Is Britain broke(n)?​

Poverty

Even if Britain isn’t broken, it’s definitely broke (ifml.)bankrott​broke. The cost-of-living crisis, first seen as a temporaryvorübergehend​temporary setbackRückschlag, Einbruchsetback caused by Brexit and the war in Ukraine, has since turned into a permacrisis. The price of basic goods such as pasta and butter has doubled or even to triplesich verdreifachen​tripled in the past year. And food banks, once a last resortletzter Ausweg​last resort, now serve the “working poor” – with reports that teachers and civil servantBeamter, Beamtin​civil servants are also standing in the queues.​

To understand how earnings have shrunk, consider that wages went up by 36 per cent in the 16 years between 1992 and 2008. However, in the 16 years leading to 2024, the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)(unabhängige) Haushaltsaufsichtsbehörde​Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast a rise of only 2.4 per cent. Many of the “working poor” have been forced into the benefits systemSozialsystembenefits system. Cuts in benefits between 2014 and 2020 have pushed 400,000 people into poverty, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.​

Brexit

Oh, where are the sunlit uplands of Brexit Britain? When former Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the country into Brexit, he promised a halcyonglücklich​halcyon era of economic growth and optimism. Now that the pandemic is over, we can see the promised land more clearly. And it looks a bit like Mordorfiktives Reich des Bösen in der Trilogie „Der Herr der Ringe“ von J.R.R. Tolkien​Mordor.​

Could it be that leaving the world’s biggest trading bloc did not – to paraphrase the famous catchphraseSchlagwort, Slogan​catchphrase – “unchain Britannia”? Post-Brexit, Britain was supposed to do even more business with the EU. Instead, businesses are faced with border controls, customs checks, import duties and inspections. It’s been a nightmareAlbtraum​nightmare for labour markets, creating shortageEngpass​shortages at home and making it difficult to work abroad. Business investment has to slumpfallenslumped to eight per cent below pre-pandemic levels. The pound has crashed.​

But it’s all OK. We now have our traditional blue passports once again!​

Read more about Britain’s problems regarding health, education and its unity in Spotlight 3/23.