philat98

The Sunday Times today is reporting a female criminal gang that has terrorized hundreds of south coast golf clubs. They are known as the Rolex Rippers. May be thats what is keeping Dougal03 at home?

Helen1964

Chortle, chortle.
I am genuinely curious to know where this place is. Maybe he took a wrong turn en route to Southsea and ended up in South Side Chicago.

MrCheeky

Perhaps Dougal needs to pop over here to Canada to realize that, relatively speaking, things aren't that bad in the UK. Heck they better not be as I'm moving from Canada to the UK this summer!

Chocolate eclair

Wigan possibly????

Chocolate eclair

Same goes for New Zealand. Lots of nice scenery but it's very expensive and nothing much to do except go to the beach.

christmasoompa

I'm intrigued too, I don't even lock my doors most of the time.

Moses2013

Although I live across the border, there's plenty of nice scenery in the UK too. The last time I went to the UK, we drove to Enniskillen for the day and explored surroundings, I really enjoyed it.
Not only do you have the lakes https://www.fermanaghlakelands.com/things-to-see-and-do you also have great hiking, beaches close by and easy access to Belfast or Dublin for flights/ferry to France, or further down to Spain.

dougal03

I was thinking about conversations I had with family members,2 are police officers in S.West England & 1 in S.east England.Their Forces have had to give so much time ,due to increase in crime & lack of numbers/resources(not because of Covid)in UK to murders & criminal assaults that lesser offences are left unsolved.But you will know better than them.
Have not been in Southsea or even Exeter(my favourite city)for ages so didn´t lose my way from there.
Helen,We know you live in France but where are you resident please?I am puzzled as I can´t see any reason for someone who clearly thinks UK is so much better,to remain there now we are out of EU.Always willing to learn though.

Pollyana

There are millions of reasons though why someone finds themselves living somewhere, when somewhere else is viewed as so much better - most forums o BE have discussed it at length.
I would love to be back in the UK, it is such a better "fit" for me for so many reasons - weather, historical buildings, pubs, tv, sense of humour, friends, family, I could go on for ages. But until retirement I am stuck in Australia - I don't have the funds to go home and start again, and my field is not in demand at all (few cyclones in the UK!). Its a question of being here until I no onger have to work. At that point I will take all my paperwork and go home. I just don't have the means to do that yet.

Shard

Last week was definitely good try at it though !

dougal03

I can quite understand that,Pollyanna,when you live in a Commonwealth country.But I was referring to the EU countries now we no longer have any support there.Look how folk were upset over the "Pet passport" scheme even.Also I know it is very expensive to live in Australia as I have an Australian in-law but most of the EU countries have an easier lifestyle financially.The grass is always greener etc.I did not return through personal choice.After retiring ,a few years prior to Brexit,I did assume I would end my days there in the contented lifestyle I had.But I was not prepared for just how down at heel the UK is in comparison & that is in the public services that were never under EU control,education,NHS,Police,transport,pensions etc.Thankfully you will have a few years to assess the situation before returning.

Shard

Were you able to vote on Brexit ? (And if so which way?)

Your depictions of Britain are a bit surprising. What do you mean down at heel?

Moses2013

Although I left the UK 10 years ago there were issues back then, so I'm surprised you thought it would be a walk in the park. The areas that were rough are still rough and the areas that are posh are posh.
Different areas also have different services and that would be the same in other EU countries. That most of the EU countries have an easier lifestyle financially would be a bit of a myth. Look to Germany and not much has changed (from 2019)r https://www.dw.com/en/poverty-after-...eet/a-51166327 I drove through Belgium a few months ago and took the wrong exit entering Brussels. It was just shocking and scary and didn't look like people have an easy life. And you will probably know how poor some Spanish people are and they don't receive the generous benefits like unemployed in the UK. I must admit that one big issue seems to be the littering across the UK and a friend showed some pictures on Facebook. Unfortunately this has also reached Ireland now and a lot of the country roads, towns and cities are full of litter. It does seem to be true that in quite a few other EU countries the councils clean up instantly, here and in the UK it's often down to individuals to organise a clean up if they ever want litter removed.

dougal03

All of us who had lived in EU countries for 15 years or more,were denied a vote in the Brexit referendum.This is to be debated,delayed once already,to rescind this decision albeit too late now to register our choice of "for or against" referendum.This involved thousands of us British Nationals throughout Europe as nearly 3 million ex-pats are residents,which is why we believe it was not democratic &could easily have changed the outcome.I am so surprised you were not aware of this fact.If it IS changed will now be called"votes for life" just to make it sound good,I think.When asked their view,the Tory candidate here declined to answer.
Whole country looks like it is in the 1970´s,old fashioned buses,halogen lights,bin collections instead of underground public disposal bins (never had a wheelie bin in Spain)no ID cards so have to prove who I am even putting in cash at a Bank,not yet seen a policeman on a regular beat,constant scam phone calls.DWP couldn´t record my last Spanish address as"machine not able to take such a long address",same excuse with Bank.I dread to think how they cope with an eastern European address.All the services owned by individual,often foreign,concerns like utilities & the railways.I am not usually in favour of nationalisation but for some things it needs to be standard.Real eye-opener for me.

Helen1964

Hi Dougal.

I'm resident in France, specifically Strasbourg. I really like it here and have had no trouble staying on after Brexit. Just as you were resident in Spain for a long time, so too I've been here for decades. And was able to stay on quite easily. Didn't UK nationals in Spain have access to a similar arrangement under the Withdrawal Agreement? Not sure how it worked in Spain.

I'm basing my impressions of the UK on the 3 or 4 visits a year that I pay to Northern Ireland. So possibly this isn't a fair reflection of the situation in GB. But certainly life in NI seems pretty good, judging by my friends and family there. I don't think it's "better" than France: some aspects, certainly, would be better for me on a very personal level (eg being surrounded by people who speak my own language and who are generally friendlier than the French) but other aspects (healthcare, weather) are almost certainly less good than Strasbourg (which has good healthcare even by French standards).

Anyway, I'm still working and have a job which I enjoy very much so I'm in no rush to go anywhere for now. Not sure whether I want to leave my friends here either.
We'll do a big road trip of the UK after I retire and then decide. But you do paint a terribly bleak picture. I hope things improve for you soon.