Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I have say to say, i actually agree with a lot of what Eliscolin has said.
I left the uk for a lot of reasons that he spoke about. And admit it didn't most of you uk expats?.
I have been in OZ for only 6 months and i am really struggling with the (homesickness) But i have to keep reminding myself of reason why we (my husband and i ) chose to come here. We still feel the Uk is a melting pot.
And although we have taken the children away from Grandparents and friends that love us dearly. I still feel it was the right thing to do for their future.
I could still be wrong. But the fact that we were given the chance, we just couldn't afford to say no!

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

You are making rather a large assumption thinking other people wanted to 'escape the uk' - many of us just wanted an adventure, to try something new, to try a new career, to get another citizenship for the future (Australia may be a good retirement option for us...if there is any ozone left). All of these apply to us.

The UK is a melting pot...and Australia isn't?

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I do apologize, didn't mean to offend anyone.
I was wrong.
I just have to be careful and remember what my personal views/reasons for leaving the Uk. Before the homesickness gets too much!!

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

No, we left simply to have an adventure whilst the kids were still young, and whilst we could! No country is perfect!

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I just wish that i had come for the adventure before we had the children.
So i would just have myself and hubbys feelings to think about :(

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Why do you perceive England as being THAT bad? The OP mentioned immigration - but we are all immigrants here. I've even had anti-pom comments said directly to my face.

I don't think the government is any better or worse - I'm not too sure what these new workplace reforms are - but most people say thay have made working terms and conditions worse.

The housing market is as mad here as it is in England, our kids would struggle to get on the housing market here too (if we stayed, but we aren't)

I just don't know what is so bad about England???????????

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I think many people have missed my point on here. Forget that I ever mentioned South America for a moment. I apologize to anybody if I have offended them....this was not my intention. I have had a belly full of this country in recent days and I suppose I got over enthusiastic at slagging the place off.

The whole point of this thread is for those of you who have gone through all the pain of obtaining residency and have been VERY FORTUNATE to get into good English speaking countries such as Canada/ OZ/ NZ....perhaps the US although it would not be my first choice, but I would even go there if I was given the choice.

What I just cannot understand is why anybody would possibly chose to leave a good country such as NZ and come back to Britain. I would love to have the remotest possible chance to get into such a country and I know dozens of people who would also love to have that opportunity.

In regards to Brazil, I know all the pitfalls and I have plenty of reservations about the place....crime/ corruption and the problems. Because my wife is from Brazil it has been an option, I cannot say I am hooked. However more encouraging, I have taken a look at Chile and have met several Brits who seem very happy over there and it is a beautiful place with a lot of potential.

However if I was given the ultimate choice I would take NZ. For those considering coming back to Britain, I wish you the best of luck, but if you have been away a long time you should be aware that this maybe the 6th best economy in the world but there are now a lot of issues which make life difficult here.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I am happy for you Kendodd, you have decided where you want to be.
I'm pleased for you and your family.
For me i am struggling to make a decision which path to take for our children.
We have spent alot of our money on this "ADVENTURE" we have to be very careful before we make any rash decision.
I know what my heart is telling me at the moment, but it is early days. :confused:

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Well good luck to you in your 'chosen' countries, personally I wouldn't want to live in either of those countries, a bit like you don't want to live in the UK.

I'm sure there as many if not more issues with Brazil and Chile than there are here in the UK?

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Me, like many others on here couldn't wait to get to Australia. We were excited at having been given the chance to live in 'such a country' and like you we know dozens of people who would love the chance.

But after living the life there for 16 motnsh we knew it wasn't for us, it wasn't our home and never would be. It wasn't our 'dream' country and we love the UK - There are lots of people who long to live somewhere else and then realise the grass isn't greener. Maybe though you would be one of the few that stay?
Good luck in Brazil or Chile :)

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I keep reading about how bad the UK has become, I've been in Oz a year now and I refuse to believe that the UK has changed that much this past year. I for one with hindsight think the UK a year ago was a fine place to live, shame it took me to the otherside of the world to realise it. I for one can't wait to go back warts and all.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Another 7 days and I'm off for a 5 week stint. I'll have a good look around and let you know! Like you, I can't imagine it's gone downhill that much in one year!!

