To ask, if Britain's no longer 'Great' why do so many people want to live here?

[Liketochat1]

I asked this on another forum a while back and had an interesting response. So thought I'd ask here...!
I hear so much moaning about life here in Britain; benefits system, the NHS, the government, the roads...etc etc etc... If it's really so bad though, why do so many people want to live here?

Do people say Britain is no longer great?
Do so many people want to come and live here?

Because its where they live?
Or is this an "immigrant" thing?

The benefit system is extraordinarily generous and the weather is not as bad as it is in other high benefit societies eg Sweden. It is still a financial centre.

Bollocks, the weather in Sweden is much much better than the uk, they have had thd wettest summer in more than 100 years and there has been about 3 days of rain. It's sunny for weeks and weeks and weeks, baking hot. Yes it is colder in the winter but it's a useful cold, we enjoy skiing and iceskating most weekends in the winter. I had completely forgotten how depressing it is to have it piss down with rain for weeks on end, me and DP had a summer holiday in the uk this June, never ever again!

From speaking to immigrants here in Sweden I believe the difference is the view people get from popular culture of a country, lots of my friends at immigrant Swedish class have asked me why on earth I live in swden when I could go and live in the uk (I'm English DP is Swedish) their idea of the uk comes from films like notting hill and tv programs like escape to the country and the antiques roadshow. When I explain the realities to them they are shocked. In reality Sweden is a much better place to be an immigrant of any sort but often people who moved here as asylum seakers didn't even know where Sweden was when they got on a plane here.

and I imagine more people know some English than some Swedish!

Yes but you get paid to study Swedish, and then paid to study for a degree, no uni fees here.

Immigrants to Sweden get free fulltime Swedish language tuition. As a per centage of the native population, Sweden takes in more immigrants than the UK.

I'm another one from Sweden and would say it's much better over here. Many immigrants I speak to can not understand why I have moved to Sweden.

I think honeytea is right about a lot of people getting the impression that the UK is like Notting Hill etc.

OP - YANBU to ask, but reasonable minds may differ on this!

I agree in principle with a high tax, welfare society, but tbh I am pretty sick of being rinsed for tax by HM Gov and I would like to keep more of my own money pay a lower rate of tax so I can save up a bit, so I'm emigrating next month. I love lots of things about Britain (not the NHS - which is NOT free btw!!) and it will always be "home", but it's rather parochial to suggest that the useful things listed in the OP are exclusive to Blighty.

Sweden also has a very powerful extreme right wing which is racist and can make life very grim for ethnic Minorities. Makes the BNP look very tame. The society is no where as tolerant as it is here.

I found Sweden quite a closed society, I think Brits are alot more open and friendly (outside London)

Halbanoo- I think I agree with you. I think the moaners just don't realize that 'on the whole' we have it pretty good here.