‘What is something surprising that the UK is really far behind other countries in?’ – 21 ways we’re playing catch up as a nation

Britain gets bashed for all sorts of silly reasons which aren’t deserved, but there are some ways in which we’re dawdling behind the rest of the world and could do with a little kick up the backside.

Over on the AskUK subreddit, user DullInflation6 posted their thoughts on the matter…

What is something surprising that the UK is really far behind other countries in? Being British but having lived and worked abroad, I see quite a few things that are strange about how the UK has developed very fast in some ways but is archaic in others.

For instance, despite being the first country to have a proper railway, we still don’t have a high speed train service, something my Chinese friend still can’t believe.

As such, what are other things/ways in which the UK is way behind other countries on things you might not expect?

And lots of people chipped in with the strange ways we haven’t managed to keep up with our international friends, like these…

1.

‘Public transportation infrastructure. Our roads are in a terrible state, our trains are expensive and usually a poor experience, and many of our cities have no metro system. Every time I visit a European city it’s striking how terrible transportation is here.’
–manhattan4

2.

‘Quality of housing. Fighting littering. State of public spaces. Public transport affordability.’
–D34dhead

3.

‘Mentality. Crabs in a bucket – ‘If I suffered so must you’.’
–Then-Fortune-3122

4.

‘I’m Swedish, moved here aged 32 and I feel this so much (after living here for 15 years). It boggles my mind that free school meals haven’t been a thing here forever. Fed kids means healthy kids means learning kids. The assumption here seems to be ‘Why should i pay for their kids meals, why aren’t they feeding their kids, they must be spending it on fag, booze and avocado’. I don’t get it. The children are our future, they shouldn’t be stuck with what their parents can’t give them.’
–Ahhhhrg

5.

‘Buying/selling property. It’s such a hassle compared to other countries.’
–thecraftybee1981

6.

‘Mixer taps. It’s 2026 and separate hot and cold taps are somehow still common in the UK. I always forget until I come back to the UK and it feels so backward. Burn your hands or freeze them – your choice.’
–jamesdownwell

7.

‘Access to dental care. It shouldn’t be cheaper, easier and faster for me to fly to Poland and back every time I need to see a dentist.’
–mikolv2

8.

‘Trains. Everything trains.’
–trulycantbearsed

9.

‘Cleanliness. Many developed countries main cities are spotless. Ours are fucking shitholes.

You could literally go to anywhere in Singapore, and eat your food off the floor it’s that clean. Their underground MRT stations are absolutely spotless, like operating theatre clean.’
–Souldestroyer_Reborn

10.

‘Housing quality. It should be possible to live in a warm home with low energy bills and minimal mould. It should also be possible to challenge landlords on the state of their rental properties.’
–coffeewalnut08

11.

‘Paternity leave I guess… I had a week paid and a week unpaid four and eight years ago for my children. Both times I took two weeks annual leave to bolster it. I believe a number of countries are more generous.’
–Competitive_Pen7192