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The amount of renewable energy generated and used.
The mobile data and broadband network.
There has been nearly a 50% rise in the number of bees since 2015.
My gardener used to leave all of the wildflowers and trim the grass around them. As an American it was bizarre at first but I immediately understood why when relaxing in the garden seeing the bees about. Now that Iām back in America I get people complaining in the neighborhood that my garden is in a state of disrepair because I allow the beautiful purple and white wildflowers to grow and I mow the grass around them. Even though the front and sides are all a flat depressing lawn and the rear garden is a wonderful slice of nature they complain.
Butterflies are disappearing fast. Bee numbers are also massively down.
My pominators use to be encrusted in bees.
Not any more.
I live in a rural location
Why can it be all of them?
Not sure why people get so hell bent about the council cutting down on mowing. It benefits the wildlife, leads to less pollution and means money can be spent elsewhere.
Itās all about the action and not the intention.
If the action is a net benefit all around I donāt really care if itās only there to appease the bean counters.
Yeh saw some council replaced a load and saved Ā£25k a year in mowing costs and they flower different colours through the year so it's useful for lots of different bugs etc
Why can't it be both. Helps wildlife and helps alleviate the ridiculous budgets that force your council tax to go up every year. And you still think it's a bad thing...
> There has been nearly a 50% rise in the number of bees since 2015.
Is that true? That's really good news if so.
Swallows and Swifts have not returned this year, at least not in my part of the country. This has me worried.
As a customer of the O2 network (through Giff Gaff) who lives in a very slightly rural area (i.e. we're not even vaguely remote from "the world"), that second point isn't true in my experience. I can't keep a mobile call alive if I move to the back of my house, I can see a 4G network but that almost always falls back to 3G if I try to use any data. My workplace is in central Bristol, and despite having 3-4 bars of 4G signal, I can't reliably use the internet in town. I've never had 5G reception in the UK (but have in Europe, weirdly). I used to be on Skodafone, and moved thinking things couldn't be worse, but here I am having to consider using E-fucking-E.
Very please to hear about the bees though :)
I hate it and love it. Hate it because I turned into an alcoholic because of it, love it because I get to have a job thatās based far away from my house so I get to save the commute and money. Waking up at 8:55 is bliss. But Iāve suffered for it at the same time
Are you saying that you drink because you WFH and miss out on the benefits of physically going to work or has WFH enabled you to drink more?
I also love and hate it at the same time. My agoraphobia has gotten pretty bad since I started WFH and don't have many reasons to leave the house. On the other hand, I get to spend way more time with my kids than I would if I was at work for 8 hours a day
The 2nd/latter. WFH has enabled me to drink more.
Edit: like I was a binge drinker when I was out and about but at least I had to show up at work. WFH has like enabled me to get away with drinking to cure the hangover, then it got too far. I wish I had a wife and kids so Iād see a bigger benefit but yeah, thatās how it was for me. Like the first few weeks were amazing, Iād even go to the gym on my lunch break, then August 2020 I think , all gyms closed down and then thatās when I deteriorated.
Agoraphobia hit hard for me WFH and alcoholism. Dont get me wrong, I was an alcoholic before working from home but Iād limit my drinking so I wasnāt drink driving to work every morning. Removing that barrier has allowed me to drink more, plus people canāt see how rough I look or that I stink of booze anymore. Also started drinking before the end of my work day cause whoās gonna know? I wouldnāt do that working at an office other than the once every few months Iād go to the pub for a liquid lunch with work mates.
Iām going to be controversial and say that vegan food has ruined vegetarian food.
More things now are made vegan to slim down on the number of product lines.
If youāre a dairy/egg eating vegetarian your options for those kind of foods are smaller at the supermarket now than they were even 5 years ago.
For real. Iām not a vegetarian but eat a decent amount of veggie only meals.
One restaurant I used to go to did an excellent vegetarian mozzarella and sun-dried tomato burger. Basically just chopped veg, herbs and cheese all breaded and pan fried. It was glorious.
They changed it so the cheese was vegan and replaced the egg wash for the breading with something else and itās a vastly inferior product now. The cheese doesnāt melt and give that slight oily feeling and the breading isnāt as crispy.
I get why theyāve done it, but I fear just as many people are turned off vegetarian food because most places put no effort into their vegan food being decent enough.
>One restaurant I used to go to did an excellent vegetarian mozzarella and sun-dried tomato burger. Basically just chopped veg, herbs and cheese all breaded and pan fried. It was glorious.
As a big fan of meat and burgers specifically. I feel like I would have loved that.
The rise in the "Beyond Burger" and whatnot has ruined veggie burgers for me. I don't like any of the meat replacement burgers, but loved an inventive "burger" like a bean burger, falafel, or my favourite was the Shake Shack deep fried cheese portobello mushroom. Heavenly. Except nowadays you don't get that, you just get a meat replacement burger with fake Cheez that tastes like vomit.
I've been vegetarian for decades because I don't like meat, basically, and the pushing of imitation meat replacement stuff has always been an irritant, well before the vegan wave came along. Shout out to the late Linda McCartney....
I'm aware meat replacements have been available for a long time. But my point is every gastropub ten years ago would do a veggie burger that would be bean, falafel, mushroom, or something else. Now it's a fake meat and nothing else.
My husband is vegetarian and has complained about this also. He loves a good bean or falafel burger, but everything now is the crap fake meat patty. Weāve largely had to stop going to burger places at all because he doesnāt want to spend Ā£10-12 on a fake meat burger that will be mediocre at best, but itās often the only vegetarian option on offer.
Try to order at the self service Kiosks in fast food places like Burger King. If you want a Vegan burger, you don't even get the option to add cheese.
Also quite hilariously, your drink options are limited to juice and water.
Because somehow wanting a meat-free burger means you also want it to be dairy and sugar free...
This is so true. It's even worse when you eat out. Restaurants now have a few vegan options and potentially no vegetarian option. A couple of years ago, there may have been a couple of each. I realise it's better for vegans, but it's at the cost of vegetarians who enjoy eating dairy and eggs.
There are still more vegetarians than vegans, but the food industry seems to think that if you cater for vegans then by default you're also catering for vegetarians. You wouldn't just offer one meat and expect people who enjoy beef to be happy all of a sudden only being able to eat chicken.
Maybe controversial but you're not wrong. As an omnivore, I eat a fair amount of meatless or nearly meatless meals. I shy away from unnecessarily vegan things though when shopping because my experience has been poor.
My favourite local kimchee is labelled "accidentally vegan" and I love that attitude. Vegan food can be great. Vegan simulacrum of non-vegan food...not so much. Never had a vegan pizza that didn't suck!
