To think it's a bit much for tax excuses to expect rescue by the Brotish Government (taxpayer).

[Whitengold]

Hopefully it won't come to that and the airports will reopen soon, but I've already heard some murmurs about evacuation from paradise.

Many of them left because the UK was accepting too many immigrants from worn torn states. They didn't have a lot of sympathy for the children.

I appreciate that it doesn't seem "fair" but you can't just abandon people. Its coincidence that it's the ME this time but it would be the same wherever British nationals needed to be evacuated from.

Again can't speak for Gulf states but it can depend on things ike the origin/source of pensions.

It's even possible with some jobs to be none res in the UK but pay at least some UK income tax and full NI. I was in that situation for many years.

Ultimately you definitely can't assume that because someone has left the UK they pay zero UK tax.

These aren't immigrants,whether from war-torn states or otherwise. They are British citizens.

Well, tbf, plenty are against lifting the 2 child cap because their children are the parents responsibility....

MN has been full of posters gloating about how shit the UK is and how much they love their new life in UAE etc....

No one is saying anyone should be left there but the UK tax payer shouldn't be funding their rescue, they can pay with all the tax they've "saved"

British Citizens who abandoned their own country when it suited them for financial gain...

Obv not talking about holiday makers, transit passengers...

Of course some do!

People like that “Rod Stewart” plumber left the UK, because he thought it was dangerous, dirty, taxes were too high, and too many immigrants (the irony of that last one).

So they can stay in their bomb shelters.. or if they wish to flee an unsafe area for a safe one, they can stay in the first safe country they come to.

I used to be a teacher.

the standard advice to people finding teaching in the uk state system difficult was to try teaching either in a private school in the uk or an international school.

there’s quite a few British teachers, doctors, nurses etc in Dubai just as there are in Amsterdam or Singapore or Shanghai. Most big international cities have a contingent of British expats and they aren’t always there because of the low taxes (in some places the taxes are higher than the U.K.)

Oh look another ignorant post about Dubai.

My family member lived there for 15 years, working on a major infrastructure project. It was nothing to do with evading tax and about taking advantage of an amazing career opportunity.

Can't help thinking that a lot of these threads are driven by islamaphopia / racism. The idea that people would want to live in a Muslim country for genuine reasons seems shocking to a lot of the handbag clutchers here.

Oh this has GOT to be rage bait. Nobody can be this stupid, surely?

I agree with this.

Thinking back to recent posts where high earners threaten to emigrate, I hope those writers will give a thought to the basic structures we take for granted that are absent in the ME. Paid for by the taxes they moan about.

Living in an ex pat bubble is of limited value when bombs are falling.

It's quite simple. UK residents pay tax in the UK. If they are permanent residents elsewhere, they rightfully pay taxes in the country they live in. The UK and UAE also have a Double Taxation Agreement so that people don't pay taxes in two places.
What the tax rate in the UAE is, is nothing to do with the UK. The UAE choses to have it at 0%, but the DTA still applies. The UK residents in Dubai are therefore not depriving the UK treasury of any income.

The UK still has an obligation to all of its nationals abroad.

I would hope that they have a bit more empathy for refugees in future and actually acknowledge that the UK is actually a very safe country.

They took an opportunity somewhere else, in a system advertised in and encouraged by the UK state. It's what people do. They are British citizens and should be brought back to safety.

By simply coming home to the country where they're a citizen? That's not being a refugee.

As an aside, very few people coming into the UK are refugees - the vast majority are economic migrants. I have no problem with anyone chancing their luck, I also have no problem with them being told no they can't come in either inasmuch as I have an opinion on the issue which I don't really, but we have to be honest about the situation.

Where did I say they were refugees? I said perhaps they will have more empathy for refugees in future having now had a taste of that situation themselves.

There should be an additional airport tax scheme to provide insurance.

The number of people that go away each year it would probably only cost £10 per person to build up a big kitty to be used in these cases.

You could also have say £20 for destinations outside europe and £10 for destinations inside.

Oh yes because they're all living the same life as the Muslims there?

Aren't the Brits in Dubai economic migrants?

i’m completely okay with that. They didn’t want to contribute. They’ve been incredibly vocal about the fact that this is a choice and a decision and that the UK‘s shit.
Why would they want to come back? Even if they are riddled with cancer? I’ve been hearing all about it for the last two years.
The healthcare system in Dubai apparently is second to none and the education is amazing. The UK just waste its money (on shit like rescuing ex pats from war zones).

Crack on then

They may well have plenty of empathy for refugees, what a strange thing to say.

Yes - what's your point? They're also British citizens.

Surely they should be forced to take refuge in the First safe country that they come across ?

I’m a huge believer that you live by the sword you die by it too

Again, you’re missing the point.

If someone in the UK was poor, for want of a better word, and had cancer but they’d been on benefits their whole life, by this logic, we’d leave them to die.

What kind of a country would we be then?