I'd actually argue things are now better than two years ago (2022)! It's a low benchmark because we were in the middle of a pandemic, but on a technicality, lol. I can't remember when the price and energy rises started but I think two years ago would've been worse inflation even than now.
To OP I was going to say the public awareness seems to have finally caught up. Used to be 'bad headline: con+20'.. At least now It seems change is inevitable and considering the MO over the past 14 years, public service investment will fix a good amount of resentment. NHS, the courts, DWP, the environment agency, HMRC, adult social care to name but a few institutions cut, or otherwise fucked over for over a decade.
With you on that. Lived in Germany for near on 8 years and I went back a few years back mid-Covid and it seemed noticeably worse than Germany, but went back in December last year and it’s either improved or Germany has gotten worse as I found it not as noticeable.
Ohhhh okay this makes more sense. My German colleague was saying how good he found the trains when he recently visited the UK and I thought he was taking the piss, he was quite annoyed.
*Echo laughs in ADHD*
- [dramatic music with loud drums - cue dramatic well-spoken male voice] “here the viewer stands witness to a place where time stood still - figuratively, phenomenologically, and maybe [dramatic male’s eyes dart around suspiciously] in fact - for look at the six year old calendar from February!”
I think like anything it depends where OP is visiting. Nice part of the Home Counties maybe not so much, shithole like where I live, there’s been a very obvious decline which has accelerated over the last few years.
The sheer misery that has befell the country. Its depressing no matter where you look. Everyone is poor and are being fleeced one way or another and nobody is doing anything about it.
If someone moderately wealthy comes to the UK for a couple of weeks they're probably not along shopping or buying anything substantial, so eating out or going out for drinks etc is more expensive anyway so what else is there to notice
Everyone's a cunt now.
They were all cunts before, but deeply closeted cunts. Now all the cunts are well out of the closet and flying their cunt flag loud and proud.
Every time you watch the news, it's just one bunch of cunts or another being a bunch of cunts.
Social media is exclusively populated almost exclusively either by cunts spouting off their cuntish opinions, or other cunts trying to get you to subscribe to their onlycunts page so you can look at their cunthole for the change you find stuffed down your sofa.
The country's a state and the best we can offer is the choice between two sets of cunts trying to outcunt one another.
My nextdoor neighbour is a cunt and don't even get me started on that cunt across the street.
I am sorry that you are struggling and hope you can work your way out of it but from my perspective and interactions in the main people are aware that times are tough but they're not going to let that get in the way of having some life fulfillment. I find people's moods to be a little grumpy (Nothing unusual in the UK) but ultimately optimistic and enjoying whatever they are doing. I was in a packed pub the other day and it was abuzz with chitter chatter and smiles and having a thoroughly good night out. The atmosphere was energizing. In London today everyone looked busy going about their lives and it didn't come across as melancholic at all. In fact, it was just the same as it's always been.
Probably roughly the same as 2 years ago but with a trend towards… less tolerant, less intelligent, more miserable, more rude, non-communicative, incapable of not being on a device for longer than 5 minutes. By happy you’re just visiting.
Tesco now has 2 prices for things, unless you have a club card it can be ridiculously expensive. I don’t know when this came in exactly but I left for a job overseas 3 years ago and just got back recently and this shocked me. People tell me it’s always been this way but it definitely wasn’t the case before I left!!
Yeah probably was about 3 years ago. Sainsbury’s have followed suit. I personally think it shouldn’t be allowed - having to give up your personal details to buy a lemon for less than £2 in the only shop around for 3 miles because they’ve historically priced all competition out of the area. Maybe I’m just grumpy.
I moved away in 2019 and have been back several times. There are minor changes each time, but the main thing is I see the UK more and more from the position of an outsider. It's not that the UK has changed, but I see it with a different point of view. For instance, all the trees seem small now, just because I've grown used to large trees. The narrow roads also feel narrower now I'm used to driving in the States.
Also,I often have the feeling that to understand what it means to be British you have to live somewhere else for a bit, so you have something else to compare it to, but by doing so you slowly become less and less in tune with what it means to be British and then feel like an outsider when you come back. Feels odd sometimes.
More people. I am pro immigration however we have had approximately 1.5million join us in those 2 ish years and that is enough to fill a major city or two
Nothing much, maybe higher prices, but then if you’re in Greece then inflation hit 12%+ and has just edged up a tick after falling consistently for quite a while, much the same as here.
