'Old-fashioned Britain gone': Most Brits unhappy at home, consider emigrating

I left blighty 22 years ago - Excellent move. Went back there a few years back and couldn't leave fast enough. Still have family and friends there, so I hear all about it, the weather, food prices, taxes, government, moan, moan....Can't imagine living there again, I don't even want to go and visit. The place sucks.

I'm currently planning my getaway from Old Blighty simply because I want a more back to basics life, out in the country, working my land and tending to a few domestic animals.

There is no way on this planet that I could afford to buy a rural property with a few acres of land in the warmer parts of the UK, ie down south. I would have to win the lottery to be able to do so.

I live in an affluent part of the Midlands and I'm fortunate, as in front of my house is a grassed area the size of Wembley stadium and beyond that there is nothing but fields and farmland.
However I learnt only last week that the council plans to build thousands of new homes on this Green Belt land and all the beauty of the countryside will be lost forever.

So for me I'm off to rural France.
It's a pity that it's so hard to move to the US as even the immigration lottery is blocked to UK residents as they have far exceeded the maximum quota allowance, that would have been my first choice.

I served the people and streets of the UK for the majority of my working life as a Police Officer. I saw so many bad things in life that made me very cynical and that includes bad Police officers too.
I also saw so many good honest people who had sadly become drowned in the sea of less desirable residents who had happily chosen to make their lives and the lives of others a living nightmare.
The worst part is that those undesirables received the most respect from other residents, perhaps partly because they were too afraid to challenge anti social behaviour for fear of reprisals.

Would I say that the streets of our inner cities are safe?
No, and a very big No.... I am just so glad that the majority of my fellow citizens do not get to see the real reality of what goes on in the streets and houses nearby and thankful also that to some degree they are shielded from such disturbing behaviour by a growing number of people.
What they do see and witness already is bad enough!

My older brother lives in the Philippines and earns half of what I do. He has a huge house, a pool, a driver, maids and a loving caring family and amazing friends and neighbours. It's like going back in time to what the UK used to be like.
My other brother lives a fantastic life in Spain and again, huge house, pool, seaside but no maids or driver lol. He hates coming back to the UK and says it's like a grey cloud hangs over everyone here.

The brother in the Philippines used to be a head teacher here in the UK twenty years ago. He loved the job and was well respected in a pleasant working environment.
He had cause to come back to the UK 4 years ago and became the head of a lower middle school in Worcestershire. He expected school life to be the same as when he left, nice children with caring parents interested in education.
What he found shook him to the core with children swearing and fighting in class. Parents fighting each other in the playground, parents fighting the teachers, parents hitting the children and threats to kill, criminal damage, drugs and sex and this was from the children who were under 12!!!!

Suffice to say as soon as the contract ended my Brother fled back to the Philippines where he has resumed he idyllic life.

And last to go will be me but I do also realise that although things may appear bad here in the UK, we are still so lucky to live in a country where we can obtain food every day, live with a roof over our heads and still afford luxuries that more than half of this planet can not and I count myself lucky for that alone.

Originally posted by stumason

Originally posted by Ginga
When I explained to the collector who phoned me it was just for Xbox it was he who said it didn't matter - the laws had recently changed and anybody who buys a TV must purchase a license. Probably just scare tactics, as he's probably on a commission.

As far as I am aware, the law remains the same. One only needs a license to view live transmissions. Using it for an Xbox requires no license. If they give you stick, then just unplug it from any receiver (assuming it was ever connected). The onus is on them to prove you have used it to watch TV broadcasts, not on you to prove you didn't.

The law, is technically an "act" of Parliament, on some forums covering TV Licencing laws, they are investigating that the "act" might not have entered the statue books, and therefore may not be actually legally enforceable. However, lets assume that it is legally enforceable.

The Communcations Act 2003 gives the BBC power to levy and collect licence fees for the watching and/or recording of TV broadcasts. It makes no mention of owning a TV or other recieving equipment. Only the watching/recording.

Therefore its perfectly legal to own a TV, providing you do not use it for watching a TV broadcast as it is being broadcast. You can even use it to watch a broadcast that has been recorded by someone who does have a licence. Slipstreaming, while not technically a live broadcast, is covered by the "recording" part of the law.

The law was amended in 2004, but the amendments were minor and did not change the function of the act. TVL use the fact that it was amended to try and trick people into believing you now need a licence just to own a TV. You do not. However, it is important to note that the amendments did recategorize the licence fee as a tax, and that makes evading it a criminal offence (not civil) under the 1991 tax evasion laws.

TVL employ a private company Capita, to collect and enforce TV Licencing. They work on a comission basis, getting £30 for each person they catch, plus a bit more if they convince said caught person to buy a TV licence on the spot. Therefore inspectors will... be pushy, persistant, and have actually been caught lying many many times. So much so that they are under instruction that if they see a camera or recording device during an inspection, they are to leave the premesies immediately, without further comment (makes for some lol videos on youtube).

Unfortunatly, a number of magistrates misunderstand the law, and thanks to Capitas solicitors who bamboozle them, a number of people have been wrongfully assessed fines for not having a TV licence, when they didn't need one to begin with (all have won at appeal to crown court, but not everyone appeals).

I know its offtopic, but TV Licencing is something I feel strongly about. I don't own a TV at all, but Capita's inspectors tried to tell me I needed one even for a PC monitor, as I could view downloaded tv on it (ahahahahaha)

reply to post by stumason


Yeah we do have a good sense of community especially with the older folk, around here it's the youth where this culture is being lost. Generally we up north get the "community" problems 5-10 years after the south do things such as gang and knife/gun crime.

It would be correct to think their will always be a sense of community and culture everywhere in the UK, the problem is who involves themselves within them. We are becoming more and more divided amongst ourselves as a nation, people like to stay within little bubbles something i am seeing more and more these days