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

To Ken Dodd....why do I think Britain is so bad?

Overpopulation.....60 million people in a country the size of NZ and the pressure on land, resources and largely Victorian infrastructure is huge. This is now having a major impact on quality of life.

Public Transport….My wife uses Public Transport and reckons the services are worse than Brazil. A peak hour train ticket from Southampton to London on the train costs around £70 for a 2 hour trip….its cheaper to commute to Spain on RYANAIR.

Attitude of the population......I am tired of working my butt off, paying more tax and seeing less value for money. Benefit should be a safety net and NOT a lifestyle. I don’t get any tax relief as a married man and due to the current housing market have been forced into expensive rented accommodation. Meanwhile many young women are falling pregnant again and again and are topped up with every benefit conceivable. A recent newspaper stated that an unmarried couple who have never worked a day in their lives have 8 children and earn £74000 of total benefit. You would have to be a professional person to earn that kind of income. Meanwhile if I was made redundant I would be means tested and due to the fact I have savings from my previous house I would not be able to claim anything even though I have paid all my NI contributions.

British Healthcare is dismal…..I am forced to pay into the NHS but had to go private on dentistry and medical because the NHS is crap, my wife had health problems and we were stonewalled by every Doctor. I had to send her back to Brazil to get the operation she needed. A Cuban friend experienced the same. When she got back to Cuba she was rushed to hospital at the airport with internal bleeding and nearly died.

Quality of housing…..need I go there….a two up two down dump of a terraced house retails at £150000 - £200000, overpriced is an understatement. Forget renovation most of it needs bulldozing. A similar house in London is probably £250000 - £400000. If I had anywhere near that type of cash I would have left this place years ago.

Yes, you may earn less in NZ or OZ than Britain and perhaps houses are expensive in relation to your wages but with a small population and plenty of space, there is still vastly more potential of expanding your lives than back here. I miss South Africa everyday so I know about Homesickness but I would never move back because that life is gone for ever. I have heard all these arguments before, I have seen all the tears of fresh faced Brits…especially the women who moved to South Africa and cried their eyes out because they missed their family.

They come back here and within 3 months the realization sets back in of what was left behind.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

That's interesting - what is the top rate of tax in Britain at the moment? In Australia its 47 or 48% and you only have to be earning $70,000 to hit that.

What is the personal allowance these days? Is it still around £4800 or something? In NZ you'll pay tax on very the first $ that you earn and every single dollar after that - there's no tax relief in NZ!

It's the same everywhere - everyone has to pay taxes!!

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Often the realization is that the size of your house doesn't matter and it is family that counts.

I understand fully as to why people say that the UK is horrible... Places are! However there are places here that people would say that about.

I'm with you on the benefits though! My sister is flying out to see us in a few weeks. She is stopping off in Singapore on route, has brought whole new wardrobes for her and kids and gameboys for the flight and she is a single mother of 4 :scared:

I am going back, getting rid of hubby and claiming the lot :D :D ohh I may even ask for a nice little house in the sticks to whilst i'm at it.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

hope you have a good time for thr 5 weeks. be intersting if you keep people updated how you are getting along.
have fun!

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

You think Australia doesn't have problems with resources? Try looking up 'drought' and 'water shortages'. Try researching the year-round water restrictions, future water prospects, etc etc. Wasn't the Vic state govt reporting that Melbourne's water will run out in 2010? Still, plenty of uranium around I guess.

On the housing cost:salary ratio, Australia was found to be the most expensive country in the world. Sydney was ahead of London. I hear NZ is pretty expensive too.

Poor healthacre? try looking up Medicare crisis. Or, myself and others can provide plenty examples from the news or personal tales of cancelled operations, massive waiting lists, hospital closures, bodged up surgery, staff shortages and medical staff who can barely mutter a word of English. Quality dentistry? I wish I had the link to the recent article where dentists in Victoria were using equipment that was over 40 years old!! And you have to pay for it!

