Did We Have the Best of It?

Reflecting on a Britain That Once Was

It’s a question gaining traction across the country: did we have the best of it? Was Britain of the late 70s and 80s—despite the strikes, inflation, and blackouts—a better place to live than the Britain of today?

 

Back then, there was struggle, yes—but there was also unity. The country came together to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee with street parties. You could speak your mind without a knock at the door. Children roamed the streets safely. Christianity shaped our cultural calendar, from hymns in schools to nativity plays, and no one was arrested for quoting the Bible in public.

 

Now, That Same Country Feels Foreign

Fast-forward to today, and it’s a different world. Preaching the Bible in a town centre can lead to arrest for “offensive” speech. Meanwhile, the Islamic call to prayer can be broadcast over a microphone in the high street without challenge. People are noticing. It’s not about religion—it’s about double standards. One set of rules for some, another for everyone else.

Two-tier policing has become visible. Social media posts—if they express the “wrong” opinion—can now carry a criminal sentence of up to two years. Law-abiding citizens are being treated like threats, while actual threats are often ignored or excused under the banner of “tolerance.”

 

Taxed, Ignored, and Left Behind

While this happens, the British taxpayer is squeezed harder than ever. People who have worked and contributed all their lives are now struggling to heat their homes, feed their families, and keep up with soaring bills. Yet illegal migrants are put up in hotels, given allowances, and provided with legal representation—funded by the very people now struggling to get by.

The question many are asking is no longer just “what happened?” but “why is this allowed to continue?”

 

What Did We Lose?

Mass immigration has changed the face of Britain. Some welcome that change. Others feel alienated by it—unheard in their own country, told that their concerns are racist, backward, or unimportant. National identity has become a battleground. The Union Jack is controversial. Royal celebrations are met with protests. Even the idea of being proud to be British can get you labelled.

 

So—Did We Have the Best of It?

Maybe we did.
Maybe the best of Britain was when it still felt like home.

 

One thing is for sure, I'm glad I got out of there when I did, I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there now. 

 

We also had the best of Thailand when we came here in the 70's and 80's.

 

Things change and so do people.

 

Deal with it.

6 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Things change and so do people.

 

Totally agree, but usually things change for the better.

I first came to Thailand in '93.

On the whole, Thailand has changed for the better - even Koh Samui, where I have lived for the past 25 years.

However, Britain???

It does not look like a change for the better to me.

I suspect that I will never be going back.

 

Nobody likes change.  Thatcher changed things, Blair changed things and 14 years of Tory rule changed things.  Brexit changed things dramatically!  It's too early to tell whether Starmer will actually deliver any changes, good or bad.  

Covid and lockdown really damaged the economy from which it will be hard to recover for years..lack of apprentices schemes over 40 years means that skills are in short supply nowadays,

 

call girls and escorts vanished over lockdown and never recovered their numbers

It’s good for high end expensive cars value over 100 k for exports ,range rovers and lotus and McLaren’ have healthy turnovers for global mkts esp US

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

We also had the best of Thailand when we came here in the 70's and 80's.

 

Things change and so do people.

 

Deal with it.

 

So, if you got cancer, you wouldn't treat it? Things change, so just let it run its course?

Britain is certainly lost.

There is no way to get all the people out that made Britain go from 

white 60-70's Britain to the diverse ----hole that it is now.

 

But not just that , draconian laws , surveillance and the technology used,

can't be turned back.

 

For 100's of years Britain made colonies looted  , now it is the colonies that loot Britain.

15 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

 

So, if you got cancer, you wouldn't treat it? Things change, so just let it run its course?

I personally wouldn't.

 

I would let nature run it's course, understand that natural selection has chosen me for eradication, then once the pain set in, fly to Switzerland and hook myself up to the lethal injection.... Take a few deep breaths, play some nice music, and then...

 

(Press) Goodnight, Vienna.

 

The Don.

Better food now.

Skilled working class labour like plumbing much better paid now.

Better TV, free (entertainment online) now.

Better minimum wage now.

Houses better heated now.

Anyone can and does enter university now.

Better flights to Europe now. Much cheaper.

Better state pension now.

Better access to information now.

Less perverts like Jimmy saville now.

Better place to be gay now.

Better place to be a woman now.

People less racist now.

Cheaper pubs now.

 

Things much better now, albeit there are problems that need fixing.

25 minutes ago, Don Giovanni said:

I personally wouldn't.

 

I would let nature run it's course, understand that natural selection has chosen me for eradication, then once the pain set in, fly to Switzerland and hook myself up to the lethal injection.... Take a few deep breaths, play some nice music, and then...

 

(Press) Goodnight, Vienna.

 

The Don.

Me too!

Cancer patients generally survive less than 5 years after discovery.

