Record Number Of People Leave Uk

[JimsKnight]

Record number of people leave UK

More people left the UK last year than in any year since 1991, statistics just released suggest.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that some 385,000 people left the UK for the long term in the year to mid-2006.

Long-term migration into the UK, meanwhile, was 574,000.

The figures show the UK's population grew to 60,587,000 - an increase of 349,000 (0.6%). They also suggest there were 159,000 more births than deaths.

Population growth

The number of people aged 85 or over grew by 6% to 1,243,000 while the number of people of retirement age increased by 1% to 11,344,000.

The largest population growth, by district, was 14% in Westminster, followed by Camden and South Northamptonshire - both 12%.

The populations of Forest Heath and Rutland grew by 11%.

The greatest reductions at 2% were in Rushmoor, Middlesbrough, Sefton and Burnley.

Britons abroad

The average age was 39 compared with just over 34 in 1971.

The method by which migration statistics are compiled changed in 1991, making comparisons with earlier figures difficult.

A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research for the BBC News website in 2006 showed almost one in 10 British citizens lives overseas.

The top expat locations were Australia, Spain, the US and Canada.

Increasing numbers were heading to Asian countries such as the UAE, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and China.

From .....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6958220.stm ( Wednesday, 22 August 2007 )

5.5m Britons 'opt to live abroad

Thailand: 41,000

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6210358.stm

TL

Thai Life, Where does it say, on the BBC link Increasing numbers were heading to Asian countries such as the UAE, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and China.

?????

It's mostly countries that aren't SE Asia Brits are going to.

I will agree that more people are leaving. But the sensationalist news story doesn't mention how many are returning each year!

On the immigrants from E. Europe. Yes they fill jobs and take them from locals, but the quality of work from them is typically sht! They are hard workers but the quality of work is pss-poor compared to British Tradesmen. Violent crime and foreigner status means all the money goes out of the country. Better to have one local Brit employed in a crap job than 3 polish, because all the Brits cash stays in, the polish money goes out of the UK!

Edited August 24, 2007 by JimsKnight

[samran]

The point seemingly lost on those seeking to defend the migration phenomenon is that for most indigenous British the migrants are simply not wanted but their arrival is seen as inevitable because of the economics now prevailing.

Over 1.5 million are unemployed, not because there is no work but because there is no work that pays sufficient to achieve a standard of living beyond that which could be procured by the minimum wage. The government is happy with this since the cost of their welfare dependence is far outweighed by the benefits to be achieved from exploiting a vast reservoir of cheap labour from E.Europe.The knock on effect is the impact this has had upon inflation figures whch Brown has used to depress wage levels throughout the country.With the rising tax burden being shouldered by the oppressed middle income earners it is hardly surprising that resentment is building to the point that where possible many folk are voting with their feet.

Racism and prejudice are equally inevitable since human nature, despite the clumsy attempts at social engineering practiced by NuLabour, will always have its way.

Personally speaking, I am becoming weary of having to speak English in my own country as if I were abroad (or in Liverpool:D ).

OK, I'm interested. In your ideal world, what should be done so that people are so that people are employed, services are provided and incomes increase? Youi've already ruled out any socialist/interventionist measures, so what is your solution. Get rid of the wefare state, open slather on wages (ie no minimum wage)? How do you think the little englanders would take that?

I'm a bit confused as to your solution to this. You outline the problems from your perspective, but nothing solution wise.....

[qwertz]

If anyone has had the misfortune to have grown up in Manchester they'd know that the conditions there are typical of the general social decline and why so many people fold their tents.

It's the very people people that England can't afford to lose who are leaving, the well qualified and productive.

Why should they stay and be milked dry to fund a tottering social security system?

In my case I was sick to the teeth of the chav culture, insulting offers of work and the fear of going away for a weekend and coming back to a trashed house.

I made my decision to leave after my pensioner neighbour was beaten half to death by a gang of schoolkids and robbed of a paltry couple of pounds.

After my third car had been stolen and trashed, I took the insurance money, put my house on the market and took off for the continent.

I finally landed in Germany, 18 years ago, and I've found a better life here.

