England.

[coldcrush]

I think people are just thinking of England as the South...The North has long since gone in parts from its industrial background and so called Londoners are all trying to buy propertys in The Lakes, Northumberland etc. My family are down South outside of London and there areas are quite nice in most parts ie. Abbots wood, Hertfordshire etc.

I think to catergorise inner London as england is niave and just comical after they thought they were all so rich and clever being from there not so long ago.

Ah well ""Knees up Mother Brown"

"!

Well you still have ya good old tunes and jellied eels!

[mutleyg]

Simple answer to the simple question asked by the OP.

MAGGIE'S LEGACY

The damage was done a long time ago and we are now enduring the consequences. The demise of most British industry coupled with the greedy culture encouraged by the government in the late 70's and 80's has led us to where we are now. Maggie's children of that period now have kids of their own who finish school with their hands outstretched expecting either a high paying job or the state to look after them from minute one. IT'S MY RIGHT!!! (boy I hate hearing those words)

Can someone tell me how a 16 year old just leaving school having not yet made any contribution to society has the right to my and every other tax payers money because they don't think working for £12k a year in Tesco's is good enough for them.

Add to this the British guilt blaming themselves for every wrong on the planet and trying to put it right through crazy levels of political corectness and encouraging immigration from every poor state in the world there is only one way to go. DOWN

I am fully aware that England has a diverse culture and has always been at the forefront of encouraging immigration and yes immigrants often do the jobs that the lazy school leavers and many other arrogant greedy English do not want to do. I am also aware that these same lazy people will be the first to blame the immigrants for not being able to get a job. I am also aware that many immigrants have made massive contributions and brought jobs to local communities, I have Asian friends that provide work for many in my area of London, but the time has come to put the sign up

WE ARE FULL.

We need to sort out the social problems of those already living here before we take on even more economic migrants, be they black or white.

I live in west London (for another year and then LOS) and am confident that most crime is not just commited by immigrants but also by local scum. I do not think it would be far from the truth to say that different crimes seem to be commited by different groups, from my own knowledge and experience in my community most car theft is commited by local white lads most credit card fraud by local asian groups most muggings by mixed gangs but the one common factor is drug abuse.

I hate the way every lazy **** feels they have the right to be supported by the rest of us (couldn't give a toss if they are immigrants or locals) and are given benefits. One in three households across Britain is now dependant on the state for at least half its income. (Daily Telegraph 13/2/07)

61 per cent of single parents would be crippled without state benefits (Civitas think- tank on behalf of the Department for work and pensions)

I fear for the future of my country but cannot see how it is going to be turned around by this or any government of the near future as they are all too scared to tell the truth and take the action needed to halt our demise.

By the way it has just been announced today that all immigrants are going to be sent text messages when their visa's are about to expire and asked to leave the country asap. This is a serious proposal that pretty much sums up our green and pleasant land!

Maybe it's an idea the Thai government could introduce to chase some of us drunken farangs out every few months.

Feel better now

[chiang mai]

The beautiful parts of rural England will always remain English no matter what happens as immigrants tend not to want to leave the sanctuary of their own communities within the cities and the only time they do visit rural England is to go and commit a crime.

All of this however is fine by me because inner cities in England are just becoming slum areas and who wants to live there anyway.

It is true that the UK has had a huge brain drain and anyone with the sense or the brains has already left the shores for warmer climes, however those with an eye for opportunities don't burn their bridges either because huge holes are being left in the employment market that are currently being left unfilled.

This therefore increases demand for the brains and the talent, which in turn pumps up the salaries.

So here is my advice. By all means come and live in LOS and live the relaxed life but also keep that telescopic eye back on what's happening in your old industry / career. When you spot an opportunity to do lucrative contract work or to get a position back in England that offers a greater salary to what you had when you left then my advice is to simply just go for it. Use the situation to your advantage!

If you have done your tax planning before hand and are happy to live fluidly enough, you will be in a great position to cash in on the opportunities as they present themselves back home whilst also being able to retreat back to LOS again for a battery recharge when you need it. If you repeat this cycle every two years you will never get bored with LOS and will have nothing to complain about when you return.

I work to the following ratio: 1 month UK = 3 months LOS. Great innit!

Good advice and I try to do the same except that I try to do my work in one hit, three months on and nine months off. If you live as an expat in Thailand for long enough it loses its appeal and we all sometimes need to be reminded of our other or previous lives. Similarly I find that three months a year in the UK helps rejuvenate me and I get to overdose there on the things that I miss and enjoy before coming back to Thailand. It's diificult however to find the right balance and timing on these things.

[Nignoy]

Australia

I still come and go my friend. Was there in December most recently for work.

15 months since I moved back to LOS (for work) and I have maintain interests there still (and still pay some of your taxes).....so I wouldn't be investing there and maintaining a presence there if I thought the place was going to the crapper.

UK for me is still a nice place for things, which is why me and others want to go there.

Fair enough, but lets have this diccussion in 10-15 years time when Australia has more than its fair share of immigrants, lets see if your opinions change then

Lets have it now. Australia is a nation of migrants. Has been since the year dot. But, we've run an immigration system pretty much since the 50's and taken loads of non-europeans since the Brits decided to turn to the EU.

We take in roughly 200K migrants per year. Roughly half skilled, the other half family reunion. Not bad for 20 million people. It is roughly the same size as the UK immigraion programme I think, but you have 60-odd million. One in four Australians are born overseas.

Not to say we don't have problems. My point it is mainly attitudinal thing.