And as for dole bludgers, yes, of course, Australia doesn't have scroungers does it :rolleyes: . And I suppose you'll argue that it's just a myth that 50% of all revenue generated from income tax goes on social welfare payments. So when you hand over your 47% tax at the end of the month remember that nearly a quarter or your income is used to support others.

Good luck in your south american paradise. Eldorado, was it? ;)

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I think it might be xanadu he's off to, From his description of the UK I think he needs to move to cloud cuckoo

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I think it might be xanadu he's off to, From his description of the UK I think he needs to move to cloud cuckoo....

I think you should go and take a look at the comments of many others on the BBC "Have your Say" topics.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Unlike yourself, who grew up elsewhere, most of us grew up in Britain, so there is a feeling of belonging which perhaps you may not have.
Nevertheless, a lot of Brits fixate on the politics and economics of the country and what's going wrong, so much so that they can't see what they do have.
It's not until they go to the percieved better country, that they realise things weren't so bad in Britain afterall. Especially as that comfortable feeling of belonging has now gone.
It's a bit like the people who spend their whole lives wishing they had more money or could win the lottery, thinking then they would be happy. A lot of lottery winners realise once they have all the money they need and can live the dream lifestyle, that that's not what makes them happy afterall. In fact I'm sure some have far more complicated lives and are less happy because of it.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

The emerging Asian economies need Canada's natural resources (oil and gas).

I don't agree with the OP about the UK being so bad.

But as a family with children we're not going back. Life is way better here in Alberta. We know plenty of ex-pats none of whom would go back.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Why should we all? Because you're trying to convince us all? I'm starting to lose track of what you're trying to achieve here. There will always be arguments over which country is better than others to live in but at the end of the day you're going to move to South America while others will move back to the UK. This is the Moving back to the UK forum after all. Not saying that people can't post the other side of the coin in here too; it's a very good idea to keep in mind the UK's problems when returning so as not to be shocked, but the bad attitude you displayed in your first post has pretty much put everyone off side and you're not going to win the argument. And no, neither will we. Nobody can "win" because it's all about what people want to do in their hearts. Let's just drop it!

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Of course, Canada is a great place.

Did you move to Canada because it was great, or did you move to Canada because the UK was shit?

I think if you're a failure in the UK you'll be a failure wherever you end up.
The country doesn't make a person.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

There's a report about this on Sky News today as well:

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...476056,00.html

Perhaps the original poster might like to live in Singapore.....? It's predominantly English speaking and they have a nice Brazilian churrascaria restaurant there too..... :D

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I am not trying to win any arguments and if you didn't like my original post then ignore it as it was never meant as an insult to anybody.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

As a labour party supporter who has a good standard of living, who lives in a beautiful part of England and who works for the NHS I have found your posts insulting

G

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Got to agree with the original poster on this one. Immigration to the UK is out of control. The immigrants already there are bad enough but it seems that all you need to do to immigrate to the UK is to get there and then claim asylum and get your (taxpayer funded) lawyer to issue endless appeals. The recent case of Kosovan pimps seems to illustrate this well.

As for getting your comments on the BBC website I have send countless comments but not a single one has made it to the website. Clearly the left-wingers at the BBC censor them.

Here in NZ things are different. The country takes only qualified immigrants, a fixed small quota of refugees. While the pay here in NZ is not too good I think overall it is better to take a pay cut than risk being murdered by suicide bombers on your way to work.

The Muslims do seem to have Blair and the Labour party on the run at the moment. I suppose their visits to see Tony at 10 Downing Street are something like the "Beer and sandwiches" meetings that used to happen in the 70s with the Union leaders (who seemed to run the country at the time).

As for the NHS, for all its failings it is better than the NZ health system by a mile.

Britain does seem to get all the bad luck, you only get the bad news stories about the UK here on NZ TV, like the gas shortages, bombings and now the latest is that the Gulf stream is shutting down making the climate more arctic like.

I don't know about South America but I do know a Brazilian here in NZ who says that the crime over there is very bad. Don't know about Chile though.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

which is against the geneva convention.

if someone turns up at your border and claims asylum, you must hear their case.

Did New Zealand not sign the Geneva Convention then?