Do I miss England? Would I go back? No way!

I wonder how many of these more recent emigrants are leaving for similar reasons.

[meom]

The government is happy with this since the cost of their welfare dependence is far outweighed by the benefits to be achieved from exploiting a vast reservoir of cheap labour from E.Europe.

Several references in this thread have been made to cheap labour. Not being Brit somebody care to explain how this works because I always thought the UK has a minimum wage so how can these economic immigrants being referred to as being " cheap labour". I assume they work for the same minimum wage as UK born nationals or am I missing something here?

[qwertz]

The foreign mafias are the first to scope out the possibilities for exploitation.

They run the immigrants into the country and the laws are so easy to circumvent.

These types are very cunning and know all the loopholes.

They soon form alliances with the native exploiters.

There are cases almost every day in the news of some new form of exploitation.

[Penkoprod]

Several references in this thread have been made to cheap labour. Not being Brit somebody care to explain how this works because I always thought the UK has a minimum wage so how can these economic immigrants being referred to as being " cheap labour". I assume they work for the same minimum wage as UK born nationals or am I missing something here?

The minimum wage is just that.........the MINIMUM ammount that is paid to an employee (set by the government)

Like any other market, the law of supply and demand come into play in the jobs market.............the more people you have seeking work (supply) the less you need to pay those people (demand)

Before the influx of people coming into the UK, people were being paid more than the minimum, because the demand outstripped the supply

There is a downward pressure on wages here, because supply now outstrips demand, and employers can turn round and say "take it or leave it, we can get someone else to do the job for far less now"

Penkoprod

[Penkoprod]

The foreign mafias are the first to scope out the possibilities for exploitation.

They run the immigrants into the country and the laws are so easy to circumvent.

These types are very cunning and know all the loopholes.

They soon form alliances with the native exploiters.

There are cases almost every day in the news of some new form of exploitation.

Cockel pickers in Morecombe Bay the other year being one of the cases in point

Paid one Pound per hour (or was that per day?)

Penkoprod

[the gent]

Not sure if there is a ' solution ' as such since capitalist based societies are inherently dynamic and reflect fluctuations in world markets etc.

However, in the UK we are uniquly hampered by a welfare culture that amounts to a ball and chain manacled to the economy.

My solution would be to free us from the deadweight of outmoded postwar socialism and replace it with a universal flat rate income tax level of , say, 15% which would only be payable on income exceeding 10,000GBP per annum.

By abandoning the welfare culture I mean no NHS, no automatic unemployment benefit, no more free secondary education, and certainly no more incapacity benefit.

The new philosophy, currently alien to the British, would be taking responsibility for one's own life and ending the idiocy that the state should suckle all from cradle to grave.

I know people get all sentimental about the NHS and introduce spurious arguments that its demise would usher in an era of callous suffering and people dying untended in the streets but the alternative is actually quite attractive. In addition to income tax folk would pay a social insurance contribution into a managed fund which underwrites sickness and ill fortune, a fund to which the Treasury has no access whatsoever. In addition the individual can choose to further privately insure according to their own judgement. Medical care is best provided by the private sector and let market forces determine the level of service required.

State pensions I would increase from their current derisory level and the genuinely disadvantaged would receive realistic benefit should incapacity afflict them permanently.

Notwithstanding EEA obligations I should also like to see some vigorous indigenous labour protection and the prohibition of illegal employment would be strictly enforced with draconian punishment. Decimation strikes me as quite suitable.

Housing in the UK has been a vehicle for speculation. Sanity would easily be restored with the introduction of CGT of 40% on any sale profits. First time sellers would be exempt.

Finally, I should like to see more public holidays, smoking in all public spaces to be restored, and the end of the poxy TV licence fee which hopefully will see the destruction of the BBC. The banning of the terms 'global warming' and ' carbon foot print' would also be nice.

Edited August 24, 2007 by the gent

[ThaiLife]

What Others say......

Why are so many people emigrating from the UK?