And those five years they tend to be bald, sick and in pain.

At nearly 70 I've had my time, and I'd prefer to go.

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Me too!

Cancer patients generally survive less than 5 years after discovery.

And those five years they tend to be bald, sick and in pain.

At nearly 70 I've had my time, and I'd prefer to go.

Well said mate.

 

Some classical music and a glass/bottle of fine wine would need to be consumed before I press the 'off' switch for good though..

 

The Don.

15 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

Better food now.

Skilled working class labour like plumbing much better paid now.

Better TV, free (entertainment online) now.

Better minimum wage now.

Houses better heated now.

Anyone can and does enter university now.

Better flights to Europe now. Much cheaper.

Better state pension now.

Better access to information now.

Less perverts like Jimmy saville now.

Better place to be gay now.

Better place to be a woman now.

People less racist now.

Cheaper pubs now.

 

Things much better now, albeit there are problems that need fixing.

I don't agree with any of your post.

Food from 1960s to 2016 was great (which was when I lived there), where did cod and chips go?

Plumbing I did myself

Free entertainment is great worldwide, and the internet in Thailand beats my internet in the UK

I never earned minimum, so I don't care what it is

Houses too expensive 

I went to university totally free, fees plus living expenses all paid

Who wants to go to Europe?

Suspect state pension for expats will be gone in 10 years

Don't really care about sexual deviants, women or other races

 

Have a nice day though!

 

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I don't agree with any of your post.

Food from 1960s to 2016 was great (which was when I lived there), where did cod and chips go?

Plumbing I did myself

Free entertainment is great worldwide, and the internet in Thailand beats my internet in the UK

I never earned minimum, so I don't care what it is

Houses too expensive 

I went to university totally free, fees plus living expenses all paid

Who wants to go to Europe?

Suspect state pension for expats will be gone in 10 years

Don't really care about sexual deviants, women or other races

 

Have a nice day though!

 

The op was comparing the UK now to the UK of 40 years ago. Not to Thailand now.

I agree Thailand is better.

And he was talking about the UK in general not your life in the UK.

 

Any of these groups: on benefits, on minimum wage, skilled blue collar, skilled graduate, the UK of 2025 is better than the UK of 1985.

9 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

The op was comparing the UK now to the UK of 40 years ago. Not to Thailand now.

I agree Thailand is better.

And he was talking about the UK in general not your life in the UK.

 

Any of these groups: on benefits, on minimum wage, skilled blue collar, skilled graduate, the UK of 2025 is better than the UK of 1985.

We'll have to disagree.

3 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

So, if you got cancer, you wouldn't treat it? Things change, so just let it run its course?

 

I don't see how a personal sickness or disease and a country's socio-political change can in any way be considered analogous.

 

I can seek treatment or a cure for my cancer or sickness, or not. I have that choice.

 

I can do absolutely nothing to effect change in a) my birth country where I no longer live and can no longer vote, or b) my present country of domicile where I don't have a vote. I have no choice.

9 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

Totally agree, but usually things change for the better.

I first came to Thailand in '93.

On the whole, Thailand has changed for the better - even Koh Samui, where I have lived for the past 25 years.

However, Britain???

It does not look like a change for the better to me.

I suspect that I will never be going back.

 

If things "usually" change for the better, why are their increased global conflicts. Why is there more flooding, more wildfires, more weather extremes. Why is there more political extremism?

 

Back on topic, unless you blindly believe everything you read and see in the mainstream and social media, I don't see how 25 years of self-imposed 'exile' on Samui allows you to comment on the "here and now" in your homeland.

 

3 hours ago, sidjameson said:

Better food now.

Skilled working class labour like plumbing much better paid now.

Better TV, free (entertainment online) now.

Better minimum wage now.

Houses better heated now.

Anyone can and does enter university now.

Better flights to Europe now. Much cheaper.

Better state pension now.

Better access to information now.

Less perverts like Jimmy saville now.

Better place to be gay now.

Better place to be a woman now.

People less racist now.

Cheaper pubs now.

 

Things much better now, albeit there are problems that need fixing.

 

I agree while there are towns and regions in the UK where there are chronic issues, for the greater part of the UK, it is the opposite.

 

Like the stories of drunk British people in Pattaya are grabbing the headlines here and, for some here, paints an inaccurate picture of both the Brits and Pattaya, the truth, the good news, is that most British visitors aren't drunken hooligans.

Slowly but surely British culture is being wiped out.

 

Our history, values, humour and religion are being over-written by a combination of Islamic culture and woke extremism.

 

And unfortunately it's not the best of Islamic culture .... we're not getting the welcoming 'everyone is an honoured guest' culture of Oman, the style of Dubai, the wealth of Saudi Arabia or the energy of Egypt or Turkey .... we're getting the misogyny, filth and intolerance of the lowest class of Islam.

