Seriously thinking about leaving the UK - AIBU?

[HonoraBridge]

I love the UK in many ways but it has been going downhill for at least 20 years and it feels as if the speed of the decline is accelerating. I no longer see a happy, or particularly safe, future here. For the first time in my life, I am very seriously thinking about leaving the UK and that feeling gets stronger day by day. When I mention this to friends, many are feeling the same way. YANBU - you are right to think seriously about leaving the UK. YABU - the UK is a still a great country to live in and you are being unreasonable to want to leave.

We wouldn't be less welcome here as we get older,I don't understand why you would think that? There's quite a few retired Westerners here including Brits and they have a great life rubbing along with locals and expats alike. Cost wise,housing is much cheaper than in UK and of a far higher standard and as residents we would be able to continue to rent or even buy if we choose. Regarding health issues the Government health services are superb and plentiful and waiting times for GP's,consultant appointments are at the very most 24hrs and that would be only if the consultant you needed to see was on a day off. Surgery etc is pretty immediate and aftercare is excellent. Whilst not entirely free, to see a GP costs the equivalent of around 14GBP and this covers any prescriptions,ongoing appointments relating to the same health condition etc. Dental care is similar.Food costs are resonable and local fruit/veg/fish.chicken etc is cheaper than uk so our money goes much further here.

In this unsettled world where we already have a lively trade war and increasing numbers of regional and proxy wars around the globe - including in Europe - it’s also a good idea for potential migrants to choose a country whose government (or authorities, if it’s not a democracy) will look after you as well as their own citizens.

Even better, choose a country which is an ally of the UK where reciprocal deals for citizens might be struck - eg repatriation etc. Or a country where you can obtain or buy citizenship, quickly.

Even then, keep in mind that local, community responses to bad situations may put you at the bottom of their lists because you’re a foreigner.

Don’t underestimate the obligations of a government to its citizens, and how foreign workers and residents will be treated, if push comes to shove.

I'd like to know where some of these countries are!

I'm stuck here due to DC in secondary school. I'll support them leaving when they grow up if they'd like to.

The UK is a dead zone, no ambition, no reward for hard work, a bankrupt mess.

I think that because I know people who have experienced that.

Fair enough if you’re unhappy. But to describe the UK as a place where you get no reward for hard work is wrong. It’s also pretty ignorant of places where people do genuinely get no reward for hard work, like the sweatshops where they make many our phones, clothes and toys, and the building sites of countries we then go on holidays and shopping trips to in places that used to be deserts.

I work hard, and I get rewarded.

God, Brits are so weird about emigration. Just go, if you can legally live and work somewhere else. Go because you fancy trying something new. Go because the world contains more places than the one you grew up in.

What you absolutely don’t need to do is have to convince yourself that the UK is in some kind of terminal decline in order to justifying going to live somewhere else. Or that other, unspecified places are ‘better’.

For many countries (from personal experience) you have to have a job to go to, proof of savings, prove you can speak the language, take a medical, pay for health insurance etc - all fine in my opinion. As opposed to few requirements for those coming here legally

Which are those "many countries"?

The UK currently has some of the strictest work visa conditions in the world, including minimum salary requirements, the NHS surcharge, and a language test, especially since Brexit because "We don't want to hear people speaking foreign on the bus". I'm not aware of a single EU country, for example, that imposes a language test for obtaining or renewing a residency visa — just as well for the tens of thousands of Brits who can't get much beyond ordering a beer after 10 or more years in Spain or France.

Oh that's bad. I really hope they managed ok going forward.

On this thread, it seems that many people who have, or are going to, move to another country are originally from elsewhere, have a spouse from another country and/or already have friends and family in another country. I’d like to hear more about the motivation to move away for a couple or family who are born and bred Brits

As a public sector employee how the fuck are you supporting me? I’m an AHP working full time in the NHS. My job is highly skilled, technical as well as physical and crucial to healthcare. My salary is ok but I could move into a non clinical role with a med tech company & earn a fair bit more. But I enjoy my role & am there for my patients. If we all left chasing the money the NHS would be fucked.
Your comments are so insulting to teachers, health care staff and others. Just because our wages come from tax receipts doesn't mean we don’t earn every last penny. Our pension contributions have increased a lot over the years I now pay 11% of my salary. We had a pay freeze in the 2010s for a good few years & lower than inflation rises many years since. I claim no benefits now & only ever had child benefit (dc are over 18 now).I’m supporting myself & contributing to tax receipts too.

Well, they’re happy enough to make use of the improvements, and we were welcomed there as part of the community, and invited to take part in such things as fiestas etc.

Yes, and those countries are often a lot bigger! Why do they come to the U.K.? I think the U.K. is more generous than most, that’s why they want to come here, not because they have relatives here and speak English as some say, as judging from the size of the bill for interpreters, they don’t. Not all who come across on boats are asylum seekers, not all come from war torn countries, they include economic migrants and criminals etc . How can the authorities know their history without documentation? In Spain, if they rock upon the beach they are quickly deported. No hotel accommodation for them there.

What's the alternative break up their community by trying to freeze you out? It isn't just people coming here who try to impose their culture on the native members of their new communities. There is a reason there is push back in places like Spain.

It's a very imperial mindset to say you have improved their communities. Were they uncultured, savages before you arrived?

No of course not, but it was run down and needed an injection of cash. Boosting their economy wasn’t in the least imperial. House building increased, more jobs created, Furnishings electrical goods etc required, new supermarkets , restaurants followed. Everybody gained.

I have Irish colleagues who say they won’t move back because of the high cost of living there! One woman said she would live in NI & work in the republic if she ever wanted to be closer to family !

I thought you were golden geese laying golden eggs...

That changes everything! Now I can go straight away, thank you!

Yes, and the golden eggs were continually hatching!

Absolutely do it. I did just over 4 years ago and have never looked back. I’m happier and healthier than I’ve ever been and my previous mental health issues have only flared up a couple of times.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy and there will be challenges, you will get homesick for some things and some processes but overall quality of life could drastically improve. If it’s not for you, you’ve always got the option of going back!

The state of the U.K. these days makes me so sad and the only time I go back now is if I have to for work, but I hate it.

Where would you go?

Rather depends where you're leaving for...
US no
New Zealand maybe

I wouldn't just run I'd personally need to want a specific destination if only as a comparison can be made.

Also I have to say "It's not like the good old days" is often said by older people....and this was true when I was a kid.

Make the move and don’t look back. The U.K. is finished. In fact, Europe is gone. In 20 years it will be an Islam ruled country and our government will jail you for not being happy about it. Told my teens to get skilled up and get out. We are being invaded daily by dangerous men and the powers that be refuse to protect us. Our towns now look like Baghdad and it’s unsafe. I envy those who can get out and have the means to do so.

Fake asylum seekers you mean? They were safe in France , so no need to invade us. We need to wake up to this invasion and see it for what it is.

I'm a 'born and bred' Brit, posted my reasons earlier in the thread.

Asylum seekers don’t have to apply in the first safe country they come to and can only apply in UK when they are actually in the country

Absolutely agree - that’s so sad. 😞 have so many friends who have adult children in Australia etc and they miss them
so dreadfully now and barely get to see their grandchildren. It was ok when they were younger and could travel but now they are older with health issues etc it’s not possible. I am forever grateful my well qualified daughter stayed in the UK and love spending time with my granddaughter each week.