Why is Britain such a backward country?

If you compare Britain with Germany, the Scandanavian countries, the Netherlands and perhaps Belgium, France and Austria, then maybe socially and emotionally we are backwards. This could be evidenced by the level and nature of drunkenness, economic inequality, attitudes to sex, lack of style in the way we dress, inability to manage sensibly in patterns of weather that only occur for a few days a year, and the proportion of people who feel unhappy about their appearance. I blame the legacy of Oliver Cromwell, Queen Victoria and to a lesser extent the period of the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

Though if you compare our standard of living, the proportion of people who have enough to eat, level of education, arts and culture with probably all bar twenty countries in the whole world, we are in a much better position. If we were that bad, why do so many people from other countries in the EU and Commonwealth come and live here? The way I view it, if you are born in the UK, if where you are born is a lottery, being born here is akin to getting five numbers and the bonus ball.

It's nice to have a choice. Only a **** would want to force me to work specific days that don't fit in



And as any reasonable liberal country should be secular, we should sort that out

I don't know about you, but I've been able to do pretty much anything I want to do on a Sunday, and have been since the mid-1990s. Even buses run reasonably frequently on a Sunday where I live.

But what's wrong with having one day a week that is a time for relaxing, spending time with family? Perhaps because everything is so rush rush, and there's so much daily pressure and stress, we have the rates of mental illness that we have?

Why? Even secular turkey has Friday as its day off.

Incidentally though, we're not a secular country.

Not if you're doing a job that would involve working on Sundays? Fancy doing a 9 to 5 job on Sunday for no extra pay?

As mush as little Englanders piss me off two with their EU and immigrant obsession those seem like stupid reasons to leave, your essentially complaining because the country is too socially conservative.

For me to leave (Ireland, Canada or New York probably) it would have to be for greater economic opportunity.

I know he didn't but I used them as examples.

Progress may have been made but its still not enough, i can't pop to Tesco at 9pm for a weekly shop.

Why should employees have a say? They are employed to work a set number of hours, if these hours happen to be on a Sunday then they should work.

I just don't see why the state should regulate opening hours at all.

Oh OP so young and stupid. Wait until you DO leave and then you realize how many problems other countries have. Honestly...the tube closes at midnight and everything comes to a standstill on Sunday? (Where!?). What a load of horse bollox.

Where exactly did the OP mention Russia, Greece or Albania?

I've already gone into it elsewhere on here but there's plenty I don't miss now that I live in Denmark. There are various things that Denmark is equally rubbish at, but many things that it is light years ahead in when compared to the UK.

Why should I be forced to have a day off and everything shut when I don't want to, don't follow the religion and want a different day off?

We should be. If we want to be considered modern and not backwards.

Try working seven days a week for anything longer than 4 weeks and then tell me you don't need a day off.

One day when you leave school and grow up you'll look forward to weekends off. Especially if you live near a tube station, factory etc to give a little respite.

Where did he say anything about "working seven days a week"?

When he said 'why should I be forced to have a day off.'

We have a poster who seems to think that the world revolves around him and is incapable of seeing the bigger picture.

Why should they not be allowed to work Sundays if they want to?

Someone emigrating to Ireland. That's a good one.

Why should they not be allowed to work Sundays if they want to?

Why should they not be allowed to work Sundays if they want to?