@PippaCrerar Tory source says the chief whip has cancelled a talks with Rwanda rebel MPs at 5pm so he can hold what is described as an "emergency meeting" with No 10
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
My retirement plan certainly involves a villa in Sri Lanka.
It's a damn good choice. Lovely people, lovely food, lovely beaches, cooling mountains, lush forests, delicious tea, just gotta hope they avoid any more wars
New - @RishiSunak pencilled in as a "surprise guest" at Giorgia Meloni's rightwing political festival in Rome this weekend. Previous attendees at Atreju, organised by Brothers of Italy, include Steve Bannon and Viktor Orban
When UKIP did well at a GE I think there was evidence that as UKIP initially grew (say up to somewhere in approx the 7% to 10% range) it principally damaged the Conservatives.
But any further incremental growth above that level damaged Labour more.
Might we be starting to see the above taking place now with Reform?
Missed MORI - what were the figures?
Apologies - only just seen your post. It was reported on previous thread:
@IpsosUK : 8 in 10 say Sunak govt doing a bad job on immigration / Reform up to 7% (highest ever from Ipsos) / Lab lead 17 🚨
Voting intention (v Nov) Labour 41% (-5) Conservative 24% (-1) Lib Dems 13% (+1) Greens 9% (+3) Reform 7% (+3) Other 6% (-)
This must be one of the lowest combined shares for Con and Lab for a long time.
It's not been lower since last year but there have been a few other 65% combined shares since.
LLG:RefCon 63:31 is fairly similar to other recent polls. The unusual thing about this one is the - presumably just noise - sudden surge in Green. No other pollster is showing that.
The rise in Ref does now seem real even if their absolute vote share is somewhat questionable. They are pretty obviously benefiting from the focus of news being on immigration, and possibly from Farage's profile on I'm a celeb too.
If anyone is really keen to et an EU passport again I suggest they buy or rent a property in Montenegro (which is gorgeous, anyway) and get residency there
Montenegro is likely to accede to the EU in 2025-30
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
Let me spell this out in plain English for you -
- digital nomad visas have significant limitations compared to the right to work anywhere in the EU. If you can’t work digitally then they’re useless. You can’t work in a bar in Spain, or as an English teacher in Italy, or an engineer in Malta, as a UK digital nomad. You can if you are an EU citizen.
- without wishing to pull an argument from authority, I am an employment lawyer. The risks being regarded as established as an employer for mandatory employment law and local tax purposes in an overseas jurisdiction mean that most UK employers will not let you do so. Different if you’re freelance I concede but that’s a very small part of the workforce. I guess you’re self-employed?
So, if, like you, you’re self employed and work in the digital or knowledge economy you’re golden. If not you’re fucked. But you’re okay so who gives a shit about anyone else?
Again, your arguments are so pathetic that I am surprised you can tie your shoelaces, let alone operate a computer.
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
That’s what got us into this mess
Is it? I thought it was that the Conservative Party has implemented policy to massively increase legal immigration, while pretending that they opposed the idea. Plus that they have underfunded the processes to handle asylum claims,
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on and on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
Indeed, the people who bang on about needing immigrant labour because there are certain jobs that British people "won't do" sound suspicously like they are advocating a caste system.
Well that kind of talk can stop too. The fabled 'grown up debate' on immigration is not possible so let's do the next best thing - put a sock in it.
When UKIP did well at a GE I think there was evidence that as UKIP initially grew (say up to somewhere in approx the 7% to 10% range) it principally damaged the Conservatives.
But any further incremental growth above that level damaged Labour more.
Might we be starting to see the above taking place now with Reform?
Missed MORI - what were the figures?
Apologies - only just seen your post. It was reported on previous thread:
@IpsosUK : 8 in 10 say Sunak govt doing a bad job on immigration / Reform up to 7% (highest ever from Ipsos) / Lab lead 17 🚨
Voting intention (v Nov) Labour 41% (-5) Conservative 24% (-1) Lib Dems 13% (+1) Greens 9% (+3) Reform 7% (+3) Other 6% (-)
This must be one of the lowest combined shares for Con and Lab for a long time.
It's not been lower since last year but there have been a few other 65% combined shares since.
LLG:RefCon 63:31 is fairly similar to other recent polls. The unusual thing about this one is the - presumably just noise - sudden surge in Green. No other pollster is showing that.
The rise in Ref does now seem real even if their absolute vote share is somewhat questionable. They are pretty obviously benefiting from the focus of news being on immigration, and possibly from Farage's profile on I'm a celeb too.
The Greens aren't going to get 9% in a GE, that's for sure.
Sources close to chief whip say absolutely no prospect of bill being pulled this evening and that there is no emergency meeting with No10. Lots of briefing/counter briefing going on as we get towards the final stages of this Commons debate. Vote is 7pm.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
Let me spell this out in plain English for you -
- digital nomad visas have significant limitations compared to the right to work anywhere in the EU. If you can’t work digitally then they’re useless. You can’t work in a bar in Spain, or as an English teacher in Italy, or an engineer in Malta, as a UK digital nomad. You can if you are an EU citizen.
- without wishing to pull an argument from authority, I am an employment lawyer. The risks being regarded as established as an employer for mandatory employment law and local tax purposes in an overseas jurisdiction mean that most UK employers will not let you do so. Different if you’re freelance I concede but that’s a very small part of the workforce. I guess you’re self-employed?
So, if, like you, you’re self employed and work in the digital or knowledge economy you’re golden. If not you’re fucked. But you’re okay so who gives a shit about anyone else?
Again, your arguments are so pathetic that I am surprised you can tie your shoelaces, let alone operate a computer.
Yes, I'm self employed, so it's all good (for me); if you are some pathetic, sheep-like wage slave tied to your job like you then you are tied to your job, whether we Brexited or not, so what's the diff?
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
That’s what got us into this mess
What got us into this mess was not talking, rational, about the upsides and downsides of mass immigration. Everything is life has positives and negatives.
So you had people advocating mass immigration and, in the next sentence, demanding that the countryside not be built on.
That ship has sailed. We need to build new cities for the people who are here *now*. The backlog is huge.
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on and on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
Indeed, the people who bang on about needing immigrant labour because there are certain jobs that British people "won't do" sound suspicously like they are advocating a caste system.
Well that kind of talk can stop too. The fabled 'grown up debate' on immigration is not possible so let's do the next best thing - put a sock in it.
When you come from a working class background, you don’t walk around problems or listen to self serving excuses, just because they come from people so entitled they think they’re above consequences
7pm is unfashionably early for a division with the Government's survival at stake. Such events were traditionally held at 10pm after refreshment had been taken and were all the better for it.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on and on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
Indeed, the people who bang on about needing immigrant labour because there are certain jobs that British people "won't do" sound suspicously like they are advocating a caste system.
