Re: Reality of the UK
 

That must be what caused the double-dip.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

"Spooks" would have lost half its material without that.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

When you make a list like that, don't forget to also list the good things, otherwise your perspective gets skewed. ;)

All those things may be true but they're just a part of the story. One of the things I'm grateful for is that I spent so long away from Britain, because it has given me a joyful appreciation of so much that I once took for granted. Not to mention a realization that everywhere has problems and some are much worse than the ones you listed.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

You dont mean he was only showing the negatives aspects do you ? OMG :)
I must say that I am VERY pleasantly surprised since arriving back, I was told in no uncertain terms by people who hadnt been back to the UK in years but had read the Dail Mail or by people who had never been here at all that it was in fact a shithole and was rapidly going down the toilet and that I shouldnt leave Australia as it was booming and there were jobs everywhere.
Well as I say I have been very pleasantly surprised, everyone has been friendly, helpful and shock horror HAPPY. I remember so well someone posting that when they were in the UK they only saw people with baskets of shopping as obviously noone had any money, surprisingly we see almost everyone with trolleys, often full the the top.
I havent been inconvenienced by the CCTV here anymore than I was in Australia to be honest.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

I have never watched BGT but I bet you must be its biggest fan.....CCTV is great if your not doing anything wrong ...now there, thats a more positive slant on it, you need to not be so "negative" you could be describing lots of other countries as well.....not mentioning countries where people don't even have running water, electricity etc...we have just had a big recession and you will have larger numbers claiming welfare as people have lost jobs...at least we do have a welfare system....it is abused by some but once again that happens in most countries where there is a welfare system and were a lot more in debt than we should be but we still keep bailing out the Euro. I'd chill up a bit if I was you then you might sound/feel a bit happier.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

This applies to not just the UK but the majority of the Western World. As for the huge welfare burden as you put it......after living in Canada and visiting the US over the border in Michigan I can honestly say I would rather live in a country that tries to look after it citizens even though it gets taken advantage of rather witness some of the things I have seen in Canada and the US. No safety net there to catch you if things go wrong in your life which believe you me can happen to anyone, no one is immune especially in this day and age.
As for BGT - lighten up its fun.
Oh and stop reading the The Daily Fail.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

I don't have a TV, I just read about it on Twitter.

People who think this are frankly morons. What about having CCTV in your home? After all, most crimes are committed in houses. Surely that's ok, if you have nothing to hide.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

Hello, moron here!

Your analogy doesn't hold up. Your home is your private property, not a public space. You expect privacy in your own home but you don't expect it when you're out in public. So, for example, you would have sex at home but you're unlikely to do it in the middle of town. But even though I think your argument is specious, I'll refrain from calling you a moron :D

Re: Reality of the UK
 

You believe this now because you have been conditioned to believe this over the past 30 years.

There was a time when privacy meant more than it does now.

To explore your "in public" argument further, what about having a conversation? Is it possible to have a private conversation while walking in a public park? How would you feel about this conversation being monitored?

What about your private communications? Are you comfortable with someone opening and reading your mail? No? What about your email?

Re: Reality of the UK
 

I didn't realise CCTV cameras had advanced to being able to opening letters now.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

First, your superiority has been duly noted. Stupid little me with my conditioning!

Second, your original post was about CCTV in the UK and now you have moved on to a whole range of civil liberties which you a) then (wrongly) assume I do not care about and b) fail to recognize are issues all over the world. I've been living in the US for the last 20+ years (torture, renditions, the Patriot Act etc.) so you don't need to lecture me about civil liberties.

But to answer your question, no - when I have a conversation in a public place, I never assume that no one else can hear me. And I never assume that my email is private either, since the system used to send it always belongs to someone who has access to the emails. I do agree with you that privacy used to mean more than it does now - but things have changed and that's life. It's a fool's errand to hope they will change back - and it's silly to act as though that is a problem unique to the UK when it's really global forces at work.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

Another vote here for: CCTV doesn't bother me at all. There are already 2, 10, 50, 100, a thousand people watching or able to see me in the street. What difference does one more set of eyes have - if those eyes are even looking at me? I walk past cameras in shops, past cameras in car parks etc. I have no reason to get upset by them, nor hide from them.

Re: Reality of the UK
 

Its the thin end of the wedge dont you know :)

Re: Reality of the UK
 

Let me ask you this, where do you intend living where these things arent a potential issue ? Indeed where are you going to live where CCTV arent watching ?

Re: Reality of the UK
 

plus one