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Oh Britain, what have you done (part ∞+2)?

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stephen bennett said:
Can you expand on that? I did recall a woman saying she voted leave because 'she'd rather just stay in England', but I suspect that's not what you mean.

Stephen
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Well, currently there is noise about not being able to go and live in the EU as easily any more. Which looks set to be true. But it would appear that most people that want to move don't want to move to a European country. If the expat destination of choice was more skewed to people wanting to live in Europe, then the vote result might have been different, right? It's not a provocative point I am trying to make. Just showing insight into a significant proportion of the UK psyche, certainly enough people are expat-minded to tip the vote the other way. But only if their apsirations and dreams are threatened. And for most, these dreams were not threatened, because they were not interested in a move to a European country anyway.
 
stephen bennett said:
There are so many reasons that might make the British prefer Australia that has nothing to do with the EU.

Sun, Language, Culture, History off the top of my head.

I wonder how many problems or issues that 'blame' the EU for something are actually anything to do with the EU?

Stephen
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Your're right I think...I mean they don't really consider a European country. No hard feelings. They'd just prefer elsewhere. Personally, I am happy living in France, Australia leaves me a bit numb in terms of culture and food etc. All seems a bit the same?
 
stephen bennett said:
If they can afford to pay (or get their company to pay) for health insurance, don't claim benefits and be prepared to be deported if the political or their health situation changes, people can live most anywhere they want.

The EU is different. Anyone, whatever their income level or background, can seek opportunities in the EU and make a home in other countries without fear of the above—unless the country they are in decides to leave that is.

Stephen
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Yes.
 
Most Australians are descended from Brits. Until recently it was relatively easy to emigrate to Australia/NZ. Of course there are ties and regular family visits even though it is the other side of the world. Brits under the age of 30 can still work in Aus/NZ for up to 2 years. The visit visa is a generous 6 months and language is a huge issue for many. But the emigration door is pretty firmly shut (Aus removed many jobs immediately after the Brexit vote) as is the idea that retirement (even if logistics were overcome) there is still possible.
OTOH a large number of Brits can and do holiday in their own property part of the year in EU, many with the idea that they may stay longer after retirement. The Brexit vote threatens all those plans apart from its many other disadvantages for no discernible gain (unless you count personal gain for the leaders of the Brexit lemming jump).
If a million retired Brits use the Spanish/French etc health service but pay no tax there; and a million Poles use ours but pay UK tax what is the problem ?
Lastly the stats above seem to be 2006/2011 so well out of date.
 
There 's more though. Our lass has her nursing licence for Australia. So we could have all moved there on that. But we did not. Other than the cultural thing, it is too far and we have parents in UK. Also, the costs of getting the open visa without the 2 year employment sentence were too high. But many people don't see these barriers as an issue. And even though it may seem an easy option, it is really a long way and holidays home are an issue. So, the Brits moving there are quite resilient and quite clear in their intentions. It's not the soft option.

Some figures here may be out of date, but the ones I sourced from UK gov are dated Jan 2017 I think.
 
TheDecameron said:
I predict one. You will be safe in the Strasbourg Bunker... The problem with moving to the EU compared with Australia is that in Europe they don’t speak the lingo.
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It is amazing that people would rather spend 2 years filling in forms and pay up to 10 grand on a visa than deal with the language issue. I just speak louder if they don't understand me.
 
One of the planks of the Brexit dream was that Britain would be able to assert its historic role in the “Anglosphere” and scoop the economic benefits- The Special Relationship would yield a free trade agreement, Canada would forget its proximity to the USA and the Antipodes would welcome us back as senior partner, forgetting all about their new friend China. I remember Daniel Hannan and other colonialists like Banks and Carswell peddling this fantasy in TV interviews.
 
richgilb said:
Well, currently there is noise about not being able to go and live in the EU as easily any more. Which looks set to be true. But it would appear that most people that want to move don't want to move to a European country. If the expat destination of choice was more skewed to people wanting to live in Europe, then the vote result might have been different, right? It's not a provocative point I am trying to make. Just showing insight into a significant proportion of the UK psyche, certainly enough people are expat-minded to tip the vote the other way. But only if their apsirations and dreams are threatened. And for most, these dreams were not threatened, because they were not interested in a move to a European country anyway.
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Number of Britons over 65 living in Spain more than doubles in 10 years
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp....living-in-spain-more-than-doubles-in-10-years
 
tuga said:
Number of Britons over 65 living in Spain more than doubles in 10 years
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp....living-in-spain-more-than-doubles-in-10-years
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The simple fact is that Poles and other EU nationals in Britain are in general, young and economically active- they contribute to the Exchequer and use medical services less. We have exported our economically inactive elderly to Spain where they disproportionately consume medical services. Yet some in Britain thought somehow burning down the local Polish cultural centre would reduce the queue down at the GP.
 
TheDecameron said:
One of the planks of the Brexit dream was that Britain would be able to assert its historic role in the “Anglosphere” and scoop the economic benefits- The Special Relationship would yield a free trade agreement, Canada would forget its proximity to the USA and the Antipodes would welcome us back as senior partner, forgetting all about their new friend China. I remember Daniel Hannan and other colonialists like Banks and Carswell peddling this fantasy in TV interviews.
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We could take over I mean join ASEAN, since they speak only English in meetings and all documentation is in English.
 
Not sure what the point of the Spain figures are...the figures I sourced are yougov from 2017, so these pensioners are included.
 
TheDecameron said:
The simple fact is that Poles and other EU nationals in Britain are in general, young and economically active- they contribute to the Exchequer and use medical services less. We have exported our economically inactive elderly to Spain where they disproportionately consume medical services. Yet some in Britain thought somehow burning down the local Polish cultural centre would reduce the queue down at the GP.
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Are you sure the pensions they spend t here do not offset the cost to the health service? I have no idea but imagine they spend more than they take. And most will come back to UK for serious stuff I would have thought.
 
richgilb said:
I'll just put my version of facts here. As far as I recall, Boris did not mention figures, but he did say there were more people living in Australia than in Europe.
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That's a doozy, even by Boris's standards. Population of Europe: 741 million. Population of Australia: 21 million.
 
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