Record numbers of Britons are leaving their homeland to settle permanently overseas, according to figures released this week. Is Britain's miserable weather to blame? What about crime, 10 years of Labour rule or rising house prices? Should we be concerned that so many are eager to leave this country or will this just leave more space for those who remain?

The People Speak ......

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../22/view22c.xml

TL

[sukanyacondo]

Dont forget the great "unemployment figures " in the UK also. Look unemployment is only 1 million , down from about 3 million, oh but we forgot to mention that there are now 2 million upwards getting sickness benefit. You have to admire the cunning of the unemployed who switched from unemployment benefit to sickness benefit "being depressed" or "suffering form nerves" etc etc etc.

[DirkGently]

The numbers depress me, but fail to surprise me.

Apart from the crappy weather one only has to glimpse the BBC to see why.

Africans lying dead in the streets of London with guts full of heroin. An 11 year old boy shot dead in the street by another kid. Islamic terrorists ranting on the streets. Polish migrants flooding in while the gov lie about the numbers. Asylum seekers being given houses while English families doss down in damp flats. The one party that seeks to stop the rot is branded extreme and racist.

At least we still have tea and Corrie.

Very sad indeed.

[paulsmithson]

The truth is that the uk is suffering from a mass influx of uwanted ( by the people) immigrants who drain the social services funds.

Our politicians have no long term vision, millions of pounds are earned and sent abroad. This further destroys the economy but every boss lives for today only.

once the country has been bled dry they can transfer their operations abroad.

Nobody in power gives a shit asbout the indigenous English people

[mrtoad]

Dont forget the great "unemployment figures " in the UK also. Look unemployment is only 1 million , down from about 3 million, oh but we forgot to mention that there are now 2 million upwards getting sickness benefit. You have to admire the cunning of the unemployed who switched from unemployment benefit to sickness benefit "being depressed" or "suffering form nerves" etc etc etc.

You have made a very valid point, about the abuse of DLA or sickness benefit. Back injuries and depression have become a very favourable option for the typical scrounger to circumvent tougher laws on people who are not actively seeking work.

Sadly, the welfare system which I firmly beleive is something that the UK can be proud of, has slowly become abused to the point of crippiling it. People no longer look at it in the spirit that it was created, but more of what they can get from it. I could tell many stories from my work in the NHS, with people trying to get sicked off on very ambigious reasons.

The minimumem wage, has also caused various problems by almost persuading some parts of society that it is in fact better to stay unemployed than go out to work as it is much easier to stay at home and claim benefits than it is to go out and work picking potatoes, this coupled with the fact that it encourages employers to offer previously better skilled jobs to EU workers who are more than happy to work for the min wage. If you look at the UK unemployment figures, then in theory there should be very few UK natives unemployed as there is ample work available, but the problem now is that many of the jobs are taken by Eastern Europeans. The Welfare state, has long created a genereal malise in certain parts of society, and it is no wonder that people who have worked hard are sick to the teeth of supporting lazy good for nothing wasters.

I think it is wrong for people to blame the influx of the Eastern Europeans, they are only taking advantage of a legal right, just the same as the dole scroungers., but in there defence at least they are prepared to work hard. People should have a good hard look at what government legislation has created, rather than blaming hard working people.

Edited August 24, 2007 by mrtoad

[SiamSquare123]

my friend was just saying that the quality of girls in the bars has decreased big time because they are all getting married off so fast to these guys running away from the UK.

[qwertz]

Since when was there "quality" in the beer bar trade there?

It's always been pure hustle as long as I can remember.

[GuestHouse]

When this subject was discussed on BBC Radio 4, the representative of the government office that put these statistics together made it very clear that the biggest reason why the number of PEOPLE leaving the UK had gone up was because the numbers include IMMIGRANTS TO THE UK RETURNING HOME.

There is no evidence that Indiginous Britains are leaving the UK in increased numbers and many who do, like myself, maintain a home in the UK and intend to continue doing so.

I can understand why some people here might want to jump to the conclusion that people are leaving the UK for reasons that the UK has... 'gone to the dogs' but that point of view is not born out by the reality of life in the UK today.

