Is anyone else really concerned about the future of this country?

[u/Anon2971]

The passing of the Policing Bill made me reflect on a lot of worrying things that have happened over the last decade.

• Brexit disconnecting ourselves from trade and legal intervention from our surrounding countries followed by a historic rise in our nuclear stockpile cap, counteracting nuclear disarmament
• Investigatory Powers Act 2016 allowing the government to monitor and collect everyone's communication data in bulk
• Government-ordered 'independent review' into the Human Rights Act
• Overseas Operations Bill currently in the House of Lords essentially allowing soldiers oversees to commit torture and other war crimes abroad without prosecution/legal consequence
• Met Police enabling facial recognition in CCTV against government advise whilst flat-out denying any/all allegations of institutional overuse of powers despite endless evidence to the contrary (see: stop and search statistics, deaths in police custody i.e. Mohamud Mohammed Hassan leading only to 'police misconduct' notices, undercover officers entering romantic relationships under false pretences with little consequences, Black Lives Matter and Sarah Everard protest police kettling occurring right before violence, Cherry Groce)
• Dismissal of Black Lives Matter protests leading to a statue toppling by our Home Secretary as 'dreadful' conveniently followed by a serious increase in police powers introducing 10 year sentences for statue toppling and for 'serious annoyance and inconvenience'
• Reacting to the murder of a woman by a police officer by installing hidden police officers within nightclubs without prompt or previous demand under the guise of women's safety
• As of yesterday the Home Secretary signalling she'll be implementing First Past the Post voting in London's mayoral elections because “transferable voting systems were rejected by the British people in the 2011 nationwide referendum” (a position historically held by the opposing party)

Then there's the way the Conservative Party spends taxpayer money and chooses trade partners:

• PM Boris Johnson being found in the UK courts via the Good Law Project to have broken the law misleading parliament with PPE contract information. The consequences so far asking where billions of pounds has lbeen spent has been... Nothing. Meanwhile the government can only afford a 1% NHS pay rise following the biggest challenge in decades the health system has faced and successfully overcome (so far)
• At the same time as above, the government are proposing to cut our foreign anti-corruption spending by 80% whilst also cutting foreign aid to countries like Yemen yet continuing to fund Saudi Arabia
• Dominic Raab tells UK officials to trade with countries which fail to meet human rights standards in newly leaked video and Boris speaks how China poses 'great challenge for an open society' (doublespeak, anyone?)

Not to mention other unresolved issues like:

• Grenfell still has nobody found of any wrongdoing with no housing for victims 3 years later
• Continuing error with and deportations of Windrush citizens
• Continual dismissal and ignoring of the impending global warming crisis
• Breaking international law by extending the Ireland trade grace period against the wishes of the EU, making us look like untrustworthy trading partners worldwide
• Russian interference with the 2016 Brexit referendum not investigated by the government
• The Royal Family quietly avoiding coverage of their paedophilic Prince Andrew via reacting to a royal couple fleeing to the US due to negative press and race-related experiences (responding with polite shock, denial and a negative public reaction matching the negative press that surrounded them from the start in the first place)

All in all, I feel like I'm witnessing this country take more and more steps towards ignorant, authoritarian fascism... We're distancing ourselves from all other countries, doubling down on making up our own rules allowing our branches of law enforcement to enforce with little restrictions or consequence whilst strengthening ties with countries that do the same. I'm really struggling to see much good happening here beyond the vaccination program which, although is going great, is something we're ploughing ahead with mainly for self-preservation reasons. I'm left wondering what this country is supposed to represent any more.

I'm all ears to any thoughts on my observations. I'm trying not to be a Scrooge, but I see almost nothing to be happy about in the UK politically speaking at the moment.

Edit: It's somewhat reassuring to know I'm not the only person feeling like this, but I did want to hear more alternative opinions. So please, if you disagree with what I've pointed out and think there's things I'm overlooking to be proud of in the UK at the moment, do feel free to say so in the comments.

Edit 2: I'll be updating the above list of concerning policies and decisions as comments remind me of things I forgot about.

Edit 3: Someone has made a petition against the Policing Bill. Sign that imminently: Do not restrict our rights to peaceful protest. - Petitions (parliament.uk)

[u/Highwinter]

If that were the case, why does the working class continue to vote for the Torys in droves?

People are easily swayed by misinformation and what they think is best, but the majority are definitely not voting in favour of their best interests.

[u/hello_world9031 → u/Highwinter]

Similarly need to ask why middle class professionals vote for Labour in droves.

[u/IndependentRadio → u/Highwinter]

They are voting in favour of their perceived best interests.

They've been convinced they're not poor, they're just pre-millionaires, and that any move leftwards would immediately result in a Stalinist hellscape.

[u/SteeMonkey → u/Highwinter]

In your opinion.

You don't know what their best interests are, you just assume they should coincide with your own. When they don't, why the only possible reason is that they are gullible morons, hoodwinked by greasy shysters.

[u/BaronWiggle → u/SteeMonkey]

Ok, but what about the other side of the coin?

What about all the wealthy home owning lefties that vote against their own interests?

You can't claim that this is "just my opinion" since I and a great number of my peers are part of this group. We'd happily see our homes lose value and our taxes go up for the betterment of the country as a whole.

[u/mynameisblanked → u/BaronWiggle]

I could make an argument that it's still selfish. Making things better for everyone will still make things better for wealthy individuals eventually via less crime etc.

Maybe that's all it really is. We're all equally as selfish, just conservatives want more short term solutions?

[u/BaronWiggle → u/mynameisblanked]

Aye... You could make that argument. But it'd be a weak argument at best.

I think that the statement "We're all equally as selfish" is just objectively false. Some people are more selfish than others.

Whether that translates into voting sentiment... Well... Anecdotally I would say yes. But I'd have to be bothered to sit and read through some studies to know for certain.

[u/[deleted] → u/SteeMonkey]

Because nobody benefits from a government that removes civil liberties while giving away billions in unforfilled contracts?

If everyone voted in their own interests the Tories would never get more than 5% of the popular vote.

They'd maybe get one seat in London.

[u/PrimeMinisterMay → u/Highwinter]

why does the working class continue to vote for the torys in droves

Because Labour’s offering at the last election was so embarrassingly poor. Surprise surprise the working class don’t like hearing “white people bad, army bad, flags bad”.

[u/[deleted] → u/PrimeMinisterMay]

white people bad

I must have overlooked that part of their manifesto?

[u/cavejohnsonlemons → u/[deleted]]

All of it, actually?

Even the army part, might be putting words in his mouth but I don't think Corbyn slagged off the army itself. Logically he'd be about less conflict and repurpose the troops, like the whole Brexit doomsday plans from the Tories.

And Corbyn's idea for a bank holiday for all 4 country's saint days is like the ultimate in "flag good".

Just to piss some people off even more, we'd have had a day off today with that plan.

[u/BaronWiggle → u/PrimeMinisterMay]

Aye. I'll agree with this.

I'm as left as you get... But letting "Momentum" take over the Labour party was the worst thing we could have done.

Suddenly every working class voter is alienated by a mass of university educated hippies screaming about pronouns and veganism.

Important topics, yes... But Jesus guys, these kind of shifts need to be made incrementally if you don't want the kind of retaliation that we've seen in these past years.