Well that kind of talk can stop too. The fabled 'grown up debate' on immigration is not possible so let's do the next best thing - put a sock in it.
When you come from a working class background, you don’t walk around problems or listen to self serving excuses, just because they come from people so entitled they think they’re above consequences
Can you repost using English please, or was that a translation from another language that just went wrong?
"A declassified U.S. intelligence report assessed that the Ukraine war has cost Russia 315,000 dead and injured troops, or nearly 90% of the personnel it had when the conflict began."
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
That’s what got us into this mess
What got us into this mess was not talking, rational, about the upsides and downsides of mass immigration. Everything is life has positives and negatives.
So you had people advocating mass immigration and, in the next sentence, demanding that the countryside not be built on.
That ship has sailed. We need to build new cities for the people who are here *now*. The backlog is huge.
I keep suggesting the Lincolnshire coast but apparently that is now a huge nature reserve so that isn't going to work .
Still there are vast areas of Lincolnshire which are currently pencilled in for solar farms. Build houses on them instead and put the solar panels on their roofs. Two for the price of one (and a bit).
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
Let me spell this out in plain English for you -
- digital nomad visas have significant limitations compared to the right to work anywhere in the EU. If you can’t work digitally then they’re useless. You can’t work in a bar in Spain, or as an English teacher in Italy, or an engineer in Malta, as a UK digital nomad. You can if you are an EU citizen.
- without wishing to pull an argument from authority, I am an employment lawyer. The risks being regarded as established as an employer for mandatory employment law and local tax purposes in an overseas jurisdiction mean that most UK employers will not let you do so. Different if you’re freelance I concede but that’s a very small part of the workforce. I guess you’re self-employed?
So, if, like you, you’re self employed and work in the digital or knowledge economy you’re golden. If not you’re fucked. But you’re okay so who gives a shit about anyone else?
Again, your arguments are so pathetic that I am surprised you can tie your shoelaces, let alone operate a computer.
We, where I work, have been given an extensive briefing on Working From Other Countries. Essentially - it is a regulatory and tax nightmare from the point of an employer.
Even if your company has a registered and domiciled business unit in said county (which helps), the problems are still extensive.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
I think different people have different instinctive feelings for the perfect environment, and I do wonder there is something deeply ancestral there. Some like the high mountains and sheer slopes, some the comforting embrace of the woods, or lush green temperate meadows and parkland, some the open plains and rolling horizons, or the rocky seashore. I'm an open plains and rolling horizons person myself. That's the one downside of living in a city.
Yes, I'm with you there. For me, home is very much a northern European idiom. I often think at Christmas how alien so much of the religious imagery is - deserts and camels and oases and so on. Speaks nothing to my soul. Home to me is snow, and hills, and trees, and cold; a low sun in a fading sky. I remember a snow covered dusk on a cloudy day above Macclesfield Forest a few years ago; a lone light in an isolated stone built cottage - that is the landscape I year for. That, to me, is home; that is the landscape that speaks to my soul. That said, I went to Lapland last year and that didn't feel like home at all. So there is a thing as too far north.
I've never been to Africa, but it looks, frankly, shit. Sorry to dismiss 20% of the world's land area at a stroke, but there you are.
I agree on Africa, would not go there for a pension.
I like the long winter nights. Especially when it's raining. I like our climate. I like our latitude. They are what have made this country what it is.
Today is the day when the sun sets at the earliest time, even though the mornings will continue to get darker until the end of the month. It would also have been the winter solstice if Pope Gregory hadn't decided to muck about with the calendar.
The winter solstice will happen at the same point in the earth's journey around the sun, irrespective of what the calendar says - and will be early on 22 Dec this year.
But the calendar matters. It's how we try to understand the ineffable passage of time.
When Donne wrote "'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's" he was writing on 13 December, St Lucy's Day, which was the solstice before the calendar reform. Pope Gregory's intervention also made a white Christmas less likely by moving it 10 days earlier, perhaps to deprive 16th century bookmakers of a nice if impious little earner. And I recall my primary school teacher saying, in all seriousness, "I'm glad February's the shortest month because the weather's so terrible".
I like the long winter nights. Especially when it's raining. I like our climate. I like our latitude. They are what have made this country what it is.
Today is the day when the sun sets at the earliest time, even though the mornings will continue to get darker until the end of the month. It would also have been the winter solstice if Pope Gregory hadn't decided to muck about with the calendar.
Actually I think its tomorrow.
1 day until our earliest sunset (13th Dec) 10 days until winter solstice (22nd Dec) 18 days until our latest sunrise (30th Dec) 99 days until Spring equinox 141 days until May day when we dance up the sun to welcome in the summer.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
Not helped by freak thunder storms. Nine more days and it turns around, though, starts getting lighter again.
Actually, in terms of earliest sunset, I think it’s today. Or maybe tomorrow. Thereafter, the sunset starts getting later, by seconds at first, but in the right direction.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
I think different people have different instinctive feelings for the perfect environment, and I do wonder there is something deeply ancestral there. Some like the high mountains and sheer slopes, some the comforting embrace of the woods, or lush green temperate meadows and parkland, some the open plains and rolling horizons, or the rocky seashore. I'm an open plains and rolling horizons person myself. That's the one downside of living in a city.
Yes, I'm with you there. For me, home is very much a northern European idiom. I often think at Christmas how alien so much of the religious imagery is - deserts and camels and oases and so on. Speaks nothing to my soul. Home to me is snow, and hills, and trees, and cold; a low sun in a fading sky. I remember a snow covered dusk on a cloudy day above Macclesfield Forest a few years ago; a lone light in an isolated stone built cottage - that is the landscape I year for. That, to me, is home; that is the landscape that speaks to my soul. That said, I went to Lapland last year and that didn't feel like home at all. So there is a thing as too far north.
I've never been to Africa, but it looks, frankly, shit. Sorry to dismiss 20% of the world's land area at a stroke, but there you are.
African cities are generally shit. Sadly
But the bush - the wilds - the mountains and savannahs and jungles and forests - are maybe the greatest in the world
Well fair enough. But it's not a landscape which moves me. It's not a landscape which makes me want to be part of it. I can look at a picture of, say, a sunset over the Serengeti or the Namib desert and appreciate its beauty, but it's an objective appreciation. It doesn't excite me in the same way as a bleak bit of Peak Moorland in winter.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
When UKIP did well at a GE I think there was evidence that as UKIP initially grew (say up to somewhere in approx the 7% to 10% range) it principally damaged the Conservatives.
But any further incremental growth above that level damaged Labour more.
Might we be starting to see the above taking place now with Reform?
Missed MORI - what were the figures?