The 'hyperbole' that passes for considered opinion on the state of Britain, the state of the Health Service or any other whipping dog of those who are eager to run the UK down has nothing to do with reality in the UK but perhaps does sooth the ego of those who having messed up in the UK believe they have found the cause of their own failings in blaming the UK itself.

And let's keep in mind more than a few of those who claim 'they'll never go back to the UK' do in fact do just that.

Edited August 24, 2007 by GuestHouse

[Kimera]

Complaining about the UK being full of foreigners and then going to live in some other country - You are having a laugh aren't you?!

Maybe we should ask why these people really leave the uk. not why THEY think they left

[endure]

Dont forget the great "unemployment figures " in the UK also. Look unemployment is only 1 million , down from about 3 million, oh but we forgot to mention that there are now 2 million upwards getting sickness benefit. You have to admire the cunning of the unemployed who switched from unemployment benefit to sickness benefit "being depressed" or "suffering form nerves" etc etc etc.

You have made a very valid point, about the abuse of DLA or sickness benefit. Back injuries and depression have become a very favourable option for the typical scrounger to circumvent tougher laws on people who are not actively seeking work.

Sadly, the welfare system which I firmly beleive is something that the UK can be proud of, has slowly become abused to the point of crippiling it.

Largely by successive governments who'd much rather have 1 million unemployed and 2 million on sickness benefit. It looks better at election time.

[sierra01]

I work for an employment agency; I drive one of their mini buses taking the temps to and from work. The ratio is probably 95% Eastern Europeans, 5% English temps, 7 years ago it was the other way round.

The influx is good for business; they now have an enormous pool of cheap labour. More and more companies will only pay minimum wage now, overtime at minimum wage, bank, and public holidays at minimum wage. No names but I know of one major employer in my area that pays minimum wage for night shift, big local companies where its spot the Englishman. Fancy getting picked up at 5am to start work at 6am only to get there and be told….sorry guys, we don’t need you today? (That applies to any shift but it’s a lot worse that early in the morning) Given X amount of work to do in a set time (often far more than they can reasonably be expected to do), and expected to finish it in their own time. That’s a very very well known holiday camp company. Temps are often treated very badly, abused by everyone and his dog. They are afraid to say anything because they know they won’t get more work at that particular place if they complain.

Now ask yourself would you be prepared to be treated like that? That’s why the Brit worker is getting a bad name, because they won’t be treated like that. Our fathers fought tooth and nail to get pay and conditions up, to give their kids a decent standard of living, that’s you and me. Now it’s all being undone.

Ever increasing numbers are giving up and going back home, 10 people chasing every job, living in the cheapest accommodation they can find, eating the cheapest food they can find, not doing anything, not going anywhere, difficult to better yourself on 2 or 3 days work a week. But still they pour into the country, until THEY get the good news and go home.

Because of the vast choice they now have businesses are starting to insist on a reasonable level of spoken English, far too many can’t speak a word so little or no work for them. Lithuanians hate Poles big time, which leads to segregation and trouble. More expense for the country.

Our local plod is getting lessons on speaking Polish and Russian. Want to avoid getting speeding tickets, parking fines, not pay road tax, MOT, insurance? Bring your car over with you because plod has no way to keep track or prosecute you. Last year a young Polish guy knocked down and killed an old lady as she left Tesco’s, he stopped his car and run away. Unfortunately for him the Police found a letter from my agency in the car so they traced him through us, the result was he had no insurance, tax, MOT or licence…..sentenced to 7 months and allowed to stay here after release. Try being English and doing that and see what happens to you!

It’s the same old story; it’s good for business and the well off, bad news for Joe public. I had 4 good years in Thailand, and I hope to have a lot more one day. When I came back last year I was amazed just how far down the toilet the UK had gone. It’s not all the fault of the Eastern Europeans, 10 years of TB has had a disastrous effect on the country. It’s becoming a Police state but that’s another matter!

Rant over!

[the gent]

When this subject was discussed on BBC Radio 4, the representative of the government office that put these statistics together made it very clear that the biggest reason why the number of PEOPLE leaving the UK had gone up was because the numbers include IMMIGRANTS TO THE UK RETURNING HOME.

