Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
#346
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,746
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
To suggest that a country like the UK, which enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world is "overcrowded" is ridiculous, and yes it is simply right wing code for "we don't want any more immigrants". In the context of the UK it can't have any other meaning..
I have to disagree with you on what you have said about right wing code...- I think parts of the UK are overcrowded. Traffic is horrendous in most places and houses are often far too close together and I live in the countryside!
And for the record I don't have a racist bone in my body nor do I have a problem with immigrants whatsoever - nor do I see the need for the animosity in this thread.
#348
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Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Maryland (via Belfast, Manchester, Toronto and London)
Posts: 4,802
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
Agreed. Beautiful university campus surrounded ugly urban blight. But did you actually have a point to make or did you just want to share that thought? By the way, I don't live in College Park.
Last edited by MarylandNed; Nov 30th 2011 at 9:14 pm.
#349
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Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Maryland (via Belfast, Manchester, Toronto and London)
Posts: 4,802
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
I've been reading this thread with a lot of interest/astonishment and hate the bickering in threads like this so usually stay well clear as I can't be doing with the drama or the backlash.
I have to disagree with you on what you have said about right wing code...- I think parts of the UK are overcrowded. Traffic is horrendous in most places and houses are often far too close together and I live in the countryside!
And for the record I don't have a racist bone in my body nor do I have a problem with immigrants whatsoever - nor do I see the need for the animosity in this thread.
I have to disagree with you on what you have said about right wing code...- I think parts of the UK are overcrowded. Traffic is horrendous in most places and houses are often far too close together and I live in the countryside!
And for the record I don't have a racist bone in my body nor do I have a problem with immigrants whatsoever - nor do I see the need for the animosity in this thread.
#350
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
Well, if you conveniently ignore all the nice bits of the UK, you're correct when you say that Canada is a better place to live. Fancy that!
#351
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
I remember a hosepipe ban. Summer of '73 was it?
#352
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Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Maryland (via Belfast, Manchester, Toronto and London)
Posts: 4,802
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
I don't "ignore" the nice parts of the UK. There are some beautiful parts of the UK. Whether Canada is a better place to live or not depends on many factors that will be viewed differently by different people. Personally, I would rather live in Canada, the US or Australia than live in the UK. Many UK expats hold that same view - otherwise they wouldn't be expats in those countries. However, I would rather live in the UK than live in many other countries. I can't say for certain that I would never move back to the UK.
Last edited by MarylandNed; Nov 30th 2011 at 9:46 pm.
#353
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Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Maryland (via Belfast, Manchester, Toronto and London)
Posts: 4,802
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen.../water.uknews1
Water shortages in south-east England will get worse in the next 15 years if more infrastructure is not built to deal with the problem, the leading water users' body warned today.
The warning came as hosepipe bans were extended to a fifth of the UK population, with nearly 13 million people facing restrictions.
#354
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 14,227
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
You don't remember this?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen.../water.uknews1
Water shortages in south-east England will get worse in the next 15 years if more infrastructure is not built to deal with the problem, the leading water users' body warned today.
The warning came as hosepipe bans were extended to a fifth of the UK population, with nearly 13 million people facing restrictions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen.../water.uknews1
Water shortages in south-east England will get worse in the next 15 years if more infrastructure is not built to deal with the problem, the leading water users' body warned today.
The warning came as hosepipe bans were extended to a fifth of the UK population, with nearly 13 million people facing restrictions.
#355
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Maryland (via Belfast, Manchester, Toronto and London)
Posts: 4,802
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
http://www.wwf.org.uk/wwf_articles.cfm?unewsid=4154
"Water meters are a key solution to Britain’s water shortages – but there still aren’t enough of them around. Figures from water regulator Ofwat show there’s been a worryingly low take-up around the country – just over a third of households are on a water meter. We need to see them in every home within ten years."