Apologies - only just seen your post. It was reported on previous thread:
@IpsosUK : 8 in 10 say Sunak govt doing a bad job on immigration / Reform up to 7% (highest ever from Ipsos) / Lab lead 17 🚨
Voting intention (v Nov) Labour 41% (-5) Conservative 24% (-1) Lib Dems 13% (+1) Greens 9% (+3) Reform 7% (+3) Other 6% (-)
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
I think different people have different instinctive feelings for the perfect environment, and I do wonder there is something deeply ancestral there. Some like the high mountains and sheer slopes, some the comforting embrace of the woods, or lush green temperate meadows and parkland, some the open plains and rolling horizons, or the rocky seashore. I'm an open plains and rolling horizons person myself. That's the one downside of living in a city.
Yes, I'm with you there. For me, home is very much a northern European idiom. I often think at Christmas how alien so much of the religious imagery is - deserts and camels and oases and so on. Speaks nothing to my soul. Home to me is snow, and hills, and trees, and cold; a low sun in a fading sky. I remember a snow covered dusk on a cloudy day above Macclesfield Forest a few years ago; a lone light in an isolated stone built cottage - that is the landscape I year for. That, to me, is home; that is the landscape that speaks to my soul. That said, I went to Lapland last year and that didn't feel like home at all. So there is a thing as too far north.
I've never been to Africa, but it looks, frankly, shit. Sorry to dismiss 20% of the world's land area at a stroke, but there you are.
I agree on Africa, would not go there for a pension.
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
That’s what got us into this mess
What got us into this mess was not talking, rational, about the upsides and downsides of mass immigration. Everything is life has positives and negatives.
So you had people advocating mass immigration and, in the next sentence, demanding that the countryside not be built on.
That ship has sailed. We need to build new cities for the people who are here *now*. The backlog is huge.
I keep suggesting the Lincolnshire coast but apparently that is now a huge nature reserve so that isn't going to work .
Still there are vast areas of Lincolnshire which are currently pencilled in for solar farms. Build houses on them instead and put the solar panels on their roofs. Two for the price of one (and a bit).
Build a Lake Town on Lake Windermere.
Just for how cool it could look. Plus you could power the whole thing off the outrage.
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on and on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
Indeed, the people who bang on about needing immigrant labour because there are certain jobs that British people "won't do" sound suspicously like they are advocating a caste system.
Well that kind of talk can stop too. The fabled 'grown up debate' on immigration is not possible so let's do the next best thing - put a sock in it.
When you come from a working class background, you don’t walk around problems or listen to self serving excuses, just because they come from people so entitled they think they’re above consequences
Can you repost using English please, or was that a translation from another language that just went wrong?
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
When UKIP did well at a GE I think there was evidence that as UKIP initially grew (say up to somewhere in approx the 7% to 10% range) it principally damaged the Conservatives.
But any further incremental growth above that level damaged Labour more.
Might we be starting to see the above taking place now with Reform?
Missed MORI - what were the figures?
Apologies - only just seen your post. It was reported on previous thread:
@IpsosUK : 8 in 10 say Sunak govt doing a bad job on immigration / Reform up to 7% (highest ever from Ipsos) / Lab lead 17 🚨
Voting intention (v Nov) Labour 41% (-5) Conservative 24% (-1) Lib Dems 13% (+1) Greens 9% (+3) Reform 7% (+3) Other 6% (-)
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
Not helped by freak thunder storms. Nine more days and it turns around, though, starts getting lighter again.
Yeah, but it doesn't actually FEEL like it's getting lighter til about late Feb, and the weather barely improves until mid March
It's like living in a torture garden, we just get used to being persistently flailed by outbreaks of SLEET. In the DARK
Ya big softie, you will not melt
Just imagine how he'd react if he went to Wick at this time of the year.
Good evening
Just had cards and letters from our family in Wick, who said they were delighted to see our son feature on 'saving lives at sea' in the same episode Wick RNLI crew also featured and referred to his family ties with the town
I like the long winter nights. Especially when it's raining. I like our climate. I like our latitude. They are what have made this country what it is.
Today is the day when the sun sets at the earliest time, even though the mornings will continue to get darker until the end of the month. It would also have been the winter solstice if Pope Gregory hadn't decided to muck about with the calendar.
Actually I think its tomorrow.
1 day until our earliest sunset (13th Dec) 10 days until winter solstice (22nd Dec) 18 days until our latest sunrise (30th Dec) 99 days until Spring equinox 141 days until May day when we dance up the sun to welcome in the summer.
Less than 200 days until the nights start drawing in again.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
I do pay my taxes. And I imagine I have paid several times what you've paid, over a lifetime
When UKIP did well at a GE I think there was evidence that as UKIP initially grew (say up to somewhere in approx the 7% to 10% range) it principally damaged the Conservatives.
But any further incremental growth above that level damaged Labour more.
Might we be starting to see the above taking place now with Reform?
Missed MORI - what were the figures?
Apologies - only just seen your post. It was reported on previous thread:
@IpsosUK : 8 in 10 say Sunak govt doing a bad job on immigration / Reform up to 7% (highest ever from Ipsos) / Lab lead 17 🚨
Voting intention (v Nov) Labour 41% (-5) Conservative 24% (-1) Lib Dems 13% (+1) Greens 9% (+3) Reform 7% (+3) Other 6% (-)
Broken, sleazy Labour on the slide!
It's over a week old mind.
It seems Starmer not only praises Thatcher but in his speech today included Ed Miliband with Corbyn as reasons for their 2019 defeat
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
Maldives, diving at Shark Passage in Constance Moofushi
A friend is just back from the Maldives. I don’t think he picked the right time to go, as he says it was insanely hot. Such that the stopover in Dubai on the way home seemed refreshingly cool.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
It's a terrible. punitive system. Even if you haven't lived in the USA for years, want nothing to do with the place, have no ties to it, and are happily settled elswhere, the Feds might easily come after you for your tax earned on all income, outside the USA. And renouncing US citizenship to get them off your back, is really difficult, bureaucratic and arduous
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
Maldives, diving at Shark Passage in Constance Moofushi
A friend is just back from the Maldives. I don’t think he picked the right time to go, as he says it was insanely hot. Such that the stopover in Dubai on the way home seemed refreshingly cool.
25 years ago last week our daughter and son in law honeymooned in the Maldives and they said it was hot as well !!!!!
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
Maldives, diving at Shark Passage in Constance Moofushi
A friend is just back from the Maldives. I don’t think he picked the right time to go, as he says it was insanely hot. Such that the stopover in Dubai on the way home seemed refreshingly cool.