There is no evidence that Indiginous Britains are leaving the UK in increased numbers and many who do, like myself, maintain a home in the UK and intend to continue doing so.

I can understand why some people here might want to jump to the conclusion that people are leaving the UK for reasons that the UK has... 'gone to the dogs' but that point of view is not born out by the reality of life in the UK today.

The 'hyperbole' that passes for considered opinion on the state of Britain, the state of the Health Service or any other whipping dog of those who are eager to run the UK down has nothing to do with reality in the UK but perhaps does sooth the ego of those who having messed up in the UK believe they have found the cause of their own failings in blaming the UK itself.

And let's keep in mind more than a few of those who claim 'they'll never go back to the UK' do in fact do just that.

And thus speaks a professional expat so dedicated to his sceptred isle that he can scarcely bring himself to embark upon another reluctant sojourn away from his sainted kith and kin.

Are you having a laugh or what?

Ummm...let me see now. I don't like living in the UK because I think it's crap here. I want to live in Thailand. I'm a failure.

Sophistry can be challenging I suppose but the premises posed in your immediate syllogism strike me as somewhat fallacious and perhaps could do with perhaps a tad more refinement?

Anyway, adverse comments along the lines you have suggested may well indicate a dissatisfaction born out of frustration but whether this is a failing of the individual or of the environment in which he is confined is a question that could only be resolved in the particular and does not lend itself usefully to generalisation.

Normally your posts are more thoughtful but on this occasion you disappoint.Perhaps more grappa is required?

[Maigo6]

In my case I was sick to the teeth of the chav culture, insulting offers of work and the fear of going away for a weekend and coming back to a trashed house.

I made my decision to leave after my pensioner neighbour was beaten half to death by a gang of schoolkids and robbed of a paltry couple of pounds.

After my third car had been stolen and trashed, I took the insurance money, put my house on the market and took off for the continent.

I finally landed in Germany, 18 years ago, and I've found a better life here.

Do I miss England? Would I go back? No way !

Right Qwertz,...........For the life of me I cannot understand why a guy from Somalia, who has never paid any tax at all in uK can claim benefits, and an English guy that has been out of the UK for over 3 years cannot, even though he paid years of Tax .

The chances of getting housed are virtually non existant, yet an immmigrant family gets hotel accomodation until they do get housed, try doing that when you are are white English.

The problem lies within the government.

But lets face it chaps, it's cool to be black, even white kids try to talk like they're from Jamaica, I find that unbelievable but it's true and very sad.

These dumb white kids don't have a clue.

[wotaplonker]

I work for an employment agency; I drive one of their mini buses taking the temps to and from work. The ratio is probably 95% Eastern Europeans, 5% English temps, 7 years ago it was the other way round.

The influx is good for business; they now have an enormous pool of cheap labour. More and more companies will only pay minimum wage now, overtime at minimum wage, bank, and public holidays at minimum wage. No names but I know of one major employer in my area that pays minimum wage for night shift, big local companies where its spot the Englishman. Fancy getting picked up at 5am to start work at 6am only to get there and be told….sorry guys, we don't need you today? (That applies to any shift but it's a lot worse that early in the morning) Given X amount of work to do in a set time (often far more than they can reasonably be expected to do), and expected to finish it in their own time. That's a very very well known holiday camp company. Temps are often treated very badly, abused by everyone and his dog. They are afraid to say anything because they know they won't get more work at that particular place if they complain.

Now ask yourself would you be prepared to be treated like that? That's why the Brit worker is getting a bad name, because they won't be treated like that. Our fathers fought tooth and nail to get pay and conditions up, to give their kids a decent standard of living, that's you and me. Now it's all being undone.

Ever increasing numbers are giving up and going back home, 10 people chasing every job, living in the cheapest accommodation they can find, eating the cheapest food they can find, not doing anything, not going anywhere, difficult to better yourself on 2 or 3 days work a week. But still they pour into the country, until THEY get the good news and go home.

