes.
BupidStastard@reddit
It makes perfect sense when you look at it from a corporate perspective.
Child is abused, no impact to corporate profits, low or no prison sentence
TV/ sports is watched without paying subscription fees, costs corporations money, long prison sentence
Not_So_Busy_Bee@reddit
It’s certainly not great these days. I’d change our political system so it’s impossible to steal and embezzle money so the money actually goes to helping the people instead of lining these criminals’ pockets.
missuseme@reddit
Unify recycling and waste procedures.
There is no reason in a country of our size that certain things are recyclable in some areas and not in others. Make everyone have the same set of bins with clear instructions what goes in each bin regardless of where you live.
BeastMidlands@reddit
Abolish the monarchy yesterday
dkdc80@reddit
Nothing. It’s already great so why change
Fairwolf@reddit
We should federalise the UK. It's been a problem for centuries that all policy and investment is focused around London and the Home Counties whilst everywhere else gets ignored, and that isn't going to change any time soon.
The figures for devolution show it's been enormously successful for Scotland compared to even the best projections pre-devolution. So we should expand upon it to full federalisation and also provide that autonomy to the English regions and allow them to properly invest in themselves with the treasury sabotaging any investment that isn't in London.
unbelievablydull82@reddit
Less contempt and cruelty towards disabled people. This government has acted like cowards, throwing vulnerable people under the bus in order to gain favour with the greedy rich. They're not the only government to do this, and society would be a vastly better place if they actually gave a toss about the lives of those who need support.
shamefully-epic@reddit
The council being stuck using preferred suppliers who then hike up prices when it would be much cheaper with more options to buy elsewhere.
idontlikemondays321@reddit
I’d scrap any schools that segregate based on wealth or sex or religion. We all live in the same world, we have to learn to be around everyone. Unless pupils have specific needs that can’t be met in a conventional classroom, there’s no real reason for them to exist
WilkosJumper2@reddit
Nationalism and blind patriotism
donkey-rider69@reddit
Its leadership id absolutely wipe house with every party and start fresh get some younger people in who actually care for the uks people and not other countries people
Nelgumford@reddit
Spend 100% of the road tax on the roads, instead of about 5%. I mean, we are already paying, we should get it.
terryjuicelawson@reddit
Problem there is it isn't road tax, it is Vehicle Excise Duty, and roads are paid for out of general taxation as they are a benefit to us all. If it was solely down to drivers to cover all road costs with the yearly tax they pay, it would absolutely rocket.
CareBearCartel@reddit
Our relationship with the United States. They are not our friend and never have been really. It's always been a one way relationship where we've been treated like their little lapdog.
Now they are little more than a Russian puppet state we should be trying to close as many ties to them as possible and move towards a better relationship with Europe and Canada.
Illustrious-Sir-8615@reddit
A wealth tax and reform to land ownership and the right to roam.
terryjuicelawson@reddit
Problem is you can't really compare two crimes and directly say "this should get more than that" as each have their own context and sentencing guidelines which go into a lot more detail than a single sentence. One is likely at the low end of one crime and the severe end of the other. So I guess... media reporting of crimes needs to change to avoid ragebait?
Sea-Still5427@reddit
Lift minimum wage by 50%, reducing Employer's NIC (which increases this month, adding cost for employers which is likely to drive down hourly rates) to offset it, increase the personal allowance to 20K, and add higher tax bands at 200K, 300K, 400K.
That would make work more attractive than benefits, and would free a lot of people to choose something they enjoy.
zone6isgreener@reddit
I have three related culture points.
I'd change the constant need to moan and engage in negative hyperbole online, I would abolish the whatabout culture for positive changes i.e here's this change and it solves 70% of the problem or helps a load of people - now here's the media or lobby group with whatabout in effect demanding perfection or it should not be done. Finally in person I would abolish the can't do attitude that plagues everything from voluntary group committees to the public sector where the moment something is proposed, the default is for people in the meeting is to insist on thinking up every means possible to say why it cannot be done, no matter how tenuous or off the cuff/weak the objections are i.e I want the can-do of the Victorian age where progress was pursued
Prestigious_Risk7610@reddit
Mindset.
Success is looked down upon and presumed that any success is either luck or you had to sacrifice your first born.
This combined with constant talking down of the UK or personal situations, but without any attempt to improve it.
Sometimes I feel like I'm watching a gameshow where contestants need to convince themselves and others that they live a pathetic miserable life.