They are having really strange weather. When I was there in October it pretty much pissed down all day every day for ten days. You can expect some rainy days in October but not monsoon like that
Happily, as it was a diving trip it didn't especially matter, but Jeez I felt bad for the honeymooners
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
It's a terrible. punitive system. Even if you haven't lived in the USA for years, want nothing to do with the place, have no ties to it, and are happily settled elswhere, the Feds might easily come after you for your tax earned on all income, outside the USA. And renouncing US citizenship to get them off your back, is really difficult, bureaucratic and arduous
Well assuming you grew up there and so benefitted from eduction and also expect to be protected by the US diplomatic service and military if you get into trouble then it seems to me to be a reasonable exchange. Better admittedly, if applied to the UK where you get a lot more bang for your buck in terms of services. But in the end if you don't want to contribute to your country and benefit from the protection carrying the passport gives you then renounce your citizenship. Job done.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
I do pay my taxes. And I imagine I have paid several times what you've paid, over a lifetime
You're missing my point. I am sure you pay the taxes you are legally bound to. The law, however lets people living abroad for most of the year* benefit from British citizenship whilst paying no UK tax. I'd change that if I were in charge.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
It's a terrible. punitive system. Even if you haven't lived in the USA for years, want nothing to do with the place, have no ties to it, and are happily settled elswhere, the Feds might easily come after you for your tax earned on all income, outside the USA. And renouncing US citizenship to get them off your back, is really difficult, bureaucratic and arduous
Well assuming you grew up there and so benefitted from eduction and also expect to be protected by the US diplomatic service and military if you get into trouble then it seems to me to be a reasonable exchange. Better admittedly, if applied to the UK where you get a lot more bang for your buck in terms of services. But in the end if you don't want to contribute to your country and benefit from the protection carrying the passport gives you then renounce your citizenship. Job done.
If renouncing it was a doddle than maybe (tho it still seems somewhat unfair)
However renunciation can be a nightmare, it is as if they make it especially hard for anyone trying to flee the US tax system - which is itself already insanely bureaucratic - so as to gouge as much money as possible. I have personally met people stuck in this bind
Anyone who thinks America is a super efficient easy place to do business has clearly never encountered a US tax form
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
It's a terrible. punitive system. Even if you haven't lived in the USA for years, want nothing to do with the place, have no ties to it, and are happily settled elswhere, the Feds might easily come after you for your tax earned on all income, outside the USA. And renouncing US citizenship to get them off your back, is really difficult, bureaucratic and arduous
Well assuming you grew up there and so benefitted from eduction and also expect to be protected by the US diplomatic service and military if you get into trouble then it seems to me to be a reasonable exchange. Better admittedly, if applied to the UK where you get a lot more bang for your buck in terms of services. But in the end if you don't want to contribute to your country and benefit from the protection carrying the passport gives you then renounce your citizenship. Job done.
It wouldn't be rocket science to make it a ver simple to renounce your UK citizenship. Why even this government could probably manage to implement that. Maybe.
Seriously, Rachel Reeves: are you listening? You can get a lot of great ideas on this site.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
Not helped by freak thunder storms. Nine more days and it turns around, though, starts getting lighter again.
Yeah, but it doesn't actually FEEL like it's getting lighter til about late Feb, and the weather barely improves until mid March
It's like living in a torture garden, we just get used to being persistently flailed by outbreaks of SLEET. In the DARK
Ya big softie, you will not melt
This autumn has been unusually diabolical, at least in terms of rain. An old rain butt I have in the corner of the garden was pretty much empty when I got back from my autumn trip; now it’s full, simply by rainfall collected falling into the top, which has a diameter less than the body. Weather experts say the island has had more rainfall between mid October and now than any time recorded since the 1940s. Sunday night just along the coast we had the largest landslip on the island since at least the 1990s, putting a cafe, the main road, and some residential properties perilously close to the new cliff/ridge edge. And, as of yesterday morning, the land there was still moving. The conservatory roof I spent £10,000 replacing after it was bust by storm Eunice is leaking already.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
It's a terrible. punitive system. Even if you haven't lived in the USA for years, want nothing to do with the place, have no ties to it, and are happily settled elswhere, the Feds might easily come after you for your tax earned on all income, outside the USA. And renouncing US citizenship to get them off your back, is really difficult, bureaucratic and arduous
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
Maldives, diving at Shark Passage in Constance Moofushi
A friend is just back from the Maldives. I don’t think he picked the right time to go, as he says it was insanely hot. Such that the stopover in Dubai on the way home seemed refreshingly cool.
25 years ago last week our daughter and son in law honeymooned in the Maldives and they said it was hot as well !!!!!
That's too much information really Big_G - show some decorum, this is a family-friendly site!
I am rather hoping the bill will go down to a spectacular defeat, because I think one way or the other it speeds up the dissolution of Parliament, and I am totally done with this government. It feels though that it will get through…
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
It's a terrible. punitive system. Even if you haven't lived in the USA for years, want nothing to do with the place, have no ties to it, and are happily settled elswhere, the Feds might easily come after you for your tax earned on all income, outside the USA. And renouncing US citizenship to get them off your back, is really difficult, bureaucratic and arduous
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
I do pay my taxes. And I imagine I have paid several times what you've paid, over a lifetime
You're missing my point. I am sure you pay the taxes you are legally bound to. The law, however lets people living abroad for most of the year* benefit from British citizenship whilst paying no UK tax. I'd change that if I were in charge.
(*The rules are complex, I'm simplfying)
I'm not entirely allergic to that idea. I have expat friends who blithely expect to go home to the UK to get free NHS treatement having not paid any tax in the UK for decades, if ever. I have to stifle my irritation when they airily talk about this
However if you HAVE paid a ton of tax to the Inland Revenue (like me) then I think it is perfectly justifiable to expect some payback from the British state, especially as you are not using British resources (roads, cops, defence) if you live abroad for a period
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
Maldives, diving at Shark Passage in Constance Moofushi
A friend is just back from the Maldives. I don’t think he picked the right time to go, as he says it was insanely hot. Such that the stopover in Dubai on the way home seemed refreshingly cool.
25 years ago last week our daughter and son in law honeymooned in the Maldives and they said it was hot as well !!!!!
That's too much information really Big_G - show some decorum, this is a family-friendly site!
I posted it in innocence but expected the double entendre to arise
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
Maldives, diving at Shark Passage in Constance Moofushi
A friend is just back from the Maldives. I don’t think he picked the right time to go, as he says it was insanely hot. Such that the stopover in Dubai on the way home seemed refreshingly cool.
25 years ago last week our daughter and son in law honeymooned in the Maldives and they said it was hot as well !!!!!
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
Maldives, diving at Shark Passage in Constance Moofushi
A friend is just back from the Maldives. I don’t think he picked the right time to go, as he says it was insanely hot. Such that the stopover in Dubai on the way home seemed refreshingly cool.
