Racism and xenophobia divide the working classes as the current government shifts to the far right to pander to white supremacist voters. Politicians lie with impunity. Human rights are supposed to be human. But by othering humans of different nations we are being tricked into dismantling what remains of our own freedoms.
The government would rather outlaw protest, than pay essential workers such as doctors and ambulance staff living wages.
The voting system is unrepresentative and politicians serve corporate interests above their citizens. You've articulated well how there have always been injustices, but as long as things were better than somewhere else, you had a captive and passive populace. They felt powerful despite not being a part of the establishment, as if they were supporting a sports team that was doing well. We were never on the team or a part of the inner circles of wealth creation.
The UK became short sighted, complacent, greedy, and lazy. The country is tearing apart at the seams as the inequality gap continues to widen. It feels as if after almost a decade of Conservative government that the UK itself is being run as if it were a former colony. There is no longer a cohesive populace or vision from government about how to bind the political and working classes together. It feels as if the UK itself has become colonised by international business interests. The elites can live anywhere they choose, so no longer have ties to the soil of the country and are not emotionally invested in saving it.
The UK has failed to prepare for the fact that it has become a multicultural society. You can't discuss the issues of racism in this country without discussing how it is that people of colour have come to live here. Reni Eddo-Lodge begins to ask these questions in her book 'Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race'.
We are still reckoning with imperialism and the end of empire and honest conversations about our past and the source of our nation's wealth are being capitalised on to further societal and political divisions and being labelled as culture wars or wokery. The transatlantic slave trade and the roles of royally chartered companies such as the East India Company/Royal African Company have through systemic exploitation and misery of others made Britain 'Great'. It provided the foundational wealth of industrialisation. The nation is a developed nation because of it. The City of London would not be as powerful as it is now, were it not for the abhorrent trade. There is an unwillingness to admit this, because to do so would expose the lies created to justify white supremacy, slavery and capitalism. Exactly how you describe, the larger population are assets to exploit and are not stakeholders in the business of the nation.
We desperately need to mature as a country.
/rant