Would you leave the UK now if you could?

[JamSandle]

I've been thinking this...with how things are going in the UK, would you leave if you could, or encourage your kids to?

I know nowhere is perfect but just curious of peoples thoughts.

I think about a lot. I have moved about (Britain) a lot in my life as have my family and therefore I am not deeply rooted to a particular location. I don’t have strong ties to family, friends, community etc although they would of course be missed. DH and I have always found it easy to make new friends and our DC are the same. But I do love Britain. I have travelled reasonably widely overseas inc a year in NZ and 2x 6 months in Europe as well as all the usual holiday destinations and I always come back to that I love Britain, nowhere else compares to me geographically, historically, cultural, I find meaning being in the land of my ancestors and as others have said - it’s slim pickings in terms of where can genuinely offer a better quality of life all things considered. I’ve visited family in Australia 3 times and it’s definitely not for me, I would not like to live there at all. I love the US in terms of culture and the natural landscape but they have even more problems than us. We’ll stick in out here but it is very depressing.

But that's wonderful, isn't it? That in addition to all the things I've included, we also have lovely people here who help you pay for your medical care. The UK is simply the best country. 🙂

Yes, I would go to Ontario. We have family
and friends who really enjoy their lives there and seem so much more content. Seriously considering it once our children have left secondary school in a couple of years, we’ve checked the visa application criteria and we both have in demand jobs but it’s a long old process.

I like living in Britain, I’ve been fortunate with the NHS and the education system and I would miss my friends and adult DC if I moved away .

I travel a lot and often go on tours where you get lots of facts and figures about the countries you are visiting and overall over countries don’t seem to be having a better time of it than us.

I have a house in Ireland. I have no idea some days why I don't just go and live there.

I have read that Americans are some of the most charitable people on the planet. Even the Trump supporting American in laws of my SIL were constantly pushing fundraisers (which they also donated to) on behalf of widows and to pay for huge medical bills. They are also against universal healthcare insurance and any kind of welfare.

I am not sure a dysfunctional healthcare system plus charity is a good replacement for a functioning healthcare system. There would be lots of areas that acts of charity can't remedy.

I think you're a glass half empty kind of person, aren't you?

It depends on when you got the facts and figures. there was a projection in the FT which said that the average uk family would be poorer than the average polish family by the late 2020s.

its not just the current figures, but also the projection. A poorer country with poorer families mean less money to fund public services so it can only go downhill from now. Fine if you have the spare money to make up for the deficiencies (plenty of upper middle class Italians who manage well despite their corrupt government!) Less fine for the average family.

No, I’ve lived abroad twice and I don’t think the grass is always greener. All countries have their issues.

Although that doesn’t mean I’m happy with how things are going here!

Its not about whether the glass is half empty or half full, its about what would realistically happen.

I don't want to be reliant on charity to pay my medical bills so I need to make preparations. And if i can't afford to make preparations, then I have to be realistic. And I hope that the bad experiences of people with the NHS could perhaps remind people that if they don't have the money for private healthcare or cannot afford to access healthcare abroad, then they need to push for change in the country that they live in (or it would be an existential crisis).

People accepted austerity in the 08 crash as it mainly affected the bottom 20%. Now that Rishi would probably be imposing austerity measures on the bottom 50%, I hope that we all would not just accept it.

We lived in Portugal for 16 years and DD was born there. Sadly we had to come back as there was little provision for SN. The school there told me that they would deal with her learning difficulties by keeping her back until she could pass the end of year assessment. They also refused to defer her starting school for a year despite her paediatrician and nursery recommending it.

There are a lot of crap things in the UK but DD is now at a special school and has come on so much. We are also nearer to family.

People who are thinking of relocating would be well advised to research very thoroughly and even try to rent for an extended period. It's a lot easier to leave than come back.

I love this perspective.

Yes. So regret DP and I moved back here. Sodding Brexit.

No I wouldn't move. I moved from London to another part of uk a few years back to be near family. I'm Irish so can move and work in Europe if I wanted. I've also a job that's in demand in Oz, NZ and Dubai, but I wouldn't go. I love where I live. I have a good job, own house outright, dc at a great school, people are friendly, lots of fun things to do etc etc. I don't think anywheres perfect. I would like the weather to be better though.

Where did you live before?

No. We could, due to dual citizenship, but while there are various things that piss us off about UK politics and have done for several years, our other country is no better and neither is anywhere in western Europe. Each country has issues/challenges/problems and I know from living OS that life is what you make it.

No, I like living in UK. Love the changing seasons, so weather does not bother me one bit. Plus DH is not well and would cost too much to treat/medicate in other countries - god bless the NHS.

I have relatives overseas and know it's not perfect where they are and they are struggling too in this climate, so know to not get sucked into all the gloom in the media which seems to make out the UK is the one place to suffer. It's not.

But if I was in a different situation with a healthier DH, I could fancy a couple of years working in Hong Kong or Singapore as long as we could come home to the UK.

Thank you. This is refreshing to hear. I think I've been a bit sucked into the doom and gloom. I've also lived overseas and travelled extensively. So need to make sure I'm looking at this pragmatically and not being swept up in the anti-UK sentiment.

Op are you making a decision? Mn is very doom and gloom atm but it’s definitely possible to live here happily.

Things aren't perfect here, but we're so much better off in terms of what we can afford and our lifestyle (thinking about those in war zone, poor countries and countries that don't have the quality of hospitals and benefits we have), so I'm grateful for what we have.

My DC adore their school 🙈 but if they didn’t then we’d head to Australia or Ireland.

I know we’ll regret not moving. Eek.

Funnily enough though loads of expats are returning to England from places like Singapore, saying that foreigners were treated very badly during the pandemic. Plus I met several people recently who just moved here from Hong Kong and they tell me UK is epic compared to China. So could be worse…

Bur yes so sad watching Brexit destroy what we had. 😭

No, I can't think where I'd realistically prefer to live. Plus Home is where my family are.

Yes, in a heartbeat. I've travelled extensively and lived abroad for years and regret coming back every minute I'm here. For me, Dorothy couldn't have been more wrong. The grass was greener.

Yes

@SirenSays yep, me too 😟