Patf Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 This is more for those of you who are still in uk. Wondering what effect, if any, the troubles in London will have on numbers of people wanting to leave the country and seek refuge in the french countryside, or elsewhere. It could perhaps have an opposite effect on some people, wanting to support the country in times of danger. Also if more people do choose to sell up and move this would tend to accelerate the decline in house prices in uk. All rather hypothetical, but as we may be considering returning soon, of interest to us. Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 It was London which made us want a place in France, not bombings - if so people would have moved out during the IRA campaigns. It won't have any measurable effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deby Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Interesting viewpoint Patf. We considered returning to London but discounted this for a number of reasons which I would not list here. I would admit that if I was returning I would be concerned. The threat was always there, even historically with the IRA era.Husband is in London, so no doubt you can imagine I was very apprehensive today as you never know.Terrible for everyone indirectly and directly involved. However, people need to be strong, in some parts of the world there has always been the threat and people go to work to try and make the best of it - in the face of adversity, so to speak.Deby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Not sure what sort of an answer you were expecting to such an odd question but, speaking as someone who's involved...I spent four days dealing with the aftermath of the last bombs, escaped to our house in France for a week's pre-booked leave and came back just in time to pick up where I left off. Just got home and logged on to see what the reaction would be from France. Funny how thoses who've left are first to reply to a question aimed those who have stayed.Why would this make me want to move? Wherever I go it will catch up with me sooner or later so the earlier I start to learn to live with it the better.Very tired and off to bed - back on at 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 France isn't immune either from terrorist attacks,people shouldn't use the London bombings to leave the UK, thats just ridiculous. Its no bed of roses here in the large cities, there are many things that go on which you don't hear about,the french don't shout everything from the rooftops. Our Parisien friends are always saying there are alerts for this and that in the city,they just go about their business best they can and out in the countryside, the attacks by the Basque seperatists still go on (dynamite on the railway line last summer - remember). Yesterday my son came home and said that the field next to where he spent the night up near Roscoff was still sealed off following the rape and murder of a local girl last week, the second one in this region within a month,not terrorists I know but still crime which a lot of brits think France dosn't suffer from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted July 22, 2005 Author Share Posted July 22, 2005 Perhaps it was an odd question, Adrian. Husband always says that my brain works like the knight in a chess game, so it's hard to see where I'm coming from. But Val, some people do remove to France for ridiculous reasons, such as the phrase " better quality of life". At least this would be a real reason ie fear and the need to protect the family. And yes I know that there is crime in rural France too,as I often see in the local paper. Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Yes, its not always easy to put down what you want to say clearly on a computer screen so people can understand. I just really wanted to say that no one should move their family lock,stock and barrell just on this terrible business alone,it won't pay the bills or provide a job and the term"better quality of life" depends on your lifestyle here. Some people seem to be living in squalor here in France compared to their previous comfortable existance in the UK and I just can't get my head round why they do so and are scratching for survival too, surely that isn't a better quality of life is it? As for terrorism, surely we all live with this every day when we use public transport,ferries,planes,the Channel Tunnel,anywhere that could be used to cause mayhem and murder and we can't let it rule our lives as it would mean the terrorists have won. When my brother lived and worked in Israel a few years ago he lived daily with suicide bombers and was only yards from a car blowing up in Jerusalem one day,but like he said, people go about their daily lives as normally as possible and keep extra vigilance for suspicious people and packages. He never feared though for the kids flying out on El Al every school holiday to see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hegs Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 >As for terrorism, surely we all live with this every day when we use public >transport,ferries,planes,the Channel Tunnel,anywhere that could be used to cause mayhem >and murder and we can't let it rule our lives as it would mean the terrorists have won. Brave words are all well and good, but it is a different matter to deal every day with the *level* of risk that ordinary London commuters do (and yes I did it for a couple of years after 9/11). It is only a matter of time before these maniacs use chemical or biological weapons and the dead will be numbered in tens or hundreds of thousands. It would only be natural if many commuters are asking themselves whether it is all worth it. The fact that people CAN live under constant threat of terrorist attack doesn't mean that they would not change that, even for a less comfortable life, if they were able. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 Pat, it's a valid point to raise at the moment. And the Polly Filler columnists in the newspapers wrote enough column inches on the subject in the aftermath of the attacks in the US in Sept 2001. For all the people we see on our TV screens saying they have to earn a living, so have to use the Tube, it's business as usual, etc. there must be those who are thinking, "do we want to live like this?". And this may be the catalyst that turns a few of those currently toying with making the move, into actually doing it. That said, I would hazard a guess that you've still got a higher chance of being killed on the roads in France than you have of being murdered by suicide bombers on the Tube in London. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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