They are having really strange weather. When I was there in October it pretty much pissed down all day every day for ten days. You can expect some rainy days in October but not monsoon like that
Happily, as it was a diving trip it didn't especially matter, but Jeez I felt bad for the honeymooners
My friend said it rained every day, heavily, but not for very long. Then quickly it returned to being sunny and (too) hot.
I am rather hoping the bill will go down to a spectacular defeat, because I think one way or the other it speeds up the dissolution of Parliament, and I am totally done with this government. It feels though that it will get through…
No, the headline tonight is that Tory MPs have finally realised that their day of reckoning is now fast approaching.
In all seriousness, the drain on HMRC as digitally mobile people move abroad for better weather and lower taxes will, I think, soon become a major issue
Perhaps we will need a US-style law, taxing Brits wherever they live, but that will also mean fewer people wanting to become Brits, or more Brits renouncing citizenship entirely (meaning the UK is unlikely to see them returning, and paying tax again)
Tricky balance. The same problem will afflict all bad weather northern countries with high taxes
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
I do pay my taxes. And I imagine I have paid several times what you've paid, over a lifetime
You're missing my point. I am sure you pay the taxes you are legally bound to. The law, however lets people living abroad for most of the year* benefit from British citizenship whilst paying no UK tax. I'd change that if I were in charge.
(*The rules are complex, I'm simplfying)
I'm not entirely allergic to that idea. I have expat friends who blithely expect to go home to the UK to get free NHS treatement having not paid any tax in the UK for decades, if ever. I have to stifle my irritation when they airily talk about this
However if you HAVE paid a ton of tax to the Inland Revenue (like me) then I think it is perfectly justifiable to expect some payback from the British state, especially as you are not using British resources (roads, cops, defence) if you live abroad for a period
Some sort of sliding scale seems fair
Well, there could be something in that, particularly for people who have had very good years where they've paid a shedload of tax then leaner years following.
You'll have to take my word for it that I have been fortunate enough to earn a lot in my life and consequently pay a lot of tax.
Now, go and read the previous thread header (it's really rather good) and tell me why you think Sunak's undoubtedly high IQ has not been enough to give him a modicum of good judgement.
Of all the things that are wrong with the climate of South Manchester, latitude is not on my list. If anything, I'd like slightly greater extremes of light and dark. Nit much greater - but I reckon Lancaster/Kendal/Northallerton about an ideal latitude. And I don't want more warmth. But I wouldn't mind rather less cloud. A winter of short bright days and cold clear crisp nights would be ideal. Plus two or three big dumps of snow.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
Maldives, diving at Shark Passage in Constance Moofushi
A friend is just back from the Maldives. I don’t think he picked the right time to go, as he says it was insanely hot. Such that the stopover in Dubai on the way home seemed refreshingly cool.
25 years ago last week our daughter and son in law honeymooned in the Maldives and they said it was hot as well !!!!!
That's too much information really Big_G - show some decorum, this is a family-friendly site!
I posted it in innocence but expected the double entendre to arise
It would be a disappointing honeymoon if nothing arose.
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on and on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
Indeed, the people who bang on about needing immigrant labour because there are certain jobs that British people "won't do" sound suspicously like they are advocating a caste system.
Well that kind of talk can stop too. The fabled 'grown up debate' on immigration is not possible so let's do the next best thing - put a sock in it.
When you come from a working class background, you don’t walk around problems or listen to self serving excuses, just because they come from people so entitled they think they’re above consequences
Well I'm from a working class background but I'm not sure I'd make that claim for my compadres. Some of them do, sadly, fall for any old tripe. Witness the appeal of certain purveyors of right wing populism.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
Not helped by freak thunder storms. Nine more days and it turns around, though, starts getting lighter again.
Yeah, but it doesn't actually FEEL like it's getting lighter til about late Feb, and the weather barely improves until mid March
It's like living in a torture garden, we just get used to being persistently flailed by outbreaks of SLEET. In the DARK
Ya big softie, you will not melt
This autumn has been unusually diabolical, at least in terms of rain. An old rain butt I have in the corner of the garden was pretty much empty when I got back from my autumn trip; now it’s full, simply by rainfall collected falling into the top, which has a diameter less than the body. Weather experts say the island has had more rainfall between mid October and now than any time recorded since the 1940s. Sunday night just along the coast we had the largest landslip on the island since at least the 1990s, putting a cafe, the main road, and some residential properties perilously close to the new cliff/ridge edge. And, as of yesterday morning, the land there was still moving. The conservatory roof I spent £10,000 replacing after it was bust by storm Eunice is leaking already.
The moment I started reading - I wondered about landslips, and look what happens in the next sentence. Some on the coast in westmost Dorset too though they are always having them and it's not easy to be sure if it's just media attention/inattention. This sort of local judgement, from you, is quite different.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
I do pay my taxes. And I imagine I have paid several times what you've paid, over a lifetime
You're missing my point. I am sure you pay the taxes you are legally bound to. The law, however lets people living abroad for most of the year* benefit from British citizenship whilst paying no UK tax. I'd change that if I were in charge.
(*The rules are complex, I'm simplfying)
I'm not entirely allergic to that idea. I have expat friends who blithely expect to go home to the UK to get free NHS treatement having not paid any tax in the UK for decades, if ever. I have to stifle my irritation when they airily talk about this
However if you HAVE paid a ton of tax to the Inland Revenue (like me) then I think it is perfectly justifiable to expect some payback from the British state, especially as you are not using British resources (roads, cops, defence) if you live abroad for a period
Some sort of sliding scale seems fair
Well, there could be something in that, particularly for people who have had very good years where they've paid a shedload of tax then leaner years following.
You'll have to take my word for it that I have been fortunate enough to earn a lot in my life and consequently pay a lot of tax.
Now, go and read the previous thread header (it's really rather good) and tell me why you think Sunak's undoubtedly high IQ has not been enough to give him a modicum of good judgement.
There are already procedures for creative types with very erratic income year on year, I believe.
Plenty of interesting data in the IPSOS poll tables. The base line has Labour on 25%, DKs on 23%, Conservatives on 13% and Won't Vote on 13%.
The 2019 Conservative DKs account for just under a third of the total DK vote.
Concerns for Labour? Not as many as for the Conservatives one might argue. However, with 53% of certain voters saying they may change their mind, you just get the sense Labour hasn't completely sealed the deal (to use the euphemism) for all we don't know what (if anything) might make voters more sympathetic to the Conservatives.
