Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

I'm tempted but I won't.

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

I said I get by...not that Im fluent :p

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

Does Glaswegian count any points in the skilled worker category on the CHC form ;)

I'll just wait for the abuse now :rolleyes:

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

Minus the odd umlaut = citizenship test

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

I might add (OK, I will add) that if it hadn't been for John Wayne, we'd all have German keyboards. Apparently.

Or was it Arabic? I forget.

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

Bud ... that makes two of us ... one of the last times I was there, a taxi driver commented on my "highland accent".

I must be the first highlander that ever used "me duck" in a sentence ;)

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

And Japanese cars ... ah ...

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

Back on subject. I live in one of the most beautiful areas in rural UK, it's a stunning place to live........until I walk out the door and have to mingle with the class & status ridden idiots that are moving out here from the cities. Huge flashy SUV's and "I'm the lord of the manor" atitudes. They all seem to be rushing somewhere? Like they are everso important :mad: Then there is the criminal fraternity, they haven't bothered with this area before but now they are following the crass wannabe lords in their SUV's and 1/2 million pound houses.There is a grim selfishness that is creeping into UK society, every man for himself. It wouldn't be so bad if there just weren't so damn many of them! 60,000,000 people crushed up against each other on an island the size of Southern BC(maybe less?) :eek: No wonder we're all getting tetchy and want to emmigrate :D
Of coarse I haven't had the Canadian experience yet so maybe I have a shock awaiting!? :beer:

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

Sounds a lot like Calgary ...

Unfortunately urban planners in Canada design new housing based on pseudo-european space measurements ... they're cramming people into Canadian cities like they do in the UK.

Ignore the fact that Alberta has almost twice the area of the UK and a fraction of the population ... let's cram everyone into the minimum space available!

For sure ... unless BC is way different from here.

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

Not sure about the Euro space thing, it's more about the developers getting more money for the land. This started around the time of the first bouts of major inflation in the seventies.

...and B.C. is no different.

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

It is also down to the planning dept as they are setting maximum lot sizes in some areas. It is to do with the "footprint" in comparison with other cities and Calgary does not come out of the comparison favourably. The developers dont mind as they get more profit (as you said).

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

That would be their 2-hour commute to "their" office in the centre of london. :D If it makes you feel any better, they are paying a LOT more tax in the UK for this miserable-existence-they-see-as-a-priviledge than they would in Canada.

We have the same problems although here it's not "Lord of the Manor" mentality, it's more like "I'm a big frickin' truck/utility vehicle driver and i'll squash you with my front right if you don't get out the way now...."

:D :beer:

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

More tax .... ? Are you sure ?

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

I'm paying less tax/cpp/ei than I paid in tax/nic - just looking at percent of income. Others disagree which might mean they are not claiming all of their deductions and nrtcs.............

Re: Just how bad is the UK?
 

As I am an Accountant I was quite keen to see what the difference in income tax rates were like between the 2 countries and found that someone on £30k here pays an effective rate of around 27% and in Canada someone earning a similar amount would pay around 20%, that's fairly clear cut to me. If you go up a little to say £40k the UK rate is around 25% and the Canada one 22%. It means that the lower earners pay a lot less but as you earn more the gap becomes less because of how the two systems work until of course the 40% uk rate kicks in and then it can go back upto around 30% of gross income and the Canadian one is at 25% for a similar salary. You can see from this that the gap can vary quite a lot (between 3% and 7%) as it depends on exactly how much your salary is.
To do this comparison I assumed £30000 = $60000
Oh BTW this was purely for Ontario province and took account of federal and provincial taxes