That being said I'm not going anywhere, there's lots of great things about the UK
_a_m_s_m@reddit
Yep, killing anyone with a car seems to just get a slap on the wrist.
Also a land value tax & planning reform.
fisher30man@reddit
the system is a joke a 40yr old man by me got arrested for stabbing two 15yr old boys and he will only serve 4yrs one lad was in intensive care the other had minor injuries. this country is disgusting.
Status-Anybody-5529@reddit
Get rid of national insurance contributions and copy the Australian superannuation pension system of compulsory 12% contributions by the employer to a fund of the employee's choosing.
Much better than the convoluted and scammy opt out scheme we have at the moment.
Also cancel triple lock before it bankrupts us.
Suspicious_Field_429@reddit
The teacher only assaulted a minor, your friend,however committed the most heinous crime of stealing profits from a big company and it's only fair he should have a harsher sentence (never mind the child who will probably be fucked up mentally for the rest oftheir life)
vengarlof@reddit
Majority Foreign ownership -
What I mean by this is investment properties in London - causing ridiculously high house prices and making many parts of the city to be unliveable by normal people
Transport companies being owned by other countries and experiencing supernormal profits
I’d change it to a similar system to Thailand where majority ownership needs to be by someone who lives here etc
BabaYagasDopple@reddit
Politicians. They’d all be out on their arses for being deceitful scumbags. I don’t know how to fix it but something needs to be done to make them think longer term than the 5 years their parties in power
Smooth-Purchase1175@reddit
Just the one? I don't know, I'd have to organise a lottery of social issues that I think need fixing and then choose a lucky winner.
Richard__Papen@reddit
If we're talking prison time, then IMO there needs to be proper attempts at rehabilitation while people are inside. The reoffending rate is too high.
Sea-Still5427@reddit
This could involve rethinking the categorisation system for adults male prisoners. At the moment most start off in Cat B, and it might take months or even years before they go to a Cat C, where there's more emphasis on training and education. I think as soon as you're sentenced you should have a thorough evaluation and a personal programme tailored to rehabilitation. That would also give prisoners goals and perhaps hope.
Pleasant-chamoix-653@reddit
hard labour if not capital punishment, violent prisoners should leave broken, not fully rested and gym hardened
Pleasant-chamoix-653@reddit
lol there's too much. I'd like us to stop pretending we are a global power and concentrate on actually running our country and not wars inUkraine
Andries89@reddit
Asset and wealth inequality
Bulbasaurus__Rex@reddit
Fix social care for children and adults. The most vulnerable and voiceless people are the most marginalised in our society i.e. our children, people with learning disabilities and adults who lack capacity to make their own decisions.
SpinyGlider67@reddit
More moss in urban environments
Gusatron@reddit
I came here to drink milk and kick ass...and I've just finished my milk
SpinyGlider67@reddit
Moss has no ass.
What do you mean?
HirsuteHacker@reddit
Neoliberalism
ShortNefariousness2@reddit
The people who want tax cuts are the same group who want longer prison sentences. I suppose we could cut pensions and the NHS to fund USA levels of incarceration.
LordAxalon110@reddit
I'd quite like competent politicians who use logic and science to build our nation, not be bought and paid for by the billionaires.
Think about how incredible it would be to have a country that isn't run by greed, popularity and personal gains.
Albion-Chap@reddit
I'd fund grassroots and school sport better, and get at least one additional session of physical activity for kids in each week. I'd also extend it being mandatory until 18.
_J0hnD0e_@reddit
Our entire political system, including those in power and in politics overall. Might as well throw in our wealthy tax-dodging "elite" too!
I won't go into too much detail for fear of running foul to any rules against this sort of discussion.
Klossomfawn@reddit
Add another arterial motorway
Ok_Raspberry5383@reddit
I mean if I truly had the power to change something I'd be focusing on preventing this kind of thing happening in the first place.
It's widely known that deterrents don't work very well (e.g. the US has capital punishment yet massacres are almost commonplace). There was a study a number of years ago that demonstrated that the higher the probability that you'd be caught acted as a far better deterrent than the sentence you receive.
In the case mentioned in the post, I'd say better safeguarding, background checks, education of both future perpetrators and potential victims is necessary to both change people's bad behaviours and help victims to spot it early and report it early.
Swimming_Possible_68@reddit
S government that cares about the sick, the disabled, the vulnerable and the poor and actually tried to help them rather than punish them would be nice!