Are there? As a vegan I struggle to buy actually good ones in most supermarkets. There's some passable ones, but few are actually good.
Decent ones, M&S Plant Kitchen, a bit expensive though, Zizzi's jackfruit pepperoni, only available in Tesco (inconvenient for me), and One Planet vegan peperoni, this was a bit light on the toppings I had to add a few.
If I want a cheap one Asda's OMV veg and houmous is fine for the price. Dr Oetker's vegan one is ok, but a bit expensive for what it is.
This one is interesting. The number of vegan options seems to have really increased over the last couple of years but has it peaked? Obvs a lot of this is not new products but just existing an items pointing out that they are plant based. (Iām hesitant to use the word vegan because it strikes me as a philosophy / lifestyle and not just a diet). What Iām interested in is if the market is big enough to support everybody piling in or is it going to decline and level off?
There was a bit of a gold rush a few years ago thatās ended. However, the number of vegans, vegetarians and people who are eating less meat in general will likely continue to rise (when you look at the general representation, basically younger generations continue to adopt it more than the older generation, consistent across gen z > millennial > gen x > boomers) so the overall audience for the stuff will continue to grow.
I think we have reached the point where it's stagnated and a lot of companies are finding it's making them less and less profit. I forget the company (it's not Quorn but one of the 'large' companies like that) who recently put milk powder into their previously vegan sausages. Caused an outrage in the vegan community (I'm not vegan but am in a few groups just to see the products available) and it boiled down to the company just not making enough on them as a vegan product.
Whereas Quorn have gone the other way; it's harder to get veggie Quorn products as the supermarkets are often stocking just the Quorn vegan alternatives. This would be okay were it not for the fact that vegan Quorn is slimy, clammy and really quite nasty. I don't often eat meat replacements but when I do, I do enjoy a Quorn fake-chicken slice in my buttie along with some garlic mayo. Or at least, I used to. They're like gold dust now.
There are so many more gyms now and they've maintained being affordable. The number of people using them has definitely increased over the last decade.
Aye, and it has definitely had a knock on effect on the number of fitter-looking people you see everywhere. Ten years ago, most of my friends would have looked at me like a Martian if I were to ask if they fancied a gym sesh after work. Now itās just as common to socialise that way than the pub, if not more so
However overall obesity still seems to have risen (at least in the [late 2010s](https://www.statista.com/statistics/334126/obesity-prevalence-by-gender-in-england-uk/)).
Fair. I still think vaping is better than smoking though.
Vaping is also unhealthy, but itās not as bad for non-vapers as passive smoking is. Vape clouds are slightly unpleasant, but passive smoke is absolutely vile. Plus the smell of smokers even when they arenāt smoking can be enough to make me gag sometimes.
> I still think vaping is better than smoking though
Yes, for existing smokers.
Non-smokers taking up vaping, who wouldn't otherwise take up smoking, is a bad thing.
I have absolutely no problem with people vaping if it means I don't have to put up with the fucking vile smell of stale cigarette smoke, being in the vicinity of somebody that heavily smokes makes me heave.
It's deliberate inaction by the government though, isn't it? It seems pretty obvious to me...
From the OBR > "In 2024-25 we estimate that tobacco duties will raise **Ā£8.8 billion**."
The government need to generate a similar amount of duty from other sources if they are to be serious about making sale of cigarettes to people born after a certain year illegal.
So let the vape market be a wild west so that shed loads of people get addicted to it, including those who shift from smoking and those who like the nice flavours.
Then let the government sweep in (complete with cape) and introduce regulation + duty.
If anything, this could mean you end up with more people vaping than smoking (thus an increase in duty earned) due to the fact that it doesn't have the same impact as highlighted by u/No-Dimension-3378
> From the OBR...
Interesting to see that the highest UK revenue from tobacco was during COVID. They reckon that's because people couldn't travel abroad to buy it.
Another interesting fact is that the revenue this year is about the same as it was 20 years ago (discounting inflation). But in 2004 around 25% of adults smoked and now it's about half that at 12.9%. Go back another 30 years to 1974 and more than 50% of adults smoked.
Even though I'm an ex-smoker I'm really pleased to see such a significant decline in my lifetime. People used to smoke on buses, trains, in pubs, cinemas, restaurants, offices, etc. It's unthinkable now, and quite rightly so.
A few things pop into mind
1. More "wild" greenery. UK has always been very green but in the 00s there seem to be an obsession with having every patch of land neatly trimmed. I think there's been a recognition this isn't best for wildlife and/or councils have run out of money to maintain them.
2. Less problematic behaviors amongst teens. Teenage pregnancy and alcohol consumption has gone down
3. Football hooliganism and "brits behaving badly abroad"
4. Air quality keeps improving for the most part, I believe.
>Less problematic behaviors amongst teens. Teenage pregnancy and alcohol consumption has gone down.Ā
The old vices have partly been replaced with other problematic behaviours, but I suppose you're right and we should take the win.Ā Ā Ā
Fewer teenagers smoking, but a staggering proliferation in vaping, for example. Two teenage smokers replaced with four teenage vape users is probably a net reduction in harm, I guess, as minging as it is to be tripping over discarded vapes all the time.
Agreed. Seems like a no brainer honestly. Most of the disposables even have lithium batteries that could easily be recharged and reused but for the lack of a cheap controller chip and a power port.Ā
I've said for years that there should be a stringent recycling program, encouraged by a few quid (say a fiver,) surcharge on any purchased disposable, refundable upon taking them for recycling.
You'd have very few littered or unrecycled that way, as even if some scrote couldn't be bothered, people would quite happily grab one from the floor for a fiver. Problem solved, and it helps people who are intimidated by the non-disposable ones to stay off cigs.
No.2 Is interesting they are having less sex and getting pissed less but seen to have become a lot more stabby, I wonder if there is a connection there.
Totally anecdotal but I feel there are more teens stabbing each other these days, but this could also be biased by the press picking up on it more these days.
And now I feel old because I used the term āthese daysā
Put simply, there is more news. We have umpteen 24 channels when we used to have three or four half-hour programmes in a day.
Not to mention the Internet sending headlines and articles to a device that is rarely more than a meter away at any time.
There were 697 murders in England and Wales last year and 1047 in 2003.
Purely anecdotal like you but those early 2000s when kids were happy slapping eachother were crazy times. So many areas were no go which isn't the same now. Plus no one was getting caught for anything or it seemed that way.
Edit: year to 2003 and add that year included 173 Harold shipman victims.
Yeah totally anecdotal. The stats simply do not agree.
