spouse of scouse

Swift kick received and appreciated. Wish you'd told me you wore hobnail boots though!


That little wonder/wander was at 3am, I'm back to being just my usual 'wha'ever' little self today

spouse of scouse

ps thank you for the lovely compliment - that photo was taken on my wedding day, and it only took 2 make-up artists, a beautician and a hairdresser 5 hours to make me that presentable. Next morning, I was back to scaring dogs and small children :-) (and I ate one of me false eyelashes during the night).

Perth

I wear those boots with pride. Problem is, it's too difficult to kick yourself with them! Glad you are feeling better

BlueMorpho

What a bunch of morons. As ever, they can't do anything about the 100,000's coming from the EU so they shove it all on the plates of the Non-EU's with UK spouses and say that they are being tough on the problem. Ridiculous.
Having said that, we are about to buy health insurance for my (US) wife for 6 months so that she can stay in the UK with us while our $100,000 cooks in the bank!
This whole state of affairs is a travesty.

spouse of scouse

It's all we can do, isn't it, play the game with gritted teeth I hope your funds cook nicely and rise a lot! (hey, we can dream)

nun

Britain is becoming a mean spirited and paranoid country. The requirement for a immigrant resident to have health insurance before accessing the NHS is a fundamental change to the way health care is delivered in the UK. I expect that requirement to migrate it's way to other sorts of UK residents and for the NHS to be starved of resources by increased outsourcing to for profit companies.

BlueMorpho

nun, I hope I'm right in considering that it's not the whole of England that has become what you describe. In times of economic depression there has always been a tendency for society to become more conservative, to pull itself in at the edges and consider outsiders to be dangerous. That's what's happening now. The Conservatives have used this natural tendency to their benefit by passing laws that codify the urge to 'keep our borders safe'.
The fools at UKIP aren't helping any!
If the people are told frequently enough (and the govt makes sure they are) that they are worse off because of immigration and that our borders are raggedy, then they will eventually become complicit, which in this case means surly and distrustful.
I for one, when I get back to England, will try to actively dissuade the country (or at the very least, those around me) that this is the wrong course of action. We are not paranoid and mean spirited, we have just been painted that way by propaganda!
However, you might still be right about insurance and the NHS...didn't Thatcher just leave us!?

And thanks spouse of scouse, we are hoping for that nice rise too!

nun

I'm not as sanguine about the English as you. I look at New Labour, the sell out of the Lib Dems in coalition, the increasing influence of the Tory right and the rise of UKIP as pandering to many or the worst qualities in the English. The collapse of the BNP is a small ray of sunshine. There's still hope for Scotland and if they leave the Union I hope their immigration policies will be a bit more liberal than those of the UK today as I think I'd like to live in Edinburgh under an SNP government when I look at their current policies.

BlueMorpho

nun, I truly do not disagree with you, but as the saying goes "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Speak forth!

Giantaxe

Nor me. I hear all the time from friends/relatives the mantra that immigrants are to blame for the UK's perceived woes. It's really quite depressing.

BlueMorpho

People repeat whatever they are told, they can't help it. They are being told repeatedly that their woes are the fault of ...(name an ethnicity or country of your choice), and have come to believe it is true.
The fundamental nature of the people hasn't changed. The way they are governed is changing to the benefit of huge multinational corporations and the puppet governments that promote them.
Don't blame the people for their pain.

nun

In school studying the lead up to WWII and then watching "The World at War" on the telly I was always amazed at how it was possible for Germany to be so cruel and narrow minded towards the Jews. I still don't understand, but I see how the same arguments made by the Nazi's have been made by politicians over and over again. People are generally nice to each other, but when encouraged by politicians they can be cruel and bigoted. It's the tribal/nationalistic impulse which has been always been manipulated by those in power.....I've become so cynical now that I just laugh whenever I hear a politician spout nationalist rethoric. Living in America and listening to Cameron on the BBC I laugh so much that it's painful.

Giantaxe

He's pandering to the UKIP. It's really sad.

BlueMorpho

Yes. Except I choose to focus on this... "People are generally nice to each other"