What ARE the issues of the day in the UK?

So this post ...

made me realize that, aside from Brexit, I don't really know anything about UK political issues. What they are, where the dividing lines fall, any of it.

Do people care about abortion?

Do you have free market fundamentalists running around trying to privatize everything under the sun in order to fatten their donors' profit margins?

Do you have a Religious Right sticking their noses in people's bedrooms, trying to divert taxpayer funds to religious schools, and shitting bricks about marriage equality?

What are the big controversial health care questions, if any?

Is immigration the biggest bone of contention, or is it just the only one we hear about in the international press?

Are unions powerful? Is there a right-to-work versus closed-shop debate?

Well apparently they have a gun culture.

The only pressing issue in the UK is whether they should skip Prince Charles and go right to Prince William to save the cost of an extra coronation ceremony.

Who will be the next coach to lead England to a first knockout round exit from a major tournament?

No.

A small minority.

No. Religion is dying in the UK.

How money is spent on the NHS.

No, it's definitely a major topical issue but far from the chief one. I wouldn't say there is one issue above all others.

Relatively powerful depending on the sector (the RMT for instance).

The biggest talking points are, and have been for years, the economy, public funding/cuts, the NHS, the benefit system, immigration and the EU. We have no real issues over abortion, guns, Christianity and homosexuality. Race relations is a relatively minor issue, as is Islam.

If you really want to learn about England, just watch Geordie Shore. Great banter.

Unfortunately, they're called the Government.

There are very few substantive issues ever discussed. To the extent that there is debate in the country it focuses on personality issues and distractions such as immigration. There is little difference between the major parties on the economy, foreign policy or justice.

Deviations from the consensus result in hysterical campaigns designed to purge and intimidate obtruders, as we are now witnessing with Jeremy Corbyn.

So, basically America Jr.

Ascot. Queen. Which hat?

There is no American style culture war in the UK. Some people care about these issues but they are a relatively small minority.

Yes. They're better known as the Conservative Party.

NHS reform and social care in the context of an ageing population are probably the two biggest issues.

Yes. But it is, in my view, mostly a cipher for other issues that people find hard to comprehend and express and to which the main parties have few answers, i.e. globalisation, the increasing insecurity of work and the worsening conditions at the bottom end of the labour market, the continuing decline of former industrial areas, the weakening of community bonds due to diverse factors, the atomisation of society, etc.

It depends what you mean. Unions have been declining in power for a long time due to anti-union legislation and de-industrialisation. However, they still have some power, as evinced by the current government enacting yet more anti-union measures.

I don't live there but I'm friends with business owners there who employ a fair amount of people and are pretty well off. I've also been there a bunch of times. The following is the impression I get.

Water is an issue. Not sure to what extent but I hear it's being taken out of the countryside to other areas.

Muslims are a very worrisome topic for obvious reasons.

NHS- Is awful and you need private health plans for good quality care.

Brexit poses issues of trade for British companies and it's going to be a hassle to get agreements done over the next few years.

Again, I don't live there but that's what I'm told.

American propagandists for private healthcare like to pretend that this is the case. It is not, reflected by the fact that any attempt to do away with the NHS in the UK would be political suicide.

Water is an issue only insofar as people find things like hosepipe bans absurd in a country where it rains all the bloody time. People are also unhappy with privatisation and would prefer to see it taken back into public ownership, but it's not a big issue at all.

This is completely false, and I always find it odd when people say this. The NHS is among the best healthcare systems in the world. It delivers good quality care to the whole population in a cost effective manner. Of course there are some problems, and people love to complain, but having lived abroad and used the health systems in other countries, I can say that the NHS compares very well to them.

What about foreign policy issues in England? Note I said "England" not "United Kingdom". England is something like 90% of the population of the United Kingdom anyway.

@Dan Leach, @Inútil are you incapable of answering the thread question honestly and in a non-partisan way without the "The Tories, the Tories, the Tories" shtick.

You don't speak for every Briton here with that nonsense.

@Dayton3 It's 78%.

Yes, I do speak for you. For example, when I say 'El Chup is a massive drama queen who has to make everything about himself', I am speaking on your behalf.

Pathetic.

Difficult, and pointless in my view, to separate the two in terms of foreign policy. The biggest issue at present is obviously the future relationship with the EU.

Yes, you are. No one mentioned you. No one claimed to be speaking for anyone but themselves. But you felt the need to jump in and shout 'they don't represent me! ME! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME! ME!'.

What are the issues beyond that? Even if secondary or side issues?

I'm referring to your dishonesty in politicising your answer to the question. Your explanation of the issues in Britain are described purely from your partisan standpoint. That's what I find pathetic, and your attempt to make this about me doesn't change that.

Oh, and it makes me laugh that you're getting pos reps from @Dayton3 as well for insulting me, given that you're far more left wing than I am.

And why are you whining about rep? In the Red Room of all places?

You're way too sensitive buddy.

How our relationships with the rest of the world will be affected by Brexit. Involvement in foreign wars, which I expect we'll see less of in the future, though the war in Afghanistan rumbles on, with no end in sight.

I answered the questions according to my own views; you did exactly the same. That's not dishonest in any way, shape or form. If you had wanted, you could have said 'I disagree with X because of Y', but for some reason you preferred to make false claims.

You keep accusing me of whining, even though it's you who has, by your own admission, taken rep to heart.

This is whining....

http://wordforge.net/index.php?threads/so-which-one-of-you-contacted-daytons-principal.99402/page-19

How did I?