"Our water charging system isn’t just unfair and outdated, it’s also piling huge pressure on our rivers and their wildlife. One third of our river catchments are facing damage because we’re simply taking too much water out of them – a problem that’s set to get worse with climate change and a rising population. "
#356
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 14,227
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
Well there are water shortages in the UK and there are going to be more - especially in the south-east with its high population density and relatively low rainfall. It's not just a question of storage and distribution. Most UK households don't even have a water meter. This leads to very inefficient water usage.
http://www.wwf.org.uk/wwf_articles.cfm?unewsid=4154
"Water meters are a key solution to Britain’s water shortages – but there still aren’t enough of them around. Figures from water regulator Ofwat show there’s been a worryingly low take-up around the country – just over a third of households are on a water meter. We need to see them in every home within ten years."
"Our water charging system isn’t just unfair and outdated, it’s also piling huge pressure on our rivers and their wildlife. One third of our river catchments are facing damage because we’re simply taking too much water out of them – a problem that’s set to get worse with climate change and a rising population. "
http://www.wwf.org.uk/wwf_articles.cfm?unewsid=4154
"Water meters are a key solution to Britain’s water shortages – but there still aren’t enough of them around. Figures from water regulator Ofwat show there’s been a worryingly low take-up around the country – just over a third of households are on a water meter. We need to see them in every home within ten years."
"Our water charging system isn’t just unfair and outdated, it’s also piling huge pressure on our rivers and their wildlife. One third of our river catchments are facing damage because we’re simply taking too much water out of them – a problem that’s set to get worse with climate change and a rising population. "
#357
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2011
Location: Hampshire, UK
Posts: 105
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
More googling Maryland? You'll go blind. An overcrowded train, prison or house, is not the same thing as an "overcrowded" country. Do try to stop going off on irrelevant tangents.
The last time I was in South-East England (I own a house near Brighton and spend at least 4 months a year there), there was no water rationing, enough food in the shops, and I didn't notice any public health warnings about plague either. When it gets like your Soylent Green fantasy I'll let you know.
.
The last time I was in South-East England (I own a house near Brighton and spend at least 4 months a year there), there was no water rationing, enough food in the shops, and I didn't notice any public health warnings about plague either. When it gets like your Soylent Green fantasy I'll let you know.
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Surely that is more 'right wing' than anything MarylandNed has said. Yes sure have an opinion but there is no need to try and make others feel small for theirs.
I'm sorry that you seem so desperately unhappy where you are and hope you can move back to the UK one day.
#358
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
Before my time.
Nope. We certainly didn't have a hosepipe ban. My parents apparently had a lot of hosepipe bans many years ago, but it's certainly not something that's happened in the past 15 years where I live (in the South East that you claim is affected by water shortages).
I'm not sure how old that article you quoted from is, or how out of touch it is, but water meters are now put in as a matter of course whenever somebody moves. So when we moved in to our house in April, a water meter was installed, ditto for our previous home 6 years previously. It's now the norm for people to have a water meter, and I don't think I know anybody without one.
The bottom line is that you have a view of the UK (from your friends and family), but I am also living there and don't recognise the problems you've mentioned. Horses for courses and all of that.
You don't remember this?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen.../water.uknews1
Water shortages in south-east England will get worse in the next 15 years if more infrastructure is not built to deal with the problem, the leading water users' body warned today.
The warning came as hosepipe bans were extended to a fifth of the UK population, with nearly 13 million people facing restrictions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen.../water.uknews1
Water shortages in south-east England will get worse in the next 15 years if more infrastructure is not built to deal with the problem, the leading water users' body warned today.
The warning came as hosepipe bans were extended to a fifth of the UK population, with nearly 13 million people facing restrictions.
The bottom line is that you have a view of the UK (from your friends and family), but I am also living there and don't recognise the problems you've mentioned. Horses for courses and all of that.
#359
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
Here's a very up to date (today's BBC) article about drought conditions -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15972810
#360
Slob
Joined: Sep 2009
Location: Ottineau
Posts: 6,342
Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !
I don't have a water meter
Here's a very up to date (today's BBC) article about drought conditions -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15972810
Here's a very up to date (today's BBC) article about drought conditions -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15972810