this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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UK Politics

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General Discussion for politics in the UK.
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A majority of British people believe that Britain’s best days are behind it, according to an exclusive new poll which finds that voters believe “nothing in Britain really works any more” under Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Government.

The poll, conducted by pollsters We Think, found that 52% of voters agree with the statement that “Britain’s best days are behind it”, with 58% also agreeing that “nothing in Britain really works any more”, with just 13% disagreeing.

The overwhelming public dissatisfaction with the state of the country, is mirrored in perceptions of the Conservative Government’s handling of public services over the past 13 years.

61% of voters say that, overall, public services have got worse under the Conservatives, with just 7% saying they have got better.

This includes 67% who say the NHS has got worse and 54% who say schools have got worse.

The finding also suggest that voters disbelieve Rishi Sunak’s claim to have brought down crime, with 49% saying it has actually increased, compared to just 8% who believe it has come down. Government claims to have brought down crime since 2010 are based on excluding fraud and online crimes from the data.

Public perceptions of the Government’s handling of the economy is also low, according to our poll. 53% say the UK is doing worse than other similar countries economically, compared to just 9% who believe claims that Britain is doing better than comparable nations.

The overall perception of the Government’s poor performance appears to have also worsened public opinion of the Prime Minister himself. According to our poll 48% of voters say their impression of Rishi Sunak has gone downhill since he first became PM, compared to just 10% who say their impression of him has improved.

Even some remaining Conservative voters appear to be losing faith in the PM with one-in-five (18%) saying their view of him has got worse since he entered Downing Street.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Don't be mistaken - this is all deliberate.

Not just the enshitification of the services that meant life here was slightly less shit than in the other capitalist "superpowers", but also the lamenting of the "good old days" which will 100% move in to a "Make Britain Great Again" type campaign for the sleaziest tory to pick up and run with, and easily win, because they'll talk about how the NHS needs to be restored to its former glory, but in reality they just want marginalised people to be ignorable (if not punishable for existing) again.
Remember the NHS bus? It's going to happen again.

And sure, some people will vote for it because they see through it and to them the cruelty (and racism, queerphobia, ableism and so on) are the point, but most others will vote for it because they either fall for the co-opting of leftist ideas and/or buy in to whatever the media tells them because we're not taught critical thinking skills at school making our general population extremely easy to manipulate.

And don't even get me started on the impotent "opposition" we supposedly have to replace them.

There is no voting or reforming ourselves out of this, the system is designed to make you think you're only allowed to play by its rules, because those rules ensure its existence. The only way to free ourselves is by abolishing the systems that keep us down for the benefit and enrichment of a handful of people.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Absolutely correct.

I often wonder whether the UK is used as a petri dish for neoliberal macroeconomic experimentation in the West (in the same way China does with certain megacities and provinces). How far you can cut taxes, how low you can drop living standards, how well you can use the media to manipulate the way that a population behaves.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That would be the US. Wealthy conservatives here have discovered they can go so far as to even kill or maim large numbers of us for no reason other than amusement. What's the worst that'll happen? A strongly worded opinion piece on the news, a peaceful protest or two, maybe even a riot that destroys the working class part of town. All easily ignored by people who can jump on a private jet and fly to any corner of the world at a moments notice.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

My fear is the rise of fascism. Just saw a poll this morning that showed a large number of young people have no interest in democracy and would welcome a strong military take over.

Frightening when you consider yesterday was the anniversary of Pinochet’s seizure of power in Chile.

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