St Petre   85 #1 Posted July 11, 2019 In 1957 when Tory prime minister Harold Macmillan announced that the nation 'had never had it so good', was he right ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Longcol   596 #2 Posted July 11, 2019 1 minute ago, St Petre said: In 1957 when Tory prime minister Harold Macmillan announced that the nation 'had never had it so good', was he right ? Is this a thread for pensioners only, because nobody else will be able to remember that far back - and only a small percentage of them would have been adults at the time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
*_ash_* Â Â 88 #3 Posted July 11, 2019 (edited) 'They' perhaps never had it so good at the time. As above, only old people know. Â You can't use this to compare to modern times though. It's a completely different society now. (work and tech wise). Edited July 11, 2019 by *_ash_* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Ontarian1981   10 #4 Posted July 11, 2019 1 hour ago, St Petre said: In 1957 when Tory prime minister Harold Macmillan announced that the nation 'had never had it so good', was he right ?  Well, I would have been about 12,so yes, that was a bit better than when I was 11, my pocket money went up by threppence.  Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Halibut   12 #5 Posted July 12, 2019 8 hours ago, *_ash_* said: 'They' perhaps never had it so good at the time. As above, only old people know.  You can't use this to compare to modern times though. It's a completely different society now. (work and tech wise). Not just work and tech - leisure, social attitudes, sexual mores...it's different in so many ways. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Janus   28 #6 Posted July 14, 2019 As we progress in time every few years, is it fair to say that the nation has never had it so good? The next few years more improvement and so on.  A major fly in the ointment being the level of knife murders in the UK. Has that ever been this bad? Krays etc?  I don't know, so over to the elderly to answer that.  Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Mister Gee   812 #7 Posted July 14, 2019 (edited) On July 11, 2019 at 22:47, St Petre said: In 1957 when Tory prime minister Harold Macmillan announced that the nation 'had never had it so good', was he right ? It's hard to believe that in 1957 the Tories were actually in competition with the Labour Party to see who could build more council houses. Macmillan was a typical Tory though because he spoke a load of rubbish. After winning the 1959 general election he said, 'The Class War Is Obsolete.' He then formed a government that included a Duke, three Earls and a Marquess. Edited July 14, 2019 by Mister Gee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Longcol   596 #8 Posted July 14, 2019 2 hours ago, Mister Gee said: It's hard to believe that in 1957 the Tories were actually in competition with the Labour Party to see who could build more council houses. Macmillan was a typical Tory though because he spoke a load of rubbish. After winning the 1959 general election he said, 'The Class War Is Obsolete.' He then formed a government that included a Duke, three Earls and a Marquess. Perhaps he thought the aristocracy were victorious for eternity. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
hauxwell   243 #9 Posted July 15, 2019 I can’t remember Macmillan but people who were still alive when he made that speech who had lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s, WW1 and WW2.  Also food rationing which didn’t end until early 1950s, must have thought he was right when he said, you have never had it so good.  In 1957 rationing had ended, unemployment was down and wages were up.  The National Health Service after the Beveridge Reoport was in full swing. You no longer had to pay to see a doctor and Elvis Presley was on the radio.   Those people  must have been counting their blessings.   Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
davyboy   18 #10 Posted July 17, 2019 (edited) On 15/07/2019 at 09:37, hauxwell said: I can’t remember Macmillan but people who were still alive when he made that speech who had lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s, WW1 and WW2.  Also food rationing which didn’t end until early 1950s, must have thought he was right when he said, you have never had it so good.  In 1957 rationing had ended, unemployment was down and wages were up.  The National Health Service after the Beveridge Reoport was in full swing. You no longer had to pay to see a doctor and Elvis Presley was on the radio.   Those people  must have been counting their blessings.   You are right. I was 17 in 1957 in a working class family living in a very nice semi council house which now sell for £360,000 (nice profit for those that could afford to buy!) In  both 1952 and 1953 I had  spent  6 weeks each time in hospital being dosed with expensive  and newly discovered antibiotics and having operations My father had been told on the first occasion the drugs alone had cost £300. My wife has told me that just before  the NHS her mother had told their GP not to pay a return visit as she couldn't afford the 2/6 (12 1/2p) charge. I was in the 6th form of  a grammar school, my father had been eligible to go to one but his parents wanted him out at work. I worked Saturdays (9 to 5.30) in the local Co-op for 30/- (£1.50) but a pint of cider and mild cost 5p, fish and chips 7 1/2 p and 2miles on a bus  1/2p. You could say things were better than before the war.  This is an article on Osteomyelitis, which I had, and the life saving penicillin, which I was given, injections four times a day for 4 weeks.  http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/Lect21b.htm Edited July 17, 2019 by davyboy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
hauxwell   243 #11 Posted July 17, 2019 9 hours ago, davyboy said: This is an article on Osteomyelitis, which I had, and the life saving penicillin, which I was given, injections four times a day for 4 weeks.   That was an insightful bit of history on the early days of the National Health.  Thank heavens for the National Health and antibiotics.  I’ve had my fair share of them but they cured my problems.  It was a lot of money £300 in those days for drugs. I bet not many people gave much thought about the cost of the drugs, they would have just been grateful they didn’t have to pay for them.  I can remember my granny telling me that the doctor didn’t always charge her if she had to call him out for my mum.   We don’t know how lucky we are today.  Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Ridgewalk   96 #12 Posted July 18, 2019 I suppose if you were from a wealthy background with never a thought as to where the money was coming from, life would have looked particularly good.  Meanwhile down a coal mine inBarnsley my father would have been on the coal face, sharing his " snap" with mice, risking his neck every day and getting  emphysema in the process.  Reminds me of the Tory Chancellor, who famously remarked " unemployment is a price worth paying ".   Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...