Because of the vast choice they now have businesses are starting to insist on a reasonable level of spoken English, far too many can't speak a word so little or no work for them. Lithuanians hate Poles big time, which leads to segregation and trouble. More expense for the country.

Our local plod is getting lessons on speaking Polish and Russian. Want to avoid getting speeding tickets, parking fines, not pay road tax, MOT, insurance? Bring your car over with you because plod has no way to keep track or prosecute you. Last year a young Polish guy knocked down and killed an old lady as she left Tesco's, he stopped his car and run away. Unfortunately for him the Police found a letter from my agency in the car so they traced him through us, the result was he had no insurance, tax, MOT or licence…..sentenced to 7 months and allowed to stay here after release. Try being English and doing that and see what happens to you!

It's the same old story; it's good for business and the well off, bad news for Joe public. I had 4 good years in Thailand, and I hope to have a lot more one day. When I came back last year I was amazed just how far down the toilet the UK had gone. It's not all the fault of the Eastern Europeans, 10 years of TB has had a disastrous effect on the country. It's becoming a Police state but that's another matter!

Rant over!

thats ok carry on ranting because you are right, the uk, britain, england or whatever you want to call it is finished, it is now a business where anyone tries to scam as much money out of the state as they can, all power has been handed over to brussels, politically correct mumbo-jumbo reigns, there is no deterrent to crime, and its been a bloody awful summer, If i had the money i would have left years ago.

rant over

[GuestHouse]

And thus speaks a professional expat so dedicated to his sceptred isle that he can scarcely bring himself to embark upon another reluctant sojourn away from his sainted kith and kin.

Are you having a laugh or what?

That's right, 'Professional Expat' - I go where the job takes me, but I still maintain a home in the UK and you'll not catch me berating the place - "Having a laugh" - Not at all - I'm out making a living.

[dragonfly94]

Complaining about the UK being full of foreigners and then going to live in some other country - You are having a laugh aren't you?!

why do you think it's funny to find living in what is still in many ways a third world country preferable to living in the UK? very sad I would have thought but inevitable due to the destruction of UK society brought about by 10 years of labour mis rule and hand wringing. I expect that you have never lived in an area in the UK that was 90% pakistani or somali, so cannot really comment on those who have that pack up and leave,if you did why did you move out? It's all very well for the well healed middle classes to tut tut at comments like mine but I find they are usually the first to move out of immigrant areas knowing their kids education is going to suffer. It's the poor whites who are shit on the most as they have no option but to stay and put up with it, amusingly these are the people who vote labour in, the new 'ragged trousered philanthropists'.

[dragonfly94]

When this subject was discussed on BBC Radio 4, the representative of the government office that put these statistics together made it very clear that the biggest reason why the number of PEOPLE leaving the UK had gone up was because the numbers include IMMIGRANTS TO THE UK RETURNING HOME.

There is no evidence that Indiginous Britains are leaving the UK in increased numbers and many who do, like myself, maintain a home in the UK and intend to continue doing so.

I can understand why some people here might want to jump to the conclusion that people are leaving the UK for reasons that the UK has... 'gone to the dogs' but that point of view is not born out by the reality of life in the UK today.

The 'hyperbole' that passes for considered opinion on the state of Britain, the state of the Health Service or any other whipping dog of those who are eager to run the UK down has nothing to do with reality in the UK but perhaps does sooth the ego of those who having messed up in the UK believe they have found the cause of their own failings in blaming the UK itself.

And let's keep in mind more than a few of those who claim 'they'll never go back to the UK' do in fact do just that.

You must be having a laugh if you believe what govt spoksmen trot out on radio 4. They won't tell you that when immigrant families on asylum applications are counted in they don't count the kids but if they are (not many) expelled for having the application rejected (got to be pretty stupid to ###### this up) then the kids ARE counted out, just another way of distorting the figures in the Govt favour. I know as a friend who worked at the home office for 10 years dealing with this told me, but they won't be on radio 4

[chavy]

very sad thread this is from conversations with family & friends back home all say the same thing....don't even think about coming back the place is a sham nowdays...not one person had any positives to say about the state of the UK....can they all be wrong?