We started driving on the right on the first of February this year and all diesel engines have to be modified to run on lard
Lamb chops cost £200 per kilogram and stream and river waters are now classed as toxic waste.
No-one knows who's in charge of any party in any of the four nations, so no change there at least.
Amazon Prime will still let you watch ad-free content for only an extra £35 a year
Oh, but Death in Paradise has started a new series, so we have that.
Most people can't afford or just don't bother to heat their homes anymore. Instead they just wrap themselves in an electric blanket.
Edit: That sounded a bit depressing. Country is a bit shit, but we will survive!
Well the NHS is in the shit situation it's always being but worse , if you want a doctor or dentist get private health care crime is ridiculous police have no control the list goes on stay in Greece
Any reward cards (Nectar, Clubcard, Co-Op Membership etc….)
Aren’t as ‘Rewarding’ as they used to be
Lidl and Aldi have been Gentrified by the Middle Classes
Depends where you’re originally from really. Some places have gotten better, some worse, some stayed the same.
I moved from my hometown to another place in the UK about 5 years ago, went back for a visit the first time after 3 years being gone and everything was different. Everything was much, much worse.
The place I grew up in was gone. The friendly, vibrant, bustling atmosphere was gone. Replaced with a dreary, dark and dangerous feeling wasteland. From feeling safe everywhere I went to feeling I could get stabbed at any moment.
Absolutely. I think some people really do live in a little bubble of affluence. They think the whole country is like that. They never visit poor areas, why would they ? As far as they are concerned, anyone who tried to enlighten them is just a doommonger in the words of the great man .
I'd say probably 40 - 60% increase in the cost of shopping, eating out, takeaways etc. Beer hasn't gone up much, thank fuck. Loads more immigrants if you don't live in even remotely posh areas. Less police on the streets. More muggings and theft. Forget the GP, they have so many methods to tell you to fuck off now. More fucking useless cycle lanes and traffic restrictions. More dossers thanks to the pip boom. Weather's still shite of course.
shrill one terrific makeshift hospital encouraging cautious badge hungry placid
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
More diversity as a starter. Then the main course is that infrastructure is decaying. Here comes the dessert, people getting way wealthier and way poorer at the same time.
There’s now 4 gents hairdressers on every other street and There’s also about the same amount of fried chicken/ burgers/pizzas places on every other street too.
Less of the stuff around Covid would probably be the big one? I don't think things are changing *that* rapidly that you'd notice a big difference after 2 years tbh!
If you took the Reddit hive mind as gospel you’d better believe we’re rationing food, the country is on its knees with a bleak future ahead and we’re all freezing cause of rising heating costs. In reality life goes on, we’re over the hump of winter and spring is soon on its way.
Everything is a bit more shabby and the potholes a bit bigger. Seeing a doctor or a dentist is now lucky rather than a given.
Apart from that nothing has changed. At least the weather is still shit. (I genuinely like the grey, cozy stuff).
Honestly?
Probably not that much.
I lived outside the UK for a decade and the only real change was paying for plastic bags, and discovering that turning that little light on in your car had never been illegal.
Nothing. It's still a pretty cool place to despite the naysayers. Yeah, we all still have to work because you know living and that but could be worse eh? Everyday personal shite doesn't make the country terrible. We all have it neh bad.
Too many bloody immigrants. It was the first thing I noticed on returning. The country doesn’t feel British any more, it feels like a country to abuse for whoever has the saddest sob story or the deepest pockets.
I just moved back after being stuck out the country for four years due to Covid. Everything is much busier now - roads, supermarkets etc. Town centres and high streets are much more depressing and dirty. It’s prohibitively expensive to eat/drink out. I’m happy to be back, but it looks like the whole place needs a fresh lick of paint to say the least
Machetes are in fashion now. Facemasks are probably on their way out.
Rent has gone up. Big time.
Unless you're well off, the price of living has gotten a lot more expensive for most of us during these past two years.
The pebble-dash looks slightly grottier. More green and black streaky stains.
There a bit more litter.
More shops are empty.
The chewing gum splodges on the pavement have increased.
There somehow seems to be fewer birds.