10 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

Slowly but surely British culture is being wiped out.

 

Our history, values, humour and religion are being over-written by a combination of Islamic culture and woke extremism.

 

And unfortunately it's not the best of Islamic culture .... we're not getting the welcoming 'everyone is an honoured guest' culture of Oman, the style of Dubai, the wealth of Saudi Arabia or the energy of Egypt or Turkey .... we're getting the misogyny, filth and intolerance of the lowest class of Islam.

What utter nonsense.  

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Me too!

Cancer patients generally survive less than 5 years after discovery.

And those five years they tend to be bald, sick and in pain.

At nearly 70 I've had my time, and I'd prefer to go.

 

Your quoted cancer survival rates are based on what?

48 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

What utter nonsense.  

Totally.

 

"lowest class of islam"...LOL

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

I don't see how a personal sickness or disease and a country's socio-political change can in any way be considered analogous.

 

Politics, laws, economics, they can all be reversed.

 

Look at the whole trans thing.  At first people where willing to make changes in order to try to help trans people feel better.  Then, after a while, all the dangers came to light and it became obvious that people weren't acting in good faith and vulnerable people were being harmed or endangered.  It took a little bit of time, but gradually people woke up and things started to be put right.  And that's just over the last few years.

 

There's very often things that people can do.  Even just keeping a dialogue open and voicing your concerns is enough.

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

What utter nonsense.  

Thank you for considered, informative reply .... and I guess you've never been to Bradford?

 

But you would like to state just one benefit that mass immigration from muslim countries has brought to the UK?

 

We know all about the negatives, the lack of integration, the high unemployment, the erosion of women's rights, the dilution of British culture and values, the grooming gangs etc, but I can't think of any positives, unlike the earlier diasporas from the Caribbean, India and Uganda, the current wave seems to be entirely negative, except in the eyes of the forum's two (or is it one with two accounts?) Islamophiles.

7 hours ago, sidjameson said:

Better food now.

Skilled working class labour like plumbing much better paid now.

Better TV, free (entertainment online) now.

Better minimum wage now.

Houses better heated now.

Anyone can and does enter university now.

Better flights to Europe now. Much cheaper.

Better state pension now.

Better access to information now.

Less perverts like Jimmy saville now.

Better place to be gay now.

Better place to be a woman now.

People less racist now.

Cheaper pubs now.

 

Things much better now, albeit there are problems that need fixing.

What planet are you living on?

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

 

Politics, laws, economics, they can all be reversed.

 

Look at the whole trans thing.  At first people where willing to make changes in order to try to help trans people feel better.  Then, after a while, all the dangers came to light and it became obvious that people weren't acting in good faith and vulnerable people were being harmed or endangered.  It took a little bit of time, but gradually people woke up and things started to be put right.  And that's just over the last few years.

 

There's very often things that people can do.  Even just keeping a dialogue open and voicing your concerns is enough.

 

I agree and it's good that common sense appears to have prevailed here. But there's nothing I thought and even less that I said or did, that helped this come about.

 

So back to the topic at hand, there's nothing, absolutely nothing I can do to "save" the UK that in my opinion, doesn't need saving, except maybe from those living in absentia that think it's "lost" already?

 

Maybe they should embark on some sort of reverse crusade to spread whiteness and Christianity again?

7 hours ago, sidjameson said:

Better food now.

Skilled working class labour like plumbing much better paid now.

Better TV, free (entertainment online) now.

Better minimum wage now.

Houses better heated now.

Anyone can and does enter university now.

Better flights to Europe now. Much cheaper.

Better state pension now.

Better access to information now.

Less perverts like Jimmy saville now.

Better place to be gay now.

Better place to be a woman now.

People less racist now.

Cheaper pubs now.

 

Things much better now, albeit there are problems that need fixing.

 

   Yeah, but apart from that though .

What things are now better in the U.K ?

4 minutes ago, safarimike11 said:

What planet are you living on?

 

Preston at the moment.

 

Where are you?

Just now, NanLaew said:

 

Preston at the moment.

 

Where are you?

Pattaya: all the best.

7 hours ago, sidjameson said:

Better food now.

Skilled working class labour like plumbing much better paid now.

Better TV, free (entertainment online) now.

Better minimum wage now.

Houses better heated now.

Anyone can and does enter university now.

Better flights to Europe now. Much cheaper.

Better state pension now.

Better access to information now.

Less perverts like Jimmy saville now.

Better place to be gay now.

Better place to be a woman now.

People less racist now.

Cheaper pubs now.

 

Things much better now, albeit there are problems that need fixing.

What planet are you living on?