… To be considering leaving the UK?

[globalnomad25]

We have been considering leaving, even if only for a few years. Many of our clients have already gone or are planning it, and some of our friends too.

I’m not sure where we’d go: UAE, Portugal, Jersey, Ireland, Canada, Australia? We don’t currently want to move to the US, even though that would probably make the most sense from a business/client point of view.

For those out there who have already left, how has it gone? Was it a horrible mistake or are you glad you did it?

For those also thinking about it, where would you go?

Kids are school-aged and smart and used to international travel as our work already takes us all over, although they’d miss their friends (as would we). We aren’t English so our family is already based all over the place, although we visit them frequently.

@EasternStandard - the problem with the civil servants in the Labour Party is that they just do not know how to listen to the experts in the private sector properly because they automatically assume their self interest. If they actually bother listening, they can even sort out the gilts issue. There is a huge amount of know how in this country in all areas and a strong hand can turn this around very quickly. The trouble is the talent is all in business rather than Government and it is immensely annoying that some of them do not switch to Politics. I wonder how much further we need to sink until people put country above cash in business. There should be a way to lead without the nonsense of having to stand in local politics. That much Farage is right on. Perhaps Labour could start observing and steal some of his better ideas. That might actually work. He does blab a lot and one should just help oneself really.

I was a One Nation 'wet' Tory, with liberal social views and I am horrified at the attempt to out-reform Reform, for which I could not vote. I could live with the pragmatic centrists in the Labour Party, but not the rest. Starmer and Streeting, yes; even Rayner to a point, but the ideologues who want to run the asylum, no. The poor will always be with us, as long as we define it as a relative value, and I concede, as have many PPs, that the demographic profile is currently against us.

Top drive away the geese that pay so much of the top rate of tax in pursuit of social levelling is idiocy. As the 17th century French finance minister Colbert wrote, "Taxation is like plucking geese: the objective is the most feathers with the least hissing."

I'm not surprised you are looking to leave, especially after the recent talks of a wealth tax. If this goes ahead there will be a mass exodus that will mean the working classes have to pay more tax to make up for the enormous hole that will be left. It's a ridiculous idea, but that is Labour for you.

It is just like the Tories, they (Labour) will implode themselves.

You constantly dismiss the problems Labour inherited as "Labour in power now"

You can't have it both ways - no matter how hard you try.

Not with that level of majority & no opposition, Badenoch is next to useless - Blair had his own rebellions too but eventually things settle.

But keep wishing!

You are right and it's going to come as a massive shock to a lot of people to realise they are working class and trapped.
A large part of the working class thinks it's middle class because it can access a large mortgage, car hire loans and pay for schools fees and trips to Ikos resorts with overdrafts and credit cards. Their children take on massive debt to go to University only to find there are no graduate jobs.

These people are actually the working class, the very class Labour say they are on the side of, the ones who create and support the UK economy.

When they finally can't afford any of the middle class trappings and realise they can't leave the country they will look at the benefit class and realise the government always looks after them so what's the point in working.
It's not going to take too many more cost of living and tax rises for that to happen.

@Absolutely45 - why would I wish for that to happen?!
Like I said I could not give two monkeys whether it is Tory or Labour in. I just want a competent Government and this current lot are also already caving to the more extreme lot in their own party, just like the Tories did. I like Starmer and Streeting, for example, also liked Sunak and May.

Perhaps time to realise that most of us mobile lot are neither loyal to Labour or Tory nor will we stay and pay beyond a certain point either. I doubt anyone cares too much about my family personally, but if everyone like us does leave, the country will be truly screwed.

You don’t like hearing that you got it wrong. Not surprising but it’s still not as you posted.

It was incorrect.

Very glad we did it but we did it when our children were very small and we do need to reconsider now that they are approaching teenage years. I am torn between loving our adopted country and finding it interminably frustrating. But then that is also the case with all 3 countries that our immediate family holds passports for too - no country is perfect.

No intention of returning to the UK however. We have been able to give them so much more in terms of quality of life and safety/personal freedom living where we live - not to mention getting a GP appointment the same day without any issue whatsoever! Primarily though, I don't want to raise teenagers in the UK.