My assumption is Sunak is hanging on for lower interest rates next summer and a better economic background in general - in truth, it's about the last card he has to play.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
It's a terrible. punitive system. Even if you haven't lived in the USA for years, want nothing to do with the place, have no ties to it, and are happily settled elswhere, the Feds might easily come after you for your tax earned on all income, outside the USA. And renouncing US citizenship to get them off your back, is really difficult, bureaucratic and arduous
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
Not helped by freak thunder storms. Nine more days and it turns around, though, starts getting lighter again.
Yeah, but it doesn't actually FEEL like it's getting lighter til about late Feb, and the weather barely improves until mid March
It's like living in a torture garden, we just get used to being persistently flailed by outbreaks of SLEET. In the DARK
Ya big softie, you will not melt
This autumn has been unusually diabolical, at least in terms of rain. An old rain butt I have in the corner of the garden was pretty much empty when I got back from my autumn trip; now it’s full, simply by rainfall collected falling into the top, which has a diameter less than the body. Weather experts say the island has had more rainfall between mid October and now than any time recorded since the 1940s. Sunday night just along the coast we had the largest landslip on the island since at least the 1990s, putting a cafe, the main road, and some residential properties perilously close to the new cliff/ridge edge. And, as of yesterday morning, the land there was still moving. The conservatory roof I spent £10,000 replacing after it was bust by storm Eunice is leaking already.
I am not entirely unenvious of you living on the IOW, rain or no rain.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
Not helped by freak thunder storms. Nine more days and it turns around, though, starts getting lighter again.
Yeah, but it doesn't actually FEEL like it's getting lighter til about late Feb, and the weather barely improves until mid March
It's like living in a torture garden, we just get used to being persistently flailed by outbreaks of SLEET. In the DARK
Ya big softie, you will not melt
This autumn has been unusually diabolical, at least in terms of rain. An old rain butt I have in the corner of the garden was pretty much empty when I got back from my autumn trip; now it’s full, simply by rainfall collected falling into the top, which has a diameter less than the body. Weather experts say the island has had more rainfall between mid October and now than any time recorded since the 1940s. Sunday night just along the coast we had the largest landslip on the island since at least the 1990s, putting a cafe, the main road, and some residential properties perilously close to the new cliff/ridge edge. And, as of yesterday morning, the land there was still moving. The conservatory roof I spent £10,000 replacing after it was bust by storm Eunice is leaking already.
The moment I started reading - I wondered about landslips, and look what happens in the next sentence. Some on the coast in westmost Dorset too though they are always having them and it's not easy to be sure if it's just media attention/inattention. This sort of local judgement, from you, is quite different.
Yep. Where I live sits on the largest urban landslip complex in Northern Europe. And the problem we have is that, deep down, there’s a layer of clay sloping down towards the sea, to which the rainwater sinks, and then the other geology on top has a habit of slipping down the slope when it all gets too wet. Really, the Victorians should never have built here. But Queen Victoria’s doctor recommended the air here as uniquely suited as a cure to TB, and suddenly the whole town turned into a boomtown, with guest houses being thrown up everywhere, rampant property speculation, and for a decade or two the town was insanely fashionable; Oxford University even had outreach lectures here each summer, and the steamer delivered boatloads of summer visitors daily to the (long gone) pier.
Anyhow, we now live near the sea, and are getting nearer every day. There’s a project up the road, digging bore holes to investigate the morphology, with a view to installing groundwater pumps deep down to extract the groundwater when it starts to build. But implementation of the pumps is still some years away.
Twenty residential properties evacuated, one summer business probably ruined, and of the three roads into the town, two are currently closed, almost cutting off the rest of the island. And it rains, still.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
I've started referring to where I live as "North Pole North". When I describe it to people its "wait, you can go *north* from Aberdeen?"
In all sincerity I dunno how you do it. London is fecking intolerable from late November to early March (with a small exception for Dec 12th to Jan 1st, due to merriment). North Scotland is like that for about six months
Mankind was not meant to live at these cruel latitudes
Have you ever thought about moving to the Rift Valley?
Yes. I actually believe we have an innate hankering for the weather and landscapes of primordial Africa, where we evolved
Have you ever been to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa - the cradles of humanity?
There is something about the bush, the scent of the soil at twilit, the thrumming of the cicadas and the stirring of the predators and and the burning sun melting into warm velvet dark: it feels like HOME
I'm not joking. Especially the unique scent. It triggers something deep in our atavistic brain
Well we could have all retired to the Mediterranean and enjoyed healthcare and our UK pension in the sun until we fell off the perch.
And then you voted Leave.
Stop fucking moaning and earn more money
But I can only spend it for 90 days in the sun before I have to return to Brexitland and blow it all on central heating.
There are plenty of places where you can stay year round with a retirement visa and a small pot of money, and they have nicer climates than much of Europe
Or you can get a digital nomad visa and pay tiny amounts of tax - many countries now offer this, too. Do some research
The idea that Brexit closed all these doors and we are stuck is just bollocks, the mobility of the digital era means there are more opportunities than ever if you can be arsed
You know that's not true. The digital nomad routes are open to EU citizens as well. Its just that they can also live anywhere in the EU. Brexit closed a door, not all doors, but a fucking big one. If we'd remained we would have had loads more options. Also being a digital nomad is usually very difficult for tax and local employment law reasons. As I know from experience.
Still, I'm sure this mythical "sovereignty" experience will keep the seasonal affective disorder from our door with its sunlit uplands.
What the feck are you on about now?
There are digital nomad visas available everywhere, from Costa Rica to Mauritius to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Bali (plus all the EU ones)
Sri Lanka looks tempting. 270 days, no tax (AFAICS), meaning you can then spend the other 86 days in the UK and avoid UK tax altogether
270 + 86 = 356. Where are you spending the other 9 days?
In airport queues?
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
Seriously, the first thing Labour should do once they win the election is slap a great big UK-FATCA into law, with low exemption thresholds. And remove British citizenship from anyone who doesn't comply.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Is that the same as the US system where you pay US tax (or at least are liable for it) on all earnings world wide? Seems like a good system to me.
It's a terrible. punitive system. Even if you haven't lived in the USA for years, want nothing to do with the place, have no ties to it, and are happily settled elswhere, the Feds might easily come after you for your tax earned on all income, outside the USA. And renouncing US citizenship to get them off your back, is really difficult, bureaucratic and arduous
Well assuming you grew up there and so benefitted from eduction and also expect to be protected by the US diplomatic service and military if you get into trouble then it seems to me to be a reasonable exchange. Better admittedly, if applied to the UK where you get a lot more bang for your buck in terms of services. But in the end if you don't want to contribute to your country and benefit from the protection carrying the passport gives you then renounce your citizenship. Job done.
You are basically correct.
There are, however, there are cases where citizenship gets confusing, to say the least. In instances where an individual's actual connection with USA is minimal and/or tangential, think there could & should be more leniency re: taxes levied by IRS for Uncle Sam.