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

The NZ government takes in a FIXED number of 750 refugees per annum ( A mixture of those who turn up at the border and those resettled). Don't ask me why ask the NZ government does it, ask them. www.govt.nz. My personal opinion is that if what you say is true then NZ should renounce those articles of the Geneva convention that compel it to accept refugees. Bear in mind that our foreign minister, Rt Hon Winston Peters is from an anti-immigrant party, NZ First.

Probably NZ is a difficult place to get to and so they don't have many 'turning up at the border' as it is 1500 miles from the nearest country and served by few flights. Visa/Passport controls and requirements also play their part in keeping out undesirables. Those that do often turn out to be bogus refugees and criminals and end up getting deported.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

What would you say is the chance of being murdered by a suicide bomber on the way to work ?

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

My mate says the chances are very high, but then again, he's a bus driver in Tel Aviv.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

i would say much smaller than having a plane crash whilst flying to a 'safer' country:D

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

In the UK before July 2005 - zero.

After July 2005 - Greater than zero.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Yes, but you thought it a risk worth taking a pay cut to avoid. I've never considered the issue so I'm wondering, as a risk how does it compare to catching hepatitis from ice cubes in South America, shark attacks in Australia or driving into a moose in Canada. It's no good getting bogged down in minor issues like family, social structure, language or preferred climate, one must look at the important issues.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

You are right. I have had a look at these websites.

London Underground stats

http://www.lda.gov.uk/upload/pdf/Evi..._Section_2.pdf

52 deaths by suicide bombing
970 million passenger journeys (year 2001 data is all I could find easily)

Crude death risk (by suicide bomber only) per journey - 1 in 18 million

Worldwide aviation stats

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:f...+numbers&hl=en

Crude death risk (by any reason) per flight between first world countries

1 in 6 million. (years 1990 to 1999 is all I could find)


Now that I made it safely to NZ I think I had better stay put otherwise there is another 1 in 6 million risk that I am going to cop it if I return to the UK. Then there's the railway journey home as well.

I am not sure about those Australia / S. American / Canadian risks another poster mentioned as I don't live in any of those places.


Later thought:

If you were a regular commuter on the underground then you may make approx 500? journeys per year then the crude death rate (by suicide bomber on the underground) would increase and be more than the 2 plane journeys to get to NZ. O dear, I've just proven you wrong.

Of course some of the 52 deaths did occur on the bus so the rate will alter a bit.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Why? Most people here would not deny that UK has its fair share of problems. What country doesn't? You need to keep perspective by focusing on the positives as well as the negatives. You may well find more space or a better health care sytem or less immigrants in your chosen adopted country, but I bet you'll find a whole heap of other shit there that the UK doesn't have to put with.

What's the Brazilian education system like? What is life expectancy? What is the literacy rate? What percenatge of the population live in poverty? How many have running water or electricity? What is the murder rate? What is the justice system like? How corrupt is society? I'm not asking for answers to these questions but think about the bigger picture rather than jumping on the Daily Mail bandwagon.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Maths was never my strong point, but I would say it doesn't matter how many times you travel on the tube, the risk will remain the same at 1 in 18 million. It's the same as flipping a coin. Even if you get heads 10 times in a row, your chances of flipping tails next time does not increase, you still have only a 50/50 chance of getting tails the next time.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I think you are right if you are talking about risk/probability for any single journey.

However, I think the calculation was for someone over a one-year period, based on "travel habits" of 500 journeys a year.

Regardless, I think all three of us obviously have way too much time on our hands. :D

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

Look the trouble is that you come onto the 'Moving back to the UK' forum and throw shit on the UK when the readers of this forum are obviously interested in 'Moving back to the UK'. Your post was nasty and cynical. If you don't like the UK then leave now. I'd rather have an asylum seeker who loves the UK and will contribute to it, than a whinging pom
who just wants to slag it off to people who love their country. Do you see us on the Aus/NZ/Canada/USA forums slagging our current countries off? No, because it would be out of order.

Re: Why come back to Britain?????
 

I work in aviation safety and risk analysis. You have more chance dying from a car crash on the way from the airport home.