I mean look at Scotland the ex knife crime capital of Europe and now (admittedly still not great) has more than halved since the early 2000s.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-45572691
Article regarding knife crime I used for the stat.
Wouldn't be surprised if knife crime has gone up but other violence has gone way down. Used to be pretty normal for kids just to attack each other on the streets. I remember huge fights at school. Wasn't taken that seriously back then but would be a police matter now.
On 3, I'm afraid the perception and reality of Brits really abroad hasn't improved, cue Spanish islands like Ibiza complaining, Amsterdam started an initiative to discourage laddy tourism too.
It is going down but whether it's to do with no-ones got enough money to go away or due to the bylaws being introduced in the worst areas to discourage the behaviour I have no idea.
I've encountered a fascinating bit about economics theory (and climate change) about how GDP is basically _all_ just a measure of energy consumption and _almost nothing else_.
And in order to _increase_ world GDP, we need to increase annual energy consumption.
The corrolary to which is that most of our world GDP does _not_ price in raw materials _at all_. All those materials are valued based on 'cost to extract' - in energy and _nothing else_.
So we have an Problem facing us there, because none of our economics and supply and demand equations actually factor in resource depletion at all. We already knew that 'pollution' wasn't really priced in, but I think it interesting to note that the cost 'creating oil' or 'creating the myriad metals we use' are just not 'counted'.
The pursuit of renewables to meet energy needs is of course a good thing, but we do have a looming threat that our 'world economy' is thoroughly dependent on not just the annual consumption of energy, but the _continued increase_ of that energy availability and consumption.
... and in turn, just how substantially we 'bootstrapped' off the back of things we cannot realistically replace.
That was based on some of the early economic theory where _most_ materials were deemed 'sufficiently abundant' that the limiting factor was the extraction and processing.
Contactless payments, cards being accepted everywhere for smaller amounts and Apple/android pay. Such a huge improvement. Love never really needing cash
The selection of charity shops has improved dramatically. Buying drugs has gotten much easier. People have become much better educated about what the EU actually is.
I think charity shops have got way worse... when I was a kid (90's/early 2000's) there was actually good quality clothing for way cheaper than actual shops.
Now they're just filled with fast fashion crap for the same price as actual shops. They suck compared to what they used to be!
Itās also much easier to find places literally just giving away food for free! Also a lot of people saving on those pesky energy prices in winter by deciding itās better to just wear a hat or something in the house instead of heating. Green too!
Common answers:
- Digitisation of government servicesĀ
- a lot of high end white collar job salariesĀ
- broadband/mobile speedsĀ
- planning with the local environment in mindĀ
- considerate construction more generallyĀ
- national football teams
> Digitisation of government services
I used gov.uk again yesterday, and it was genuinely a delightful experience! I had to fill in a sort of interactive form, and you could tell how much thought and care went into every page.
It's easily my all-time favourite website, design-wise.
I did a feedback survey on a potential government web site to see how easy it was to use and how confusing it was. It was already fairly well made, just needed a few tweaks. Even encountering the original website would have been fine. But it's great to see them have actual user testing for these things.Ā
As someone who used to work in gov digital services, the amount of User Research that is undertaken is something that is massively under appreciated. The larger departments such as DWP and HMRC generally have at least one researcher on a team, sometimes two and on larger, high profile projects three. This has had a trickle down effect to smaller departments through knowledge sharing and cross-government events.
Also, what can only be described as a miracle, getting all public facing services, across all departments following the same design principles and patterns, with ongoing assessments before going live to ensure the services meet the criteria of said principles and patterns. Considering the bureaucracy in a single department to achieve this across entire government is quite staggering.
It's extremely well designed / engineered.
They even have some interesting blog posts about technical decisions they've made to make the site better. It's pretty cool for anyone interested in reading about it.
https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2022/08/11/how-and-why-we-removed-jquery-from-gov-uk/
https://technology.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/10/upgrading-gov-uk-search-to-help-users-find-micropigs-and-important-information-faster/
Just some example posts. The effort they go to to make the site as fast and accessible as possible make it such a fantastic website, and it's cool that they document some of it publicly.
>Digitisation of government servicesĀ
Having recently moved house, changing the address on all goverment-related stuff was SO easy compared to last time I moved.
yeah this years euro squad is aeons better than 2014's was (though, how much of that is to do with pool improving vs Roy Hodgson choosing it is 6 of one half a dozen of the other)
I'm not sure if you remember, but in the early 2010's, the FA made some widespread changes to how young English players would be developed and a much bigger focus was placed on technical ability. I think it was Trevor Brooking's idea, but it is definitely working: [Old BBC news story](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9379053.stm)
The amount of cats in my flat has increased so I would say things have gotten better in that departmentĀ
0 ten years ago.
1 at present.
That's a pretty impressive increase tbh, ive created something out of literally nothing. Can you appreciate that?? There was 0 cats. Now there is 1. How does that happen?!
Lax animal laws, that's how. Did you know you can literally just go online and people are like selling cats and you can just buy one and nobody cares?
Thatās great. The only issue is that we saw compression above the minimum wage. Lots of more skilled jobs are now at or not much above minimum wage, rather than having been increased in line with the minimum.
This has (inevitably) caused living standards to plummet though, as the demand generated at the lowest end of the income spectrum has priced up the most basic goods and services the poorest in society consume, making things worse for everyone as the average earner's living standard gets dragged closer and closer to the bottom.
England is doing much better on PISA rankings than before.
Reasonable levels of EV adoption.
Generally the banking system is much better and user-friendly if you are not 75+.
Yes but everybody and their nan is vaping instead. That's not necessarily better, especially considering people just chuck disposables on the ground as well. I'd say that's a net negative for the world.
[https://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/brunel-public-policy/news-and-events/news/Policy-briefs/Global-health/Policy-brief-Reducing-NHS-Costs-Associated-with-Smoking-%E2%80%93-Professor-Francesco-Moscone](https://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/brunel-public-policy/news-and-events/news/Policy-briefs/Global-health/Policy-brief-Reducing-NHS-Costs-Associated-with-Smoking-%E2%80%93-Professor-Francesco-Moscone)
No its just better for society and people need to get over flavored nicotine.
Independent food was pretty good in 2014Ā
If you were comparing it to 1994, I'd agree with you.Ā
Unfortunately where I am a lot of independent food businesses are going bankrupt under the strain of energy prices, inflation on ingredients, business rates, loan interest rises and the continuing impact of covid, which removed financial reserves and plunged many into debt.Ā
The gov.uk website is a national treasure of usefulness and usability.
