When did it all start to go wrong in the UK...?

[tegwini]

Yes EMA varies according to parent's income, and there are lots of anomalies, and perhaps some 'fiddling' too.   BUT why pay it ?   few 16-18 year olds need bribing to stay on at school/college;  many waste this money - easy come easy go ...

 And,  the gov'ment is once again taking power from parents as many would award pocket money according to behaviour effort etc - pocket money  is not needed now - £30 per week!  That's much more than most working parents can afford. 

As a teacher I sign these forms & many in Wiltshire, in my (grammar) school qualify- about one third, much higher elsewhere. 

 AND can we afford it?      probably not ...

Tegwini

[cowoman]

Because my son dont get this and is currently looking for a part time job.  His small protest is to say ..".well I dont get EMA so it dosn't matter if I havnt got good time keeping"  You have to be in school/college on time to get EMA .So this has a negative effect when some get it and some dont.  What gets me mad is when Brown spouts off about it he makes it sound  as if all kids get it.

[Quillan]

I was thinking about why I and possibly others move away from the UK and not just to France.

Personally I moved because of health reasons and to get away from stress of living in London. Not so much the things going on in my local comunity but work related. My wife knew if we stayed I would carry on working which may have reduced my life span considerably because of the stress involved.

Most people that have retired who I believe are the bulk of those moving over and seem to me to have either visited France over the years or had a holiday home here. Others want to move to a more country type location and simply can't afford it in the UK. The younger people who come over I believe do so becaused they can't afford anything decent back in the UK either. Its like a dream. little country house, roses round the door, thatched roof etc, etc. Certainly when I came over I got a much bigger 'bang for my bucks' than I would have got in the UK. Alternativly those that go to Spain for example do so because they seem to want an England in the sun and cheap prices (not to mention English pubs and food).

Strangley I think the moaning about the UK starts to happen after they get here. Their only contact with the UK will be via the TV and news papers which probably when they were in the UK and working they didn't watch/read what was happening so much as they didn't have the time. Lets be honest news programs and papers seldom have happy news, only bad news seems to sell and having perhaps more time to read and watch more carefully all they see is more and more bad news which in turn helps them to justify why they moved(after they discover that prices here are more than they anticipated and that France is not so cheap after all).

To be honest I really don't know of many people who have 'run away' from the UK because of what they see as problems with society there. I do know of loads that moan about the UK after they get here and at times, to be honest, I'm one of them.

So in keeping with the original post I don't think the UK really has 'gone wrong' its change thats happened and we all know the older you are the more you dislike change.