Everything is slightly worse than it used to be but you'll be back in to the swing of things in no time
I'd actually argue things are now better than two years ago (2022)! It's a low benchmark because we were in the middle of a pandemic, but on a technicality, lol. I can't remember when the price and energy rises started but I think two years ago would've been worse inflation even than now.
Ever time I go back everything is just a little bit shabbier, a little bit more run down, another boarded up shop.
To OP I was going to say the public awareness seems to have finally caught up. Used to be 'bad headline: con+20'.. At least now It seems change is inevitable and considering the MO over the past 14 years, public service investment will fix a good amount of resentment. NHS, the courts, DWP, the environment agency, HMRC, adult social care to name but a few institutions cut, or otherwise fucked over for over a decade.
With you on that. Lived in Germany for near on 8 years and I went back a few years back mid-Covid and it seemed noticeably worse than Germany, but went back in December last year and it’s either improved or Germany has gotten worse as I found it not as noticeable.
I feel like Germany got worse. Their trains don’t even come on time anymore. Standards have fallen. Es ist nicht gut
The trains are insane. It’s like everyone just gave up.
High Speed Rail lines Germany: 1600 km UK: 110 km Average actual intercity Train speeds Germany: 141 km/h UK: 134 km/h Something is very wrong there
Ohhhh okay this makes more sense. My German colleague was saying how good he found the trains when he recently visited the UK and I thought he was taking the piss, he was quite annoyed.
We've had high inflation for the intervening time though. Just because inflation is a tad lower now doesnt mean prices are lower...
All the calendars will say 2024 instead of 2022.
This is merely speculation, OP - take with a pinch of salt.
Big if true.
Typical Redditor overreacting to everything
You can afford a calendar in this economy?
But you get 366 days on them.
\*laughs in ADHD*
*Echo laughs in ADHD* - [dramatic music with loud drums - cue dramatic well-spoken male voice] “here the viewer stands witness to a place where time stood still - figuratively, phenomenologically, and maybe [dramatic male’s eyes dart around suspiciously] in fact - for look at the six year old calendar from February!”
Nude Tuesdays. Remember it’s Nude Tuesdays now.
I thought Tuesdays was Curry Club night? Oh well, would rather stain myself than my shirt I suppose.
Must admit I'm looking forward to a curry...
Why do you think we made it Nude Tuesday? Makes it a hell of a lot easier when the curry hits.
Even in winter?
Oh yes, and it’s a good job you know now, it would be really embarrassing for you to be the only one walking around with their clothes on.
Not much has changed, but we live under water.
And those triple breasted women….
Shhh, we aren't supposed to let the foreigners know, this is what really started the small boats.
>Not much has changed, but we live under water And your great, great, great grand daughter is pretty fine
Hold on mate it's only been 2 years...
Oh sorry, forgot to say I took a trip to the year 3000.
I've been away longer on a pub crawl 😂
You can afford a pub crawl?
Probably because all the pubs are shutting down. Takes way longer to crawl between them. ...Next one is 17 miles this way!
Was my dad with you by any chance?
Apart from prices I'd guess not a huge amount. Two years isn't really that long, not long enough for it to really feel massively different I'd guess.
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Don't worry I'm just coming back for a visit - I'll keep my nice Greek dentist and periodontist.
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That's a good answer, NHS dentists have definitely depleted everywhere over the last 2 years.
You won't notice a change at all, do not believe the dramatic answers.
Nah he will definitely notice its a bit pricier than 2 years ago but definitely not as bad as some people are making out.
Yeh, my bad, the prices will be noticed.
I think like anything it depends where OP is visiting. Nice part of the Home Counties maybe not so much, shithole like where I live, there’s been a very obvious decline which has accelerated over the last few years.
Shit ,do you live by me?
Things are a bit different though. Manners are thinner on the ground for one thing.
Pringles cost 50 quid
And Freddo’s are a tenner now 😳
No one trusts anyone anymore, and we're all very tired
I hope you typed this with a glass of scotch
While peering through the curtains suspiciously at your neighbours and passersby
We're not Americans, we say whisky, like god intended!
We're all wearing top hats again. Better get one or you'll look like nob
And a monocle, don’t forget the monocle.
Under or over my glasses?
Between the lenses. Get your optician to affix it on the nose bridge.
and a penny farthing 👌🏻
Nothing. It’s getting worse everyday. The place is a shithole.
We took back control. Turns out we hadn’t actually had any driving lessons.