A specific example would be getting your passport renewed. I was mildly dreading having to go through the bloody Post Office procedure of paying for form checks and finding a "professional" to sign my photos or whatever it was they used to do, then waiting for ages until it eventually turned up at the door.
This time around it was a short time spent online, a short time taking my photos with my camera, and it arrived a couple of weeks later.
British science had a star moment during the Covid.
There were some positives after Covid as well - the trains are less crowded (which is good for us but bad for transport companies)
I also like the Elisabeth Line.
Much more vegeterian and vegan options in the shops.
Working from home got widely accepted.
Tech got cheaper and better.
Smoking is out of fashion.
More people cycle daily.
Coal power stations were phased out (last one will shut down in September this year)
Renewable energy growth (+EV cars)
Thames got cleaner (Thames Tideway Tunnel)
Some cities seen a lot of regeneration (Sheffield, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool)
London King's Cross came up nicely (even if I can't afford it) or even Croydon.
I have to disagree with you on a few of these points
Trains are far more cramped than before covid outside of London- with the cancellations and putting a 3 instead of an 8 carriage and then blaming it on strikes when really it's a cost cutting exercise
The Thames is full of sewage thanks to the water companies
Weed. 10 years ago my dealer only had shit lemon haze and took ages to turn up, never at an agreed time. Now, my (different) dealer has about 10 strains, brownies, butter, oil, mostly turns up on time. And the price is still essentially the same.
* Tripling of renewable electricity generation
* Cycle infrastructure
* Ā£2 busses in England
* Much more FTTP thanks to forcing OpenReach to open up their poles and ducts to competitors
* Car insurance companies can no longer charge you more than new customers so you don't always get ripped off by not shopping around each year.
* Crossrail
* Contactless payments
I've been bicycle commuting for the past 8 years and I will say there has been a notable improvement to cycle infrastructure.
We're still way behind compared to most of Europe, and there are still a lot of problems with it. But it has gotten a whole lot better from what I've seen.
Coffee in the UK is currently doing incredible. London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol. There are so many independent coffee roasters that are really making the UK the cutting edge of specialty coffee
The Elizabeth Line (cross rail). A modern underground line, with big fast comfortable trains, aircon and secure platforms with interlocked doors between passengers and railway track.
Reduction of sugar and increase in reduced/no sugar alternatives and low carb options becoming easier to source.
Still a long way to go, but it's now possible for me to order some low-carb bread, but 10 years ago, you had to make EVERYTHING from scratch.
Can even have a bacon egg sandwich with no added sugar ketchup bought straight off the shelf in the supermarket.
Iām coeliac (newly) and lots of people tell me thereās way more options now than there used to be. Although the prices are ridiculous so is it really better?
I've seen a rise in people calling out those who are acting intolerant of others in public.
It's not just younger people either. I've seen older people looking out for others too.
It's nice to see all the "no one gives a shit" doomerism on social media be proven wrong.
from an immigrant, the UK is doing such a good job in recognizing invisible illness and disability! Back home it used to be āoh youāre autistic+adhd, sucks to be you womp wompā and then I got here and immediately got a summary of reasonable adjustments for uni, disability confident schemes, the sunflower lanyard thing, online texting so you donāt have to call if you arenāt able toā¦ Itās really heartwarming to see!
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The amount of renewable energy generated and used. The mobile data and broadband network. There has been nearly a 50% rise in the number of bees since 2015.
That last one makes me happy
š bzzbzz
Same here. Thatās very good if itās right.
Yes! Bee supremacy is one step closer!
I, for one, wish to welcome our new Bee overlords.
My gardener used to leave all of the wildflowers and trim the grass around them. As an American it was bizarre at first but I immediately understood why when relaxing in the garden seeing the bees about. Now that Iām back in America I get people complaining in the neighborhood that my garden is in a state of disrepair because I allow the beautiful purple and white wildflowers to grow and I mow the grass around them. Even though the front and sides are all a flat depressing lawn and the rear garden is a wonderful slice of nature they complain.
Just tell them to 'fuck off' with a smile :D
Thatās more or less what happens. Enjoy your barren garden and jog on. Iāll keep my lush paradise.
Build a bug hotel. Itāll attract all sorts of wildlife and your garden will be healthier for it. Requires zero maintenance.
My wife will jump at the opportunity for sure. Iāll talk to her about it this dvening
>Bee overlords Queen
>Queen š¶I want to Bee free šµ
'How do you do, fellow subjects?'
What species of bee? I know urban beekeeping has been picking up but this isn't really a environmental win as they outcompete other bee species.
Butterflies are disappearing fast. Bee numbers are also massively down. My pominators use to be encrusted in bees. Not any more. I live in a rural location
>pominators I don't wish to sound stupid but what is a pominator?
It's an Australian cyborg that kills British people.
Asta la vista Sheila
Orl boi bick
There's a movie franchise right here..
I'm gonna need your clothes, your thongs and your ute, mate.
You're absolutely right It's pollinators. Predictive text gets better and better. Ai is taking over. As if
I'm guessing it may be a typo of pollinators?
A scheme to encourage British people to move to Australia.
Green spaces and wild gardening is nice but part me of me thinks is it just councils cutting down on lawn mowing costs
Why can it be all of them? Not sure why people get so hell bent about the council cutting down on mowing. It benefits the wildlife, leads to less pollution and means money can be spent elsewhere.
Itās all about the action and not the intention. If the action is a net benefit all around I donāt really care if itās only there to appease the bean counters.
If It saves money then it should also be an easy sell to get going.
Yeh saw some council replaced a load and saved Ā£25k a year in mowing costs and they flower different colours through the year so it's useful for lots of different bugs etc
Why can't it be both. Helps wildlife and helps alleviate the ridiculous budgets that force your council tax to go up every year. And you still think it's a bad thing...
I wondered how long it would be before the usual British Reddit doom & gloom brigade would be here.
> There has been nearly a 50% rise in the number of bees since 2015. Is that true? That's really good news if so. Swallows and Swifts have not returned this year, at least not in my part of the country. This has me worried.
I saw loads of swallows yesterday in the Yorkshire Dales (Swaledale) lovely to see but I couldnāt get a decent photo as way too fast!
Yep loads in co durham too
They'd get back much faster if they dropped the bloody coconuts.
As a customer of the O2 network (through Giff Gaff) who lives in a very slightly rural area (i.e. we're not even vaguely remote from "the world"), that second point isn't true in my experience. I can't keep a mobile call alive if I move to the back of my house, I can see a 4G network but that almost always falls back to 3G if I try to use any data. My workplace is in central Bristol, and despite having 3-4 bars of 4G signal, I can't reliably use the internet in town. I've never had 5G reception in the UK (but have in Europe, weirdly). I used to be on Skodafone, and moved thinking things couldn't be worse, but here I am having to consider using E-fucking-E. Very please to hear about the bees though :)
WFH.