[technocracy]

I have read this thread kind of open eyed and occasionally laughing at some of the comments made in it.

Personally speaking I am one of the people who have left the UK permanently last year - the only reason I will ever return will be to visit family.

I guess also I would be one of these young and highly skill workers that they so want to stay, I left school at 16 and I am now 33 - due to my own hardwork until last December on (by my own choice) I have never been out of work. I frequently get job offers all over the world be it Dubai, Saudi, Singapore, Australia or NZ. But currently I am taking time out we have built a house and my wife is pregnant with our first child - but this doesn't mean I want handouts from anyone, I never been given any help and I never will accept charity. Many people in the UK unfortunately have the opinion that it's upto the government to take care of them rather than getting of their backsides and actually doing something!

My main problem with the UK has nothing to do with the number of immigrant coming in to the country and not so much the poor state of the health service (never really used it - but when I have I can't say I've been impressed!). My main problem was the young local scum which most appear not to have a brain cell between them to rub together. Also there is absolutely no discipline to control any of them either - I don't care what people think but in my eyes discipline be it a smack up the arse or clip round the ear made youngsters respect the authority. It certainly didn't do me any harm!

In short the political correctness of the place has turned it into a country that is producing a general lowlife with no respect for anyone or anything, because they have nothing be afraid of. A teacher can no longer smack a pupil since they'll get sued, a policeman has to be careful how they restrain a violent person as they'll get sued etc etc etc.

Me and the wife lived in the UK together for a year to see if she liked it, the only part which she really enjoyed was leaving the place! Yes it's nice to be living near your families but unfortunately the rest of it just was worth the hassle and general annoyances.

It certainly makes me laugh when read that people get bored if they stay in Thailand for too long. It seems to me that you are missing something in your life if you can't entertain yourself sufficiently. We live 8km from Vientiane and literally up a dirt track near nothing but my wife asked me this morning what day it was today and too be completely honest I didn't know . . I was very surprised to find out it was Saturday. The week had gone and get what I haven't been near a bar all week. Life is what you make it.

[sukanyacondo]

In my case I was sick to the teeth of the chav culture, insulting offers of work and the fear of going away for a weekend and coming back to a trashed house.

I made my decision to leave after my pensioner neighbour was beaten half to death by a gang of schoolkids and robbed of a paltry couple of pounds.

After my third car had been stolen and trashed, I took the insurance money, put my house on the market and took off for the continent.

I finally landed in Germany, 18 years ago, and I've found a better life here.

Do I miss England? Would I go back? No way !

Right Qwertz,...........For the life of me I cannot understand why a guy from Somalia, who has never paid any tax at all in uK can claim benefits, and an English guy that has been out of the UK for over 3 years cannot, even though he paid years of Tax .

The chances of getting housed are virtually non existant, yet an immmigrant family gets hotel accomodation until they do get housed, try doing that when you are are white English.

The problem lies within the government.

But lets face it chaps, it's cool to be black, even white kids try to talk like they're from Jamaica, I find that unbelievable but it's true and very sad.

These dumb white kids don't have a clue.

One reason I dont like the Uk is the thug culture and it really is a thug culture, can you have an argument here now in the Uk?? no its just F Off or death, someone parks their car across your drive you say something and wham your probably looking at a broken nose or death. Its been declining like this for a long time.

Yes you can argue and die in Thailand but I have found many dont want any sort of confrontation and are in the whole polite.

The Uk does have a good and mainly accountable system for many things but more frequently now you will be run a round in circles with people "going through the motions" of appearing to help you but in fact getting nowhere.

Thailand for me means I dont have to pay an exorbitant amount in taxes but at least here I know I will probably get no service.

[GuestHouse]

why do you think it's funny to find living in what is still in many ways a third world country preferable to living in the UK?

I see Irony is wasted on this individual.

[dragonfly94]

why do you think it's funny to find living in what is still in many ways a third world country preferable to living in the UK?

I see Irony is wasted on this individual.

A most intelligent reply, sounds like you ran out of arguments for the loony left and how they have messed up what was once a great Country to live in.