Speaking of confusing, know a woman who was born in British Columbia circa 1940, her mother was Canadian but her father was American; they moved south of the border when she was a infant and she's always lived and worked in the US.
Told me that at one point, she and her mother had a devil of a time establishing that she was in fact an American citizen, by virtue of her (by this time deceased) father's nationality. (Think her mom was also US citizen based on her husband according to law in affect when they were married.)
Fortunately, they were able to locate her dad's birth certificate (or maybe military discharge records) documenting that he was indeed a US citizen. And so was his daughter, she having never claimed to be Canadian or any other nationality than American.
I like the long winter nights. Especially when it's raining. I like our climate. I like our latitude. They are what have made this country what it is.
Today is the day when the sun sets at the earliest time, even though the mornings will continue to get darker until the end of the month. It would also have been the winter solstice if Pope Gregory hadn't decided to muck about with the calendar.
Actually I think its tomorrow.
1 day until our earliest sunset (13th Dec) 10 days until winter solstice (22nd Dec) 18 days until our latest sunrise (30th Dec) 99 days until Spring equinox 141 days until May day when we dance up the sun to welcome in the summer.
The clocks change at the end of October, that is 1.5 months before the earliest sunset and 2 months before the latest sunrise.
Yet they change back only at the end of March, that is 3.5 months after the earliest sunset and 3 months after the latest sunrise.
If the clocks have to change in the winter, why don't they at least change back at the end of February not March?
Local councils will no longer be forced to set aside greenfield land to meet their future housing needs, under a new planning system to be announced by ministers.
In a move that industry sources have claimed would be “disastrous”, Michael Gove will allow local authorities to reduce the number of houses to be built if development would significantly alter the character of their areas or impinge on the green belt.
Councils will also be given an exemption from building new homes on prime agricultural land.
The reforms, which could be announced as soon as Thursday, are designed to appease rebel Conservative MPs who have warned that opposition to housebuilding in their constituencies will cost them their seats at the next election.
But critics have warned that they amount to a “nimby’s charter” that will lead to a continuing shortage of housing in the areas of greatest need.
Can't we go back to the good old days when people weren't allowed to bang on and on about immigration without being called racist? That was much better imo.
Indeed, the people who bang on about needing immigrant labour because there are certain jobs that British people "won't do" sound suspicously like they are advocating a caste system.
Well that kind of talk can stop too. The fabled 'grown up debate' on immigration is not possible so let's do the next best thing - put a sock in it.
When you come from a working class background, you don’t walk around problems or listen to self serving excuses, just because they come from people so entitled they think they’re above consequences
Well I'm from a working class background but I'm not sure I'd make that claim for my compadres. Some of them do, sadly, fall for any old tripe. Witness the appeal of certain purveyors of right wing populism.
Brexit was a vote for lower immigration. If you want lower migration and higher wages…
WaPo (via Seattle Times) -A man flew to the U.S. with no passport or ticket — and no idea how, he says
A man has been accused of being a stowaway on a flight from Denmark to the United States, after he apparently disembarked at Los Angeles International Airport last month without a passport or ticket.
Despite not appearing on the manifest for Scandinavian Airlines Flight 931, Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava — who, according to court documents, is a dual Russian-Israeli national in his mid-40s — appeared to make little effort to hide his presence during the roughly 12-hour journey from Copenhagen on Nov. 4.
The alleged stowaway walked around the plane and changed seats regularly. He requested two meals at each meal service. He tried to strike up conversations with fellow passengers. And at one point, he even attempted to eat some chocolate belonging to the crew members, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent investigating the case.
Ochigava this month pleaded not guilty to violating a section of the U.S. criminal code that prevents anyone from boarding or secreting themselves on an airplane or vessel without the consent of the owner or person in command. Ochigava is due to appear in court on Dec. 26. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the affidavit filed by FBI agent . . . “Ochigava did not remember how he got on the plane in Copenhagen. Ochigava also would not explain how or when he got to Copenhagen or what he was doing there,” . . . [and] claimed he did not know how he had passed through security checks without a ticket.
Speaking in English, Ochigava allegedly told [US] border officials [at LAX] that he had left his passport on the plane. They could not find his passport number listed on their system — as would normally be required for anyone booking a U.S.-bound flight. Border officers searched his bag and found Russian and Israeli identity documents, but no international passport for either country. No passport was found on the plane.
Scandinavian Airlines didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for the airline confirmed the incident to Court Watch, an organization which surfaced the unusual court case, but declined to comment further.
. . .crew members noticed Ochigava take a seat, 36D, that was meant to be unoccupied. But they did not see his boarding pass. Some crew members also did a head count for their sections, but did not tally the numbers up across the aircraft. . . .
I like the long winter nights. Especially when it's raining. I like our climate. I like our latitude. They are what have made this country what it is.
Today is the day when the sun sets at the earliest time, even though the mornings will continue to get darker until the end of the month. It would also have been the winter solstice if Pope Gregory hadn't decided to muck about with the calendar.
Actually I think its tomorrow.
1 day until our earliest sunset (13th Dec) 10 days until winter solstice (22nd Dec) 18 days until our latest sunrise (30th Dec) 99 days until Spring equinox 141 days until May day when we dance up the sun to welcome in the summer.
The clocks change at the end of October, that is 1.5 months before the earliest sunset and 2 months before the latest sunrise.
Yet they change back only at the end of March, that is 3.5 months after the earliest sunset and 3 months after the latest sunrise.
If the clocks have to change in the winter, why don't they at least change back at the end of February not March?
I'm chief cheerleader of the clock change, but I'd happily meet you there.
One thing I like about rebellions and party infighting is it turns the most obscure or trivial of MPs into 'senior backbenchers' or equivalents.
So the BBC reports on 'Key' MPs not backing the Rwanda bill, than specifically names Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates. Now, they are not the most obscure MPs in the House, I have at least heard of them, but with the best will in the world they are not exactly party heavyweights.
That doesn't mean in a party split situation the less known people cannot be important, every vote counts after all, but sometimes the descriptions can overdo it.
And that can be a good thing on occasion, giving those who do not get much attention a bit of limelight, even if the labels can be overblown.
Though if they make it a habit to be the anti-leadership voice, over time it loses its impact.
Local councils will no longer be forced to set aside greenfield land to meet their future housing needs, under a new planning system to be announced by ministers.
In a move that industry sources have claimed would be “disastrous”, Michael Gove will allow local authorities to reduce the number of houses to be built if development would significantly alter the character of their areas or impinge on the green belt.
Councils will also be given an exemption from building new homes on prime agricultural land.