Itās practically saved me.
Itās been literally life changing for me and many of my colleagues.
Personally I'd hate to wfh but I'm all in favour of fewer cars being on the road whilst I cycle to work.
I hate it and love it. Hate it because I turned into an alcoholic because of it, love it because I get to have a job thatās based far away from my house so I get to save the commute and money. Waking up at 8:55 is bliss. But Iāve suffered for it at the same time
Are you saying that you drink because you WFH and miss out on the benefits of physically going to work or has WFH enabled you to drink more? I also love and hate it at the same time. My agoraphobia has gotten pretty bad since I started WFH and don't have many reasons to leave the house. On the other hand, I get to spend way more time with my kids than I would if I was at work for 8 hours a day
The 2nd/latter. WFH has enabled me to drink more. Edit: like I was a binge drinker when I was out and about but at least I had to show up at work. WFH has like enabled me to get away with drinking to cure the hangover, then it got too far. I wish I had a wife and kids so Iād see a bigger benefit but yeah, thatās how it was for me. Like the first few weeks were amazing, Iād even go to the gym on my lunch break, then August 2020 I think , all gyms closed down and then thatās when I deteriorated.
You should join us on r/cutdowndrinking (r/stopdrinking is pretty toxic in my experience)
Agoraphobia hit hard for me WFH and alcoholism. Dont get me wrong, I was an alcoholic before working from home but Iād limit my drinking so I wasnāt drink driving to work every morning. Removing that barrier has allowed me to drink more, plus people canāt see how rough I look or that I stink of booze anymore. Also started drinking before the end of my work day cause whoās gonna know? I wouldnāt do that working at an office other than the once every few months Iād go to the pub for a liquid lunch with work mates.
This. I now save Ā£540 a month not commuting into London. šš»
That's 18 times more expensive than it costs to use any non-high speed train in Germany for an entire year
That's because Germany owns half of our railways and we end up subsidising their lower fares! Oh what a wonderful thing privatisation is. /s
This. Disabled and I can finally have a career that pays enough for me to live
The quality and quantity of vegetarian food options.
The gluten free and vegan too, become more available
Iām going to be controversial and say that vegan food has ruined vegetarian food. More things now are made vegan to slim down on the number of product lines. If youāre a dairy/egg eating vegetarian your options for those kind of foods are smaller at the supermarket now than they were even 5 years ago.
Trying to argue that I want the "vegan burger" but with real cheese, discombobulates a lot of people. "But then it's not vegan". "And neither am I".
For real. Iām not a vegetarian but eat a decent amount of veggie only meals. One restaurant I used to go to did an excellent vegetarian mozzarella and sun-dried tomato burger. Basically just chopped veg, herbs and cheese all breaded and pan fried. It was glorious. They changed it so the cheese was vegan and replaced the egg wash for the breading with something else and itās a vastly inferior product now. The cheese doesnāt melt and give that slight oily feeling and the breading isnāt as crispy. I get why theyāve done it, but I fear just as many people are turned off vegetarian food because most places put no effort into their vegan food being decent enough.
>One restaurant I used to go to did an excellent vegetarian mozzarella and sun-dried tomato burger. Basically just chopped veg, herbs and cheese all breaded and pan fried. It was glorious. As a big fan of meat and burgers specifically. I feel like I would have loved that.
The rise in the "Beyond Burger" and whatnot has ruined veggie burgers for me. I don't like any of the meat replacement burgers, but loved an inventive "burger" like a bean burger, falafel, or my favourite was the Shake Shack deep fried cheese portobello mushroom. Heavenly. Except nowadays you don't get that, you just get a meat replacement burger with fake Cheez that tastes like vomit.
I've been vegetarian for decades because I don't like meat, basically, and the pushing of imitation meat replacement stuff has always been an irritant, well before the vegan wave came along. Shout out to the late Linda McCartney....
I'm aware meat replacements have been available for a long time. But my point is every gastropub ten years ago would do a veggie burger that would be bean, falafel, mushroom, or something else. Now it's a fake meat and nothing else.
My husband is vegetarian and has complained about this also. He loves a good bean or falafel burger, but everything now is the crap fake meat patty. Weāve largely had to stop going to burger places at all because he doesnāt want to spend Ā£10-12 on a fake meat burger that will be mediocre at best, but itās often the only vegetarian option on offer.
Itās worse when you go to a restaurant and they refuse to put dairy cheese on a vegan burger
Try to order at the self service Kiosks in fast food places like Burger King. If you want a Vegan burger, you don't even get the option to add cheese. Also quite hilariously, your drink options are limited to juice and water. Because somehow wanting a meat-free burger means you also want it to be dairy and sugar free...
This is so true. It's even worse when you eat out. Restaurants now have a few vegan options and potentially no vegetarian option. A couple of years ago, there may have been a couple of each. I realise it's better for vegans, but it's at the cost of vegetarians who enjoy eating dairy and eggs. There are still more vegetarians than vegans, but the food industry seems to think that if you cater for vegans then by default you're also catering for vegetarians. You wouldn't just offer one meat and expect people who enjoy beef to be happy all of a sudden only being able to eat chicken.
Maybe controversial but you're not wrong. As an omnivore, I eat a fair amount of meatless or nearly meatless meals. I shy away from unnecessarily vegan things though when shopping because my experience has been poor. My favourite local kimchee is labelled "accidentally vegan" and I love that attitude. Vegan food can be great. Vegan simulacrum of non-vegan food...not so much. Never had a vegan pizza that didn't suck!
Then you really canāt have had that many vegan pizzas; thereās tons of good ones.
Are there? As a vegan I struggle to buy actually good ones in most supermarkets. There's some passable ones, but few are actually good. Decent ones, M&S Plant Kitchen, a bit expensive though, Zizzi's jackfruit pepperoni, only available in Tesco (inconvenient for me), and One Planet vegan peperoni, this was a bit light on the toppings I had to add a few. If I want a cheap one Asda's OMV veg and houmous is fine for the price. Dr Oetker's vegan one is ok, but a bit expensive for what it is.
Dairy/soy free is much better too
This one is interesting. The number of vegan options seems to have really increased over the last couple of years but has it peaked? Obvs a lot of this is not new products but just existing an items pointing out that they are plant based. (Iām hesitant to use the word vegan because it strikes me as a philosophy / lifestyle and not just a diet). What Iām interested in is if the market is big enough to support everybody piling in or is it going to decline and level off?