Some of the biggest supporters of middle eastern refugees in Australia (read muslims) has come from the country (read conservative) heart of Australia. Why? These refugees moved there, started fruit picking, working in abbatioirs, basically provided labour to the local economy which they were crying out for.

Problems yes...Sydney 2005 with race riots there. For that, see my earlier post on poverty and the cyclical nature of disenfranchising certain groups. One group of insular lebanese Australians up against a bunch on insular yobbo australians who think that one of the shires was for their own personal use.

Australia could not exist with out immigrants, over the last 20 years they have targetted and recruited special tradespeople from all over the world to bring their knowledge and experience to this country, which has a deficit of qualified and and experienced tradesman, in our little village the carpenter is welsh, the plumber,german the electrician czech,but as every immigrant will tell you, you are not allowed to be a burden on the govt which I think is a fair assumption, illegal immigrants get a rough ride here, but that is only fair I think, your comment about insular yobbo australians they are more wide spread than you think, you can find them in any outback NSW town or Qld country town on a saturday night!! my first experience of country queensland was witnessing a saturday lunchtime Brawl between 2 gangs of rival Jillaroos(Aussie Cowgirls) in the main street of Roma, there was blood and bits everywhere.England will never be like it was in the good old days when we were kids, outside influences have changed that ,like they change all countries,look at pattaya or phuket how many of you can say you knew these towns when there was not a single hotel and girliebar,Even up country towns like Khon Kaen and Surin where the sight of a white person used cause the children to flee in terror, then with the arrival of US and British Troops the corruption of paradise began :jap:Nignoy

[endure]

One poster has just left, never to return. Anyone else who thinks it's clever to use racist language will be joining him - that's a promise.

[endure]

Here's a couple to start with

1) People in the UK have in general far too much money , give their kids far too many things , both of which make them more arrogant.

I must hang out with the wrong crowd when visiting the UK. All my mates are struggling with the high prices of just about everything. Entertainment is pretty well limited to smoking fags and watching the telly in the evening apart from the rare visit to the increasingly rare traditional pub where available funds limit them to only a pint or two. And they all complain that London has become a non-English and unsafe city. I still love the place, but then I am now only an occasional tourist who once lived in London decades ago.

85% of the UK population don't live in London - a fact which seems to escape lots of people.

[solent01]

Oh dear, I've come to look again and your all still arguing over nothing, all our country's are the same, don't you understand........ jezzzzzzzzzzz whats up with you guys

[coldcrush]

Here's a couple to start with

1) People in the UK have in general far too much money , give their kids far too many things , both of which make them more arrogant.

I must hang out with the wrong crowd when visiting the UK. All my mates are struggling with the high prices of just about everything. Entertainment is pretty well limited to smoking fags and watching the telly in the evening apart from the rare visit to the increasingly rare traditional pub where available funds limit them to only a pint or two. And they all complain that London has become a non-English and unsafe city. I still love the place, but then I am now only an occasional tourist who once lived in London decades ago.

85% of the UK population don't live in London - a fact which seems to escape lots of people.

Its not if you read my posts.....

[enyaw]

It's all quite comparative innit? I say to the op stop reading the daily mail and just get on with it....

Edited March 7, 2007 by enyaw

[endure]

Here's a couple to start with

1) People in the UK have in general far too much money , give their kids far too many things , both of which make them more arrogant.

I must hang out with the wrong crowd when visiting the UK. All my mates are struggling with the high prices of just about everything. Entertainment is pretty well limited to smoking fags and watching the telly in the evening apart from the rare visit to the increasingly rare traditional pub where available funds limit them to only a pint or two. And they all complain that London has become a non-English and unsafe city. I still love the place, but then I am now only an occasional tourist who once lived in London decades ago.

85% of the UK population don't live in London - a fact which seems to escape lots of people.

Its not if you read my posts.....

Yours wasn't the specific post that I was replying to...

[HarryHacker]

One poster has just left, never to return. Anyone else who thinks it's clever to use racist language will be joining him - that's a promise.

What do you mods expect? You allow this topic to run for 24 hours which is giving the racist a soapbox to use. How many posts have you guys cleaned up or dumped from this thread?

[Skyline]

It's all quite comparative innit? I say to the op stop reading the daily mail and just get on with it....

Never been a fan of The Daily Mail,Just take a look at the local newspapers in the London area.Most of the crimes don't get mentioned in the national papers.I suggest you stop reading The Guardian and open your eyes.

[pampal]

It's always been a dump, it's nothing new.

I went to boarding school in Reading 1974-1976, everday was like hel_l for me. Crappy horrible food, anal-retentive masochistic teachers and a dark and damp school. Then my parents bought an apartment in London in Belgravia and we lived there for another year before we moved to San Francisco. London was slightly better, but not much, cold-foggy and crowded with mean people.

NO good memories of the UK in my head, not one.

[bendix]

One poster has just left, never to return. Anyone else who thinks it's clever to use racist language will be joining him - that's a promise.

What do you mods expect? You allow this topic to run for 24 hours which is giving the racist a soapbox to use. How many posts have you guys cleaned up or dumped from this thread?

Hear hear.

[samran]

One poster has just left, never to return. Anyone else who thinks it's clever to use racist language will be joining him - that's a promise.

What do you mods expect? You allow this topic to run for 24 hours which is giving the racist a soapbox to use. How many posts have you guys cleaned up or dumped from this thread?

Hear hear.

Totally my 'fault'.

You let these things run 24 hours. You let people vent. You smoke out the bigots.

CLOSED.