The reforms, which could be announced as soon as Thursday, are designed to appease rebel Conservative MPs who have warned that opposition to housebuilding in their constituencies will cost them their seats at the next election.
But critics have warned that they amount to a “nimby’s charter” that will lead to a continuing shortage of housing in the areas of greatest need.
I presume Gove, while perhaps expecting to keep his own seat (though Surrey Heath Council is now LD) isn't looking forward to a non-Ministerial life or a life in opposition though I'm sure his account of the last 13 years will be required reading.
As @TSE is too nice to say, it all smacks of pathetic desperation, an attempt to shore up the crumbling edifice that once was the Conservative vote in southern England. It now validates and legitimses anti-development groups and policies and does little or nothing to tackle this country's acute housing issues.
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
Not helped by freak thunder storms. Nine more days and it turns around, though, starts getting lighter again.
Yeah, but it doesn't actually FEEL like it's getting lighter til about late Feb, and the weather barely improves until mid March
It's like living in a torture garden, we just get used to being persistently flailed by outbreaks of SLEET. In the DARK
Ya big softie, you will not melt
This autumn has been unusually diabolical, at least in terms of rain. An old rain butt I have in the corner of the garden was pretty much empty when I got back from my autumn trip; now it’s full, simply by rainfall collected falling into the top, which has a diameter less than the body. Weather experts say the island has had more rainfall between mid October and now than any time recorded since the 1940s. Sunday night just along the coast we had the largest landslip on the island since at least the 1990s, putting a cafe, the main road, and some residential properties perilously close to the new cliff/ridge edge. And, as of yesterday morning, the land there was still moving. The conservatory roof I spent £10,000 replacing after it was bust by storm Eunice is leaking already.
I am not entirely unenvious of you living on the IOW, rain or no rain.
It’s nice, when it’s sunny. Which, compared to the rest of the UK, it is more often.
May I be blunt? It is just fucking unbelievable that so much government bandwidth and parliamentary time is being taken up with this Rwanda nonsense when there is so much else to do. Especially as it's all a red herring when legal migration is so high. Fiddling while Rome burns springs to mind. Resources should obviously be spent on clearing the asylum-seekers backlog and yes, deporting people who have no valid claim to be here, rather than on non-existent flights to Rwanda.
To my mind, this government has committed lots of sins. But the greatest one of all is using all its time and energy to enact an absurd policy that clearly won't have any significant impact on migration, illegal or legal. Meanwhile, public services are left to rot.
I like the long winter nights. Especially when it's raining. I like our climate. I like our latitude. They are what have made this country what it is.
Today is the day when the sun sets at the earliest time, even though the mornings will continue to get darker until the end of the month. It would also have been the winter solstice if Pope Gregory hadn't decided to muck about with the calendar.
Actually I think its tomorrow.
1 day until our earliest sunset (13th Dec) 10 days until winter solstice (22nd Dec) 18 days until our latest sunrise (30th Dec) 99 days until Spring equinox 141 days until May day when we dance up the sun to welcome in the summer.
The clocks change at the end of October, that is 1.5 months before the earliest sunset and 2 months before the latest sunrise.
Yet they change back only at the end of March, that is 3.5 months after the earliest sunset and 3 months after the latest sunrise.
If the clocks have to change in the winter, why don't they at least change back at the end of February not March?
Amen to that. It would make the British winter feel less endless
Also, I recall this being suggested before - to much approval - only for voters to be told No we can't do that we must abide by EU law
So, now we're out of the EU: do it? This would be one tangible Brexit benefit, for the govt to crow about
Local councils will no longer be forced to set aside greenfield land to meet their future housing needs, under a new planning system to be announced by ministers.
In a move that industry sources have claimed would be “disastrous”, Michael Gove will allow local authorities to reduce the number of houses to be built if development would significantly alter the character of their areas or impinge on the green belt.
Councils will also be given an exemption from building new homes on prime agricultural land.
The reforms, which could be announced as soon as Thursday, are designed to appease rebel Conservative MPs who have warned that opposition to housebuilding in their constituencies will cost them their seats at the next election.
But critics have warned that they amount to a “nimby’s charter” that will lead to a continuing shortage of housing in the areas of greatest need.
Practically every local MP is a NIMBY, it makes sense to be because they are not involved in the decisions and not directly in the rules the decision makers apply either. Competing to be more NIMBY therefore will not save them, since the local MP could already campaign against any local development, as do most of their opponents.
Is there anything to his intended reforms other than making development harder, and if not what is the official plan for getting housing built (eg force developers not to bank land etc), since I imagine they are at least pretending they want some houses built?
How can it be getting dark already, this country is like fucking Greenland
Not helped by freak thunder storms. Nine more days and it turns around, though, starts getting lighter again.
Yeah, but it doesn't actually FEEL like it's getting lighter til about late Feb, and the weather barely improves until mid March
It's like living in a torture garden, we just get used to being persistently flailed by outbreaks of SLEET. In the DARK
Ya big softie, you will not melt
This autumn has been unusually diabolical, at least in terms of rain. An old rain butt I have in the corner of the garden was pretty much empty when I got back from my autumn trip; now it’s full, simply by rainfall collected falling into the top, which has a diameter less than the body. Weather experts say the island has had more rainfall between mid October and now than any time recorded since the 1940s. Sunday night just along the coast we had the largest landslip on the island since at least the 1990s, putting a cafe, the main road, and some residential properties perilously close to the new cliff/ridge edge. And, as of yesterday morning, the land there was still moving. The conservatory roof I spent £10,000 replacing after it was bust by storm Eunice is leaking already.
I am not entirely unenvious of you living on the IOW, rain or no rain.
It’s nice, when it’s sunny. Which, compared to the rest of the UK, it is more often.
Does it ever feel annoyingly cut off? Serious question
I am intrigued by islands in general but I know island fever is a thing
May I be blunt? It is just fucking unbelievable that so much government bandwidth and parliamentary time is being taken up with this Rwanda nonsense when there is so much else to do. Especially as it's all a red herring when legal migration is so high. Fiddling while Rome burns springs to mind. Resources should obviously be spent on clearing the asylum-seekers backlog and yes, deporting people who have no valid claim to be here, not on non-existent flights to Rwanda.
To my mind, this government has committed lots of sins. But the greatest one of all is using all its time and energy to enact an absurd policy that clearly won't have any significant impact on migration, illegal or legal. Meanwhile, public services are left to rot.
I wish I could pinpoint when this policy became the defining or even sole objective of the government. Whether someone supported it or not it always looked to be one which would provoke a lot of contention and be difficult to achieve.
Was that the point, that they were banking on the polarisation over it and that this would be enough to counter every other negative factor they are facing?
Comments
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@RishiSunak pencilled in as a "surprise