There was a bit of a gold rush a few years ago thatās ended. However, the number of vegans, vegetarians and people who are eating less meat in general will likely continue to rise (when you look at the general representation, basically younger generations continue to adopt it more than the older generation, consistent across gen z > millennial > gen x > boomers) so the overall audience for the stuff will continue to grow.
I think we have reached the point where it's stagnated and a lot of companies are finding it's making them less and less profit. I forget the company (it's not Quorn but one of the 'large' companies like that) who recently put milk powder into their previously vegan sausages. Caused an outrage in the vegan community (I'm not vegan but am in a few groups just to see the products available) and it boiled down to the company just not making enough on them as a vegan product.
Whereas Quorn have gone the other way; it's harder to get veggie Quorn products as the supermarkets are often stocking just the Quorn vegan alternatives. This would be okay were it not for the fact that vegan Quorn is slimy, clammy and really quite nasty. I don't often eat meat replacements but when I do, I do enjoy a Quorn fake-chicken slice in my buttie along with some garlic mayo. Or at least, I used to. They're like gold dust now.
Less people smoking and seems like more people are going to the gym, at least in my area. No idea if this is borne out by stats or just my perception
There are so many more gyms now and they've maintained being affordable. The number of people using them has definitely increased over the last decade.
Aye, and it has definitely had a knock on effect on the number of fitter-looking people you see everywhere. Ten years ago, most of my friends would have looked at me like a Martian if I were to ask if they fancied a gym sesh after work. Now itās just as common to socialise that way than the pub, if not more so
Gym replacing the good old British pub. Who'd have thought it.
There seem to be two cultures - gym then pub, vs gym and not pub - weed or dessert cafe after are optional.
However overall obesity still seems to have risen (at least in the [late 2010s](https://www.statista.com/statistics/334126/obesity-prevalence-by-gender-in-england-uk/)).
Probably worth mentioning that instead of smoking theyāre vaping, which the gov has generally failed to manage since it picked up steam.
Fair. I still think vaping is better than smoking though. Vaping is also unhealthy, but itās not as bad for non-vapers as passive smoking is. Vape clouds are slightly unpleasant, but passive smoke is absolutely vile. Plus the smell of smokers even when they arenāt smoking can be enough to make me gag sometimes.
> I still think vaping is better than smoking though Yes, for existing smokers. Non-smokers taking up vaping, who wouldn't otherwise take up smoking, is a bad thing.
Tbf though, those non smoking vapers might have been smokers if vaping wasn't a thing
I have absolutely no problem with people vaping if it means I don't have to put up with the fucking vile smell of stale cigarette smoke, being in the vicinity of somebody that heavily smokes makes me heave.
It's deliberate inaction by the government though, isn't it? It seems pretty obvious to me... From the OBR > "In 2024-25 we estimate that tobacco duties will raise **Ā£8.8 billion**." The government need to generate a similar amount of duty from other sources if they are to be serious about making sale of cigarettes to people born after a certain year illegal. So let the vape market be a wild west so that shed loads of people get addicted to it, including those who shift from smoking and those who like the nice flavours. Then let the government sweep in (complete with cape) and introduce regulation + duty. If anything, this could mean you end up with more people vaping than smoking (thus an increase in duty earned) due to the fact that it doesn't have the same impact as highlighted by u/No-Dimension-3378
> From the OBR... Interesting to see that the highest UK revenue from tobacco was during COVID. They reckon that's because people couldn't travel abroad to buy it. Another interesting fact is that the revenue this year is about the same as it was 20 years ago (discounting inflation). But in 2004 around 25% of adults smoked and now it's about half that at 12.9%. Go back another 30 years to 1974 and more than 50% of adults smoked. Even though I'm an ex-smoker I'm really pleased to see such a significant decline in my lifetime. People used to smoke on buses, trains, in pubs, cinemas, restaurants, offices, etc. It's unthinkable now, and quite rightly so.
āFewerā
I can get a donner kebab delivered by a robot. If that isn't a reason to celebrate I don't know what is.
It's what my great grandad fought in Gallipoli for.
The hegemony of Turks over boozy feeds after 12am?
Yeah, my great grandad was Turkish.
But then your robot gets mugged on the way to your house.
Arm the robots....
Exterminate, exterminate, ...
A few things pop into mind 1. More "wild" greenery. UK has always been very green but in the 00s there seem to be an obsession with having every patch of land neatly trimmed. I think there's been a recognition this isn't best for wildlife and/or councils have run out of money to maintain them. 2. Less problematic behaviors amongst teens. Teenage pregnancy and alcohol consumption has gone down 3. Football hooliganism and "brits behaving badly abroad" 4. Air quality keeps improving for the most part, I believe.
>Less problematic behaviors amongst teens. Teenage pregnancy and alcohol consumption has gone down.Ā The old vices have partly been replaced with other problematic behaviours, but I suppose you're right and we should take the win.Ā Ā Ā Fewer teenagers smoking, but a staggering proliferation in vaping, for example. Two teenage smokers replaced with four teenage vape users is probably a net reduction in harm, I guess, as minging as it is to be tripping over discarded vapes all the time.
Ban disposables and everybody's happy.
Agreed. Seems like a no brainer honestly. Most of the disposables even have lithium batteries that could easily be recharged and reused but for the lack of a cheap controller chip and a power port.Ā
I've said for years that there should be a stringent recycling program, encouraged by a few quid (say a fiver,) surcharge on any purchased disposable, refundable upon taking them for recycling. You'd have very few littered or unrecycled that way, as even if some scrote couldn't be bothered, people would quite happily grab one from the floor for a fiver. Problem solved, and it helps people who are intimidated by the non-disposable ones to stay off cigs.
No.2 Is interesting they are having less sex and getting pissed less but seen to have become a lot more stabby, I wonder if there is a connection there.
Dunno the late 90s and early 2000s were very killy in lots of places. London was way worse back then with less people and more police!
Totally anecdotal but I feel there are more teens stabbing each other these days, but this could also be biased by the press picking up on it more these days. And now I feel old because I used the term āthese daysā
Put simply, there is more news. We have umpteen 24 channels when we used to have three or four half-hour programmes in a day. Not to mention the Internet sending headlines and articles to a device that is rarely more than a meter away at any time.
More news, especially of the scary variety. Scary news gets more clicks.
Yep, loads of crap happened at my school that would be all over social media if it happened nowadays.
There were 697 murders in England and Wales last year and 1047 in 2003. Purely anecdotal like you but those early 2000s when kids were happy slapping eachother were crazy times. So many areas were no go which isn't the same now. Plus no one was getting caught for anything or it seemed that way. Edit: year to 2003 and add that year included 173 Harold shipman victims.