What I find very interesting is a lot of the successful Chinese professionals who arrived in the last 10 years. They cannot hold dual citizenship so am wondering whether their Government can somehow just call them back. The UK Government should probably look out for their interests somewhat as they do not get a vote, but the ones I know (and there are a lot of them in London now), do pay a lot of tax. The EU dual nationals/Norway/Switerland etc obviously always have the option of both voting here once citizenship was acquired and leaving at the drop of a hat. The Indians have OCI which means they can easily do both as well. It would be worth doing more analysis on taxpayers and demographics.

It's taken you 5 minutes to identify what needs to be done but it would take the civil service 18 months and a team of 20 to agree on this, by which point they will have all left. Filibustering is becoming a national sport. There is simply no appetite in the this country to face reality and be honest with the electorate.

I'm very much wishing that Badenoch gets things together. Because if she doesn't, we'll have Reform in 3-4 years time - maybe sooner. And that will be Labour's fault.

No, i'm playing you at your own game, you will never accept that Labour inherited a lot of problems and everything now wrong is ALL their own doing - by that logic, anything good is also down to them!

Euh? if the Tories fail in their job as an opposition, thats down to them, no one else.
Badenoch hasn't got it, she needs to go, though with just 118 MPs, they've a limited field.

Listening to a political pundit yesterday, it seems that the voters are either switching to Reform/Greens/LD or checking out and not voting.

Both main parties need to get their acts together or it'll be on both their heads.

I like Badenoch. She's still getting into her stride.

Boris Johnson was a destructive disaster (albeit in an incredibly difficult global environment which would have sunk a much better leader), Sunak was pretty good but didn’t have time to prove himself, I'm really hoping that Kemi will manage to turn the Conservative party back into a viable party by next election. But really, most parties need a couple of terms to sort themselves out after a long time in office.

Reform will be Labour's fault because within a year of getting into power - when the Conservatives are still in disarray - they've shown themselves to be incompetent and dishonest - so voters have given up hope. A new government usually manages to hold it together long enough after getting in for people to forget the policies they didn't like from the last lot.

And Reform will also be Labour's fault because Labour are still not listening on immigration and 2-tier Britain. Have they learnt nothing from Brext? (which both main parties are equally responsible for - although n the end it was the people's choice). At least Badenoch seems to actually be listening.

@strawberrybubblegum Fair enough on Badenoch

I think x channel migration is almost impossible to solve unless the French get on board, migrants want to come here, that cannot be changed easily or the Tories would have done it.

The only deterrent is returns to France, the 1 out 1 in might work.

In what way is the UK "2 Tier"?

I hear this a lot but no one really explains what they mean

All Badenoch does is winge about what Labour are doing -when what Labour are attempting to do is what Cons Failed to do for 14 years. She will be out as soon as there is a sign that there might be an election.
im a Tory voter and thought as she is v intelligent she might be a breath of fresh air but she is being ridiculous - ranting about Labours failures when they are just trying to fix the Cons hopeless govs.

Really? Who do you want instead?

I don’t like Badenoch, plus according to Google she got two Bs and a D at A level. I strongly feel we deserve someone who is both really brainy and has excellent business acumen and people skills to run our country. I don’t understand why we end up with dead weights nor why the House of Commons is a crass, sneery cess pit in this day and age, reminiscent of some Roman fest. None of it is forgivable.

You wouldn’t get away with that in the board room of even a FTSE 250 company, let alone a FTSE 100. It’s all deeply unprofessional. And no, Farage is not the answer. As far as I am aware he couldn’t even pass his exams, let alone manage university, despite expensive private schooling.

Badenoch should have gone along with reducing pip payments -it’s going to happen or if it doesn’t the country will start to grind to a halt -unless you’ve been living under a stone you must know debt payments will be higher than income soon.Outgoings will not be covered by tax revenue.

we are stuffed. Tories let it run and run. It needs to change.

Every question is met with jeering, sneering non answers. It’s pointless.

Anyone asking them will get the same black hole whatever stuff. It serves zero purpose to the electorate and is likely part of why Labour / Starmer’s ratings are in the floor.

Badenoch is awful, truly awful. All she does is whine about Labour and leap on things she thinks will be popular. She also doesn’t seem to be that nice. The recent bullying behaviour towards Rachel Reeves and the down right nasty badly researched pamphlet she wrote on autism indicate how unsuitable she is for the job.

People are odd about Badenoch when Starmer takes bullying chunks out every week rather than answer a question.