Dh says the U.K is f***** and he never wants to go back

It was the never ending stream of Tory tax dodgers who depleted the country and gave nothing back. Most of whom are non doms. Reform and all the other ‘R’ parties want to do the same: take everything from the public purse while living abroad.

For most normal people everything here is as it ever was but more expensive, and the white criminal class has decided it owns the place which has brought us back round to the era of the ‘hoody.’ There is also a problem with local businesses being able to get away with being fronts for criminal activity. The shops are run by immigrants but the clientele buying the drugs are white British. People who live in places like Dubai and don’t want to come back can frankly stay there are they don’t contribute to society so can get stuffed.

Op… you want to come back to the Uk
he categorically absolutely never ever wants to return
One of you is going to have to cave (and then feel bitter and unhappy about it)

You asked. You wanted opinions and real reports of what life in the Uk is like. I told you. I described the WHOLE of the UK.

Feel free to ignore and mock us. But when you’ve sat in traffic for 7 hours on a Friday in the summer, on the A303 near stone henge, it won’t be you that’s laughing. Remember to pack a she-wee and bottle water, as you’ll need it.

He said this… literally hours ago.
I think you need to start asking yourself what’s more important… being close to family but not having your child with you all the time OR staying where you and not being close to family but your child is with you all the tome

Because your DH sounds like he won’t ever be changing his mind

No problem

I wish you the best.

Well economically for a start as this chart shows:

Someone's taken time to try to help and inform you, and you've just done a laughing emoji.

That's remarkably rude and shows quite a bit about your lack of character

gotta love a sourceless graph 😆

@Chippednailtoepolish Soain and Portugal

If you are younger than 60, then your husband is absolutely insane.

Portugal and Spain are both lovely places... for now. In a 1 - 2 decades, they will be very difficult places to live in.

Europe is the fastest warming continent. Tens of thousands of people died this summer due to heat. Wildfires covered the entire country in horrendous pollution.

And remember that 2026 will be the colder than any future year in your lifetime.

There are trains to cornwall, with toilets too

I live in a city that has been targeted by various politicians, and the press and influencers… and yes if you go to very deprived neighbourhoods you will find fly tipping and HMOs, but that’s not the experience of most areas of the city or people who live there!

Issues are amplified by social media that very much give a distorted view of life in England!

They are not accurate!

Liz Truss is frequently over there as MAGA's useful idiot too.

Mentioned above already - I am aware as have used them - London/Truro for 2 adults and 2 children is @£350. Hence most people get in their cars.

There is a massive propaganda effort against the uk at the moment - from different sides I think. MAGA definitely want to paint uk as some kind of dystopia, and there's definitely the likes of GB News who want to too. But I've lived here my whole life and am quite old and I think it's pretty much the same as ever. It's really tough to be poor, but it always has been. Some public services struggle, but they always have. I'm on an average salary, living in a pretty average family, and my day today involved a nice day off work (because we have decent labour laws and I benefit from flexible working), I went for a nice walk with the kids at a local country park and they played in the free playground, the people around us were polite and courteous and I exchanged pleasantries with one of the other parents as our kids played together, I had enough money in my pocket to buy them a treat, and we had plenty of fresh water from home and water refill points. I didn't feel unsafe as a lone female with two kids and no-one batted an eyelid that I had my own money and my own car. My children are enjoying their last week before they return to their entirely state funded education (there's a lot wrong with the education system, but it still functions) and my rubbish was collected this morning without me having to do anything more than drag the bins and recycling to the kerb. I popped out to a hobby this evening and had a laugh with some friends. Most of the people around me are polite, tolerant and often really funny - the people i meet in real life are MUCH nicer than social media might have you believe. I think I'm on to a good thing living in this country - it really could be a lot worse (mustn't grumble)

Two reasons I recall being. Long dark winters and high taxes. They've also had immigrants issues, which to be fair the government are addressing now.

Just goes to show that you shouldn't believe everything you see in the media.

Tbf to the op Portugal ranks as safer than the UK, Spain bit safer but not as much

Spain has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world - but honestly, Britain is not far behind - with only 1 homicide per 100,000 in the population (and Spain has higher levels of petty theft/pickpocketing - so honestly, I don't think you / your DH need to worry. I've lived in Japan (5 years), France (1 year) and New Zealand (1 year) as well as working for shorter periods in the US and Denmark. I very much liked all these places, but I really think the UK is one of the best places in the world to live. Culturally, it punches well above its weight, uni education is world class (though unfortunately you will now have to save to help support your DC if they decide that's the path they want to take). My family have had very serious health chronic health conditions and have received excellent - in fact, life saving - care from the NHS - for free (Preventative care and care for mental illness and minor conditions can be patchy unfortunately not so great, so I'd keep the private health care if I were you). Public transport not as good as Japan, but beats the pants off the US and NZ. For us, having kids was the deciding factor in coming home to the UK - NZ was fabulous - though low paid compared to the UK - but having made both sides of the family wait until we were in our forties before we provided a grandchild, it seemed a bit mean to both the child and grandparents to bring them up on the other side of the world! Lots of considerations, of course, but I really don't think the UK is 'F*cked" or that personal safety should be a major concern. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

It always makes me laugh when Brits living abroad complain about immigration 😂 no self-awareness at all.