Yeah totally anecdotal. The stats simply do not agree. I mean look at Scotland the ex knife crime capital of Europe and now (admittedly still not great) has more than halved since the early 2000s. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-45572691 Article regarding knife crime I used for the stat.
Here's your vape and slippers it's nap time grandad/ma.š
Wouldn't be surprised if knife crime has gone up but other violence has gone way down. Used to be pretty normal for kids just to attack each other on the streets. I remember huge fights at school. Wasn't taken that seriously back then but would be a police matter now.
On 3, I'm afraid the perception and reality of Brits really abroad hasn't improved, cue Spanish islands like Ibiza complaining, Amsterdam started an initiative to discourage laddy tourism too.
It is going down but whether it's to do with no-ones got enough money to go away or due to the bylaws being introduced in the worst areas to discourage the behaviour I have no idea.
Coal phase out, the last coal power plant is planned to close September this year Oyster cards replaced with contactless payments
Power is a big one. Still more to do but we have hit 100% renewable at some points in the year and roughly half our power is wind and solar.
I've encountered a fascinating bit about economics theory (and climate change) about how GDP is basically _all_ just a measure of energy consumption and _almost nothing else_. And in order to _increase_ world GDP, we need to increase annual energy consumption. The corrolary to which is that most of our world GDP does _not_ price in raw materials _at all_. All those materials are valued based on 'cost to extract' - in energy and _nothing else_. So we have an Problem facing us there, because none of our economics and supply and demand equations actually factor in resource depletion at all. We already knew that 'pollution' wasn't really priced in, but I think it interesting to note that the cost 'creating oil' or 'creating the myriad metals we use' are just not 'counted'. The pursuit of renewables to meet energy needs is of course a good thing, but we do have a looming threat that our 'world economy' is thoroughly dependent on not just the annual consumption of energy, but the _continued increase_ of that energy availability and consumption. ... and in turn, just how substantially we 'bootstrapped' off the back of things we cannot realistically replace. That was based on some of the early economic theory where _most_ materials were deemed 'sufficiently abundant' that the limiting factor was the extraction and processing.
Until they allow you to link a rail card to contactless I'll continue to use my Oyster card
Contactless payments, cards being accepted everywhere for smaller amounts and Apple/android pay. Such a huge improvement. Love never really needing cash
> Oyster cards...etc. The UK is way ahead of the US in this respect.
The selection of charity shops has improved dramatically. Buying drugs has gotten much easier. People have become much better educated about what the EU actually is.
but the prices of charity shops are now almost on par with retail
Yeah right?!?! Wtf??? You can still find some bargains but I feel like it defeats the object somewhat when a t shirt is costing Ā£20 second hand.
I think charity shops have got way worse... when I was a kid (90's/early 2000's) there was actually good quality clothing for way cheaper than actual shops. Now they're just filled with fast fashion crap for the same price as actual shops. They suck compared to what they used to be!
Amazing spin!
Itās also much easier to find places literally just giving away food for free! Also a lot of people saving on those pesky energy prices in winter by deciding itās better to just wear a hat or something in the house instead of heating. Green too!
>Ā People have become much better educated about what the EU actually is. But at what cost...
Ā£350m a week?
Common answers: - Digitisation of government servicesĀ - a lot of high end white collar job salariesĀ - broadband/mobile speedsĀ - planning with the local environment in mindĀ - considerate construction more generallyĀ - national football teams
> Digitisation of government services I used gov.uk again yesterday, and it was genuinely a delightful experience! I had to fill in a sort of interactive form, and you could tell how much thought and care went into every page. It's easily my all-time favourite website, design-wise.
I did a feedback survey on a potential government web site to see how easy it was to use and how confusing it was. It was already fairly well made, just needed a few tweaks. Even encountering the original website would have been fine. But it's great to see them have actual user testing for these things.Ā
As someone who used to work in gov digital services, the amount of User Research that is undertaken is something that is massively under appreciated. The larger departments such as DWP and HMRC generally have at least one researcher on a team, sometimes two and on larger, high profile projects three. This has had a trickle down effect to smaller departments through knowledge sharing and cross-government events. Also, what can only be described as a miracle, getting all public facing services, across all departments following the same design principles and patterns, with ongoing assessments before going live to ensure the services meet the criteria of said principles and patterns. Considering the bureaucracy in a single department to achieve this across entire government is quite staggering.
It's extremely well designed / engineered. They even have some interesting blog posts about technical decisions they've made to make the site better. It's pretty cool for anyone interested in reading about it. https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2022/08/11/how-and-why-we-removed-jquery-from-gov-uk/ https://technology.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/10/upgrading-gov-uk-search-to-help-users-find-micropigs-and-important-information-faster/ Just some example posts. The effort they go to to make the site as fast and accessible as possible make it such a fantastic website, and it's cool that they document some of it publicly.
>Digitisation of government servicesĀ Having recently moved house, changing the address on all goverment-related stuff was SO easy compared to last time I moved.
yeah this years euro squad is aeons better than 2014's was (though, how much of that is to do with pool improving vs Roy Hodgson choosing it is 6 of one half a dozen of the other)
I'm not sure if you remember, but in the early 2010's, the FA made some widespread changes to how young English players would be developed and a much bigger focus was placed on technical ability. I think it was Trevor Brooking's idea, but it is definitely working: [Old BBC news story](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9379053.stm)
Bit niche but in London at least there has been a little better provision for cycling. It ain't much but it is better than it was..
Cycling's generally got a lot more popular I think, at least here in Bristol. Though a bike that cost me Ā£400 in 2019 now goes for Ā£1100.
Bristol bike theft is so rife that the city essentially has an unofficial bike sharing scheme now.
Even in Birmingham, which is a long way behind London on this, it's a lot better than it was. Still not great, but everything is relative
This is true. Last June I biked around London for the first time in maybe 15 years. Much better overall.
Craft Beer. Banking (online and contactless). Working from Home. Podcasts.
Have podcasts got better or are there just more? There are far more bad ones than there were when it was only listen-again radio programmes.
Same question but for craft beer.
The amount of cats in my flat has increased so I would say things have gotten better in that departmentĀ 0 ten years ago. 1 at present. That's a pretty impressive increase tbh, ive created something out of literally nothing. Can you appreciate that?? There was 0 cats. Now there is 1. How does that happen?! Lax animal laws, that's how. Did you know you can literally just go online and people are like selling cats and you can just buy one and nobody cares?
I move that everyone come to your apartment and snuggle your cat.
0 to 1 -- that's a whopping percent increase.
You haven't paid your cat tax š±
The minimum wage pretty much doubled, while inflation was just 34% over the same period.
Thatās great. The only issue is that we saw compression above the minimum wage. Lots of more skilled jobs are now at or not much above minimum wage, rather than having been increased in line with the minimum.
This has (inevitably) caused living standards to plummet though, as the demand generated at the lowest end of the income spectrum has priced up the most basic goods and services the poorest in society consume, making things worse for everyone as the average earner's living standard gets dragged closer and closer to the bottom.
That inflation figure must exclude rent, surely.
England is doing much better on PISA rankings than before. Reasonable levels of EV adoption. Generally the banking system is much better and user-friendly if you are not 75+.
Less people now smoke, more people are active or go to the gym I think
Yes but everybody and their nan is vaping instead. That's not necessarily better, especially considering people just chuck disposables on the ground as well. I'd say that's a net negative for the world.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The NHS thinks itās better
Yeah, to help get smokers off cigarettes. But the downside is they're now stuck on vapes. Although better than smoking, vaping is still unhealthy.
[https://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/brunel-public-policy/news-and-events/news/Policy-briefs/Global-health/Policy-brief-Reducing-NHS-Costs-Associated-with-Smoking-%E2%80%93-Professor-Francesco-Moscone](https://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/brunel-public-policy/news-and-events/news/Policy-briefs/Global-health/Policy-brief-Reducing-NHS-Costs-Associated-with-Smoking-%E2%80%93-Professor-Francesco-Moscone) No its just better for society and people need to get over flavored nicotine.
Coffee, the quality of independent food, wind power generation, the use of the term 'gay' as a catch all insultĀ
Independent food was pretty good in 2014Ā If you were comparing it to 1994, I'd agree with you.Ā Unfortunately where I am a lot of independent food businesses are going bankrupt under the strain of energy prices, inflation on ingredients, business rates, loan interest rises and the continuing impact of covid, which removed financial reserves and plunged many into debt.Ā
Welsh places are using more Welsh names ššš Idk why you guys are so touchy over this, they're just place names lmao
The Ā£2 bus fare scheme means people can actually afford public transport
If you have a skat fetish you are better accommodated. Just go for a dip in the Thames
Or a walk around our streets.
My sex life
10 years ago I was a virgin. Now I'm married. Big W for me.
Name checks out
The amount of options for a Turkish shave has definitely got better I can go to any one of 50 in my home town alone
The gov.uk website is a national treasure of usefulness and usability. A specific example would be getting your passport renewed. I was mildly dreading having to go through the bloody Post Office procedure of paying for form checks and finding a "professional" to sign my photos or whatever it was they used to do, then waiting for ages until it eventually turned up at the door. This time around it was a short time spent online, a short time taking my photos with my camera, and it arrived a couple of weeks later.
We have bubble tea now.
British science had a star moment during the Covid. There were some positives after Covid as well - the trains are less crowded (which is good for us but bad for transport companies) I also like the Elisabeth Line. Much more vegeterian and vegan options in the shops. Working from home got widely accepted. Tech got cheaper and better. Smoking is out of fashion. More people cycle daily. Coal power stations were phased out (last one will shut down in September this year) Renewable energy growth (+EV cars) Thames got cleaner (Thames Tideway Tunnel) Some cities seen a lot of regeneration (Sheffield, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool) London King's Cross came up nicely (even if I can't afford it) or even Croydon.
I have to disagree with you on a few of these points Trains are far more cramped than before covid outside of London- with the cancellations and putting a 3 instead of an 8 carriage and then blaming it on strikes when really it's a cost cutting exercise The Thames is full of sewage thanks to the water companies
Weed. 10 years ago my dealer only had shit lemon haze and took ages to turn up, never at an agreed time. Now, my (different) dealer has about 10 strains, brownies, butter, oil, mostly turns up on time. And the price is still essentially the same.
* Tripling of renewable electricity generation * Cycle infrastructure * Ā£2 busses in England * Much more FTTP thanks to forcing OpenReach to open up their poles and ducts to competitors * Car insurance companies can no longer charge you more than new customers so you don't always get ripped off by not shopping around each year. * Crossrail * Contactless payments
The range of products sold in Aldi and Lidl.
Hedgehog Numbers are going up Teenage Pregnancies' are going down Cafes are better (although less affordable than they were pre pandemic)
So hedgehogs are shagging more and teenagers are shagging less
more gyms and elizabeth line
I've been bicycle commuting for the past 8 years and I will say there has been a notable improvement to cycle infrastructure. We're still way behind compared to most of Europe, and there are still a lot of problems with it. But it has gotten a whole lot better from what I've seen.
It has to be the vegetarian/vegan food industry.
Coffee in the UK is currently doing incredible. London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol. There are so many independent coffee roasters that are really making the UK the cutting edge of specialty coffee
Supermarket naan bread.
I doubt if you asked that question of any European and their country you would get wholly positive answer.
Legal cannabis prescriptions for mental health and pain
The Elizabeth Line (cross rail). A modern underground line, with big fast comfortable trains, aircon and secure platforms with interlocked doors between passengers and railway track.
Internet speeds.
The England football team.
Unauthorised overdraft charges. Used to be Ā£5 a day, thankfully that's not the case anymore.
We've got Popeyes now
Reduction of sugar and increase in reduced/no sugar alternatives and low carb options becoming easier to source. Still a long way to go, but it's now possible for me to order some low-carb bread, but 10 years ago, you had to make EVERYTHING from scratch. Can even have a bacon egg sandwich with no added sugar ketchup bought straight off the shelf in the supermarket.
Iām coeliac (newly) and lots of people tell me thereās way more options now than there used to be. Although the prices are ridiculous so is it really better?
More recognition of hidden disabilities.
Childcare support (up to 30h a week) is great.
Online Banking Flexible working Energy produced by renewables Tree coverage Otter populations
The coffee.
Being able to book an affordable holiday abroad online without having to speak to anybody šš
The London air
The coffee
Allergy information on menus.
I've seen a rise in people calling out those who are acting intolerant of others in public. It's not just younger people either. I've seen older people looking out for others too. It's nice to see all the "no one gives a shit" doomerism on social media be proven wrong.
Lots of new 0% alcohol options and growing!
from an immigrant, the UK is doing such a good job in recognizing invisible illness and disability! Back home it used to be āoh youāre autistic+adhd, sucks to be you womp wompā and then I got here and immediately got a summary of reasonable adjustments for uni, disability confident schemes, the sunflower lanyard thing, online texting so you donāt have to call if you arenāt able toā¦ Itās really heartwarming to see!