Re: ID cards in Spain
 

No idea what taxes you pay in UK, but I doubt it's not anywhere near what a resident pays, it probably amounts to very little. Expecting a UK MP to sort out non resident's problems is a bit like an expat wanting a UK ID card, for both you need to be a resident. An MP's job is to represent his constituents. His constituents are people resident in that constituency, not someone living in Spain or Australia.
I'm always a little bemused by people that don't want to live in UK, but still expect everything the residents get. Some pay a bit of tax on their UK pension and think that gives them an automatic right to everything. Can't your adopted country help you out, that's where you spend nearly all your money.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Hi, zapping from the France forum, I'm wondering why this subject is only being discussed on the Spain forum and not elsewhere in Europe!
I think someone said that the UK ID cards will obviously only mention the UK address given. So, they will be no different from British Passports, in that, if your Residence Card has expired and you need to justify that you are Resident in your adopted country and not a tourist, you must carry a utility bill or the like around with you, to prove it. (Unless you have a local national Driving Licence...).
I imagine that the UK ID cards will mainly be intended for British people who haven't got a Passport already and I don't see the point of British expats going to the bother of having two British IDs.:blink:

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

It`s the fact it is as powerful as the passport, but only costs 30 squid and fits in a wallet like a credit card. ;-) ;-)

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

You've got it one JDR.

It's amazing how people cannot seem to grasp that simple concept.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

It's not that much maybe, about £4,000 a year. But I don't have the option of paying tax on that income here in Spain, which is what I would prefer to do.

I spend quite a lot in Spain when all is taken into consideration, but as we all know, no one here is that interested in us either.

As Lenox said, we are 'outsideers' in both UK and Spain.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

It was your choice to leave the UK and abandon your right to vote, though.. The same rule about voting is uniform across the EU, is it not?
You are by self-definition a European....and you can vote in elections for the European Parliament.
But if you believe in the old adage of 'no taxation without representation', you could argue a good case based on that.
As for this stuff about 'displaced Europeans' - that phrase had real and tragic meaning in the post-war years and really shouldn't be used in this highly tendentious way.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

By our own choice and of our own free will.
I don't feel like an 'outsider' - I pay most of my tax in the UK and some here in Spain as well.
I can vote in local and EP elections here and for a long period to come also in UK Parliamentary elections.
Far from feeling like some kind of alien, I feel extremely welcomed here. I've found nothing but kindness and warmth.
In fact, considering the huge number of immigrants here, I'm constantly amazed at the high level of acceptance and tolerance.
Which,considering the behaviour of some Brits is frankly astonishing.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Why not? Words and phrases change and add different meanings over the years. Many years ago if I said I was gay that would mean one thing but if I said that now it could mean something else! ;)

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Yes, that's true.
But I maintain that to use the phrase to describe Brits or Germans here is inaccurate. People weren't 'displaced', they left of their own free will.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Are you including the sons and daughters of these Brits or Germans that took the desicion to emmigrate? They didn´t have a choice!

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

And you seem to have a problem grasping the simple concept that you don't qualify for one, end of story. There's lots of things I'd like that I don't qualify for, but ¡así es la vida! I was thinking of changing our CH boiler, and there´s a scrappage scheme of £400, but despite being English and living in UK I'm not eligible because you have to be resident in England, and I'm not. Life's a bitch, ain't it. Perhaps you should be entitled to it though! :rofl:

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

So sad, why don`t you post on http://iluvtheUK.com

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Are you areeing that words and phrases change or that not everyone left of their own free will? If it is the latter you are contradicting yourself!

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Yes we live here on our own free will. Because we want to, because we like it here, because our home is here.
So why must we be discriminated against? Not by the Spanish in particular, but by our fellow Brits who seem to want us to somehow shoulder some sort of blame for, what, running away?

Re: No Taxation without representation
 

Not really - voting in UK elections will not offer me any benefits.

Having a UK ID card just might.

If you check my posts you will see that I never said that I wanted a UK ID card - merely that I think I should be allowed to have one if I want one.

I started the original thread to make people aware of the fact that, if they were concerned about it, there was a petition that they could sign.

I can see some benefits, but having just renewed my passport (at huge cost through Madrid) I have 10 more years when I couldn't really care less about it. With my Spanish driving licence that's all the ID I need.:)