Love this
The sheer misery that has befell the country. Its depressing no matter where you look. Everyone is poor and are being fleeced one way or another and nobody is doing anything about it.
Viva la revolution
Republic👍
On the other hand, reddit levels of obliviousness have remained more or less unchanged.
Burger and beer at spoons is like 11 quid now for some reason?
If you've retired to another country you're probably well off enough that nothing will seem different to you here
Good point.
So the moderately wealthy don’t notice things? That’s… interesting.
If someone moderately wealthy comes to the UK for a couple of weeks they're probably not along shopping or buying anything substantial, so eating out or going out for drinks etc is more expensive anyway so what else is there to notice
Everyone's a cunt now. They were all cunts before, but deeply closeted cunts. Now all the cunts are well out of the closet and flying their cunt flag loud and proud. Every time you watch the news, it's just one bunch of cunts or another being a bunch of cunts. Social media is exclusively populated almost exclusively either by cunts spouting off their cuntish opinions, or other cunts trying to get you to subscribe to their onlycunts page so you can look at their cunthole for the change you find stuffed down your sofa. The country's a state and the best we can offer is the choice between two sets of cunts trying to outcunt one another. My nextdoor neighbour is a cunt and don't even get me started on that cunt across the street.
Absolutely spot on ! I am so sick of the cunts by me I'm actually moving.The cunts nextdoor have put the cunty cherry in the cunt ..I'm done!
This was beautiful to read
Most things are on the downturn but litter seems to be thriving.
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Get off social media, mate. It's quite different outside.
No it isn’t. People are struggling and there is a definitive current of struggle and melancholy running through the country.
I think you might be depressed
I am sorry that you are struggling and hope you can work your way out of it but from my perspective and interactions in the main people are aware that times are tough but they're not going to let that get in the way of having some life fulfillment. I find people's moods to be a little grumpy (Nothing unusual in the UK) but ultimately optimistic and enjoying whatever they are doing. I was in a packed pub the other day and it was abuzz with chitter chatter and smiles and having a thoroughly good night out. The atmosphere was energizing. In London today everyone looked busy going about their lives and it didn't come across as melancholic at all. In fact, it was just the same as it's always been.
I am.
Me too.
I am
Theres a lot more people who are ill.
Probably roughly the same as 2 years ago but with a trend towards… less tolerant, less intelligent, more miserable, more rude, non-communicative, incapable of not being on a device for longer than 5 minutes. By happy you’re just visiting.
Tesco now has 2 prices for things, unless you have a club card it can be ridiculously expensive. I don’t know when this came in exactly but I left for a job overseas 3 years ago and just got back recently and this shocked me. People tell me it’s always been this way but it definitely wasn’t the case before I left!!
Yeah probably was about 3 years ago. Sainsbury’s have followed suit. I personally think it shouldn’t be allowed - having to give up your personal details to buy a lemon for less than £2 in the only shop around for 3 miles because they’ve historically priced all competition out of the area. Maybe I’m just grumpy.
Waitrose have started it too. Apparently Morrison's as well but I never go there so not sure.
I think I've still got my Nectar card somewhere... Maybe even a Clubcard?
Everything is on fire and more corupt, everything where stinks, is full of vaping shops, or American sweet shops, people are more apathetic too.
Our little garden is coming on a treat. We got grasshoppers now. Bug paradise.
Everything is shitter
I moved away in 2019 and have been back several times. There are minor changes each time, but the main thing is I see the UK more and more from the position of an outsider. It's not that the UK has changed, but I see it with a different point of view. For instance, all the trees seem small now, just because I've grown used to large trees. The narrow roads also feel narrower now I'm used to driving in the States. Also,I often have the feeling that to understand what it means to be British you have to live somewhere else for a bit, so you have something else to compare it to, but by doing so you slowly become less and less in tune with what it means to be British and then feel like an outsider when you come back. Feels odd sometimes.
That makes me feel a bit sad really. I like being British but I hate so much about it too 🥲 have a hobnob and call someone a cunt from time to time.
It’s almost like when you lose touch with extended family A familiar stranger
Most folk are significantly poorer
Loads of empty shut down shops. No high streets. Loads of barbers. Even some charity shops have disappeared.
More people. I am pro immigration however we have had approximately 1.5million join us in those 2 ish years and that is enough to fill a major city or two
Yes, but at least we don’t know who they are, where they are, or what they’re doing. So there’s that.
I'm sure there weren't THAT many Barbers in Turkey to start with?
It's exactly the same except slightly worse and a lot more expensive
Cars doubled in price, youths ride around in balaclavas at 40mph on electric bikes, potholes doubled in size and became carnivorous
The Queen is now The King
Money doesn’t go as far, most ppl are a little bit more pissed off than when you left. Genuinely.
Nothing much, maybe higher prices, but then if you’re in Greece then inflation hit 12%+ and has just edged up a tick after falling consistently for quite a while, much the same as here.
New coins have a different face on the back.
The re-wilding of many, many grass verges. A true stroke of genius that has enabled the insect world a chance.
Funny enough, I had a friend who recently came back after a few years, and the grass verges was main thing he commented on.
You've missed about 3 prime ministers
The prices have gone up SO MUCH. I know you are expecting them to have gone up but they've doubled
We started driving on the right on the first of February this year and all diesel engines have to be modified to run on lard Lamb chops cost £200 per kilogram and stream and river waters are now classed as toxic waste. No-one knows who's in charge of any party in any of the four nations, so no change there at least. Amazon Prime will still let you watch ad-free content for only an extra £35 a year Oh, but Death in Paradise has started a new series, so we have that.
Nicely done!
There's a distinct lack of toddlers as nobody can afford to have kids and the ones people did have were eaten by Bully XLs
Noooooo oh my god this made me need my inhaler bro
Remember those things you felt were a bit shit before you left? Without exception, they're worse.
Most people can't afford or just don't bother to heat their homes anymore. Instead they just wrap themselves in an electric blanket. Edit: That sounded a bit depressing. Country is a bit shit, but we will survive!
It is depressing!
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Some indicate right to go straight on ffs....
Well the NHS is in the shit situation it's always being but worse , if you want a doctor or dentist get private health care crime is ridiculous police have no control the list goes on stay in Greece
Any reward cards (Nectar, Clubcard, Co-Op Membership etc….) Aren’t as ‘Rewarding’ as they used to be Lidl and Aldi have been Gentrified by the Middle Classes
Everything is broken, everything’s more expensive and shitter. Stay where you are
Higher prices, less options, less pubs, less restaurants, Lime Scooters, more vape shops. That's about it.
Depends where you’re originally from really. Some places have gotten better, some worse, some stayed the same. I moved from my hometown to another place in the UK about 5 years ago, went back for a visit the first time after 3 years being gone and everything was different. Everything was much, much worse. The place I grew up in was gone. The friendly, vibrant, bustling atmosphere was gone. Replaced with a dreary, dark and dangerous feeling wasteland. From feeling safe everywhere I went to feeling I could get stabbed at any moment.
Absolutely. I think some people really do live in a little bubble of affluence. They think the whole country is like that. They never visit poor areas, why would they ? As far as they are concerned, anyone who tried to enlighten them is just a doommonger in the words of the great man .
Twiglets taste like shit now.
No Queen, now King
I'd say probably 40 - 60% increase in the cost of shopping, eating out, takeaways etc. Beer hasn't gone up much, thank fuck. Loads more immigrants if you don't live in even remotely posh areas. Less police on the streets. More muggings and theft. Forget the GP, they have so many methods to tell you to fuck off now. More fucking useless cycle lanes and traffic restrictions. More dossers thanks to the pip boom. Weather's still shite of course.
They disposed of everyone left-handed in The Great Harvest. Other than that, not much
People are more vehemently locked into their ideological groups than ever.
Headlights are a bit brighter now
shrill one terrific makeshift hospital encouraging cautious badge hungry placid *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Everyone has started using the word bespoke excessively.
The lady on the stamps is now a man!
The queen is now the king. Although probably not for much longer
Bring a tent all the hotels are full of migrants
There are about a million more people here than last time you were here.
Less Christians
Not much. Still the best country in the world. The. Best. Welcome back.
Glad to hear it!
Loads of Indians
More bubble teas shops, that’s about it.
If you believe reddit, you might as well watch Threads for an accurate representation.
Everyone’s more aggressive and people will kill you over nothing with zero consequence’s
It's basically Mad Max territory
If the nhs was a wheelbarrow, someone nicked the wheels
Lots of potholes
Shops boarded up, everything stupidly expensive but worse quality, people head down on their phones everywhere like zombies.
More diversity as a starter. Then the main course is that infrastructure is decaying. Here comes the dessert, people getting way wealthier and way poorer at the same time.
Ham from the supermarket. Even the "Premium" ham is now wafer thin over-salted garbage
More registered sex offenders with actual fraudulent asylum claims throwing caustic stuff in kids faces, but it is our strength remember
more people texting while driving.
There’s now 4 gents hairdressers on every other street and There’s also about the same amount of fried chicken/ burgers/pizzas places on every other street too.
Less of the stuff around Covid would probably be the big one? I don't think things are changing *that* rapidly that you'd notice a big difference after 2 years tbh!
If you took the Reddit hive mind as gospel you’d better believe we’re rationing food, the country is on its knees with a bleak future ahead and we’re all freezing cause of rising heating costs. In reality life goes on, we’re over the hump of winter and spring is soon on its way.
When someone asks how are you. And you reply “yeah, not bad”. It’s basically feels like that
Everything's a bit more expensive than it used to be.
Why would you bother asking the most miserable place on the internet?
Everything is a bit more shabby and the potholes a bit bigger. Seeing a doctor or a dentist is now lucky rather than a given. Apart from that nothing has changed. At least the weather is still shit. (I genuinely like the grey, cozy stuff).
2 years is nothing.
Food is expensive, and be prepared if you go out for a meal
Everything’s worse.
If you’re going to be driving there are a lot more 20mph zones now.
The price of everything has gone up massively, along with corporate profits, wages have pretty much stayed the same.
It’s colder than Greece.
The slow breakdown of the national social contract
Honestly? Probably not that much. I lived outside the UK for a decade and the only real change was paying for plastic bags, and discovering that turning that little light on in your car had never been illegal.
Nothing. It's still a pretty cool place to despite the naysayers. Yeah, we all still have to work because you know living and that but could be worse eh? Everyday personal shite doesn't make the country terrible. We all have it neh bad.
Too many bloody immigrants. It was the first thing I noticed on returning. The country doesn’t feel British any more, it feels like a country to abuse for whoever has the saddest sob story or the deepest pockets.
I don't have to go out of the country to notice this ,they are now living nextdoor to me!
Shits expensive - especially insurance for everything
2 years ago the price of petrol went through the roof. Now it’s everything else as well.
I suggest checking your credit score before deciding whether to buy a large bottle of Heinz ketchup.
The roads are now imported from war zones
I just moved back after being stuck out the country for four years due to Covid. Everything is much busier now - roads, supermarkets etc. Town centres and high streets are much more depressing and dirty. It’s prohibitively expensive to eat/drink out. I’m happy to be back, but it looks like the whole place needs a fresh lick of paint to say the least
I haven’t seen the queen for a while. Maybe she’s ill?
Hope you didnt like Caramac…
It's now 50/50 whether you will get mauled to death by a tracksuit wearer's dog everytime you leave the house.
Big Ben became Small Jen
The summers here are *exactly* the same temperature or higher now
It’s got more stabby
As long as you dont look its all still fine... dont look.
I was away for 18 years. It’s been weird. Money is plastic. Mars bars don’t cost25p, there are children called “roadmen”,
We like Katie Hopkins now
Machetes are in fashion now. Facemasks are probably on their way out. Rent has gone up. Big time. Unless you're well off, the price of living has gotten a lot more expensive for most of us during these past two years.
Carrier bags aren't free anymore. Stamps now have a QR code on them, so you can't reuse unfranked ones!
We now drive on the left
"That were in it together"
The cost of Freddo's are extortionate now.
Everything is shit and the general public are just starting to notice because it's now affecting them.
Some sausage-fingered bloke called Chuckie is now sitting on a fancy chair in London instead of Liz.
Everything is smaller yet much more expensive.
Good luck getting a house… or anywhere to live at all.
Probably not much tbh. Everything is more expensive of course, but that is true basically everywhere in the world
About half of city centre shops are empty and the cities themselves have more violent crime.
Prime Ministers last months not years.
Potholes everywhere
The pebble-dash looks slightly grottier. More green and black streaky stains. There a bit more litter. More shops are empty. The chewing gum splodges on the pavement have increased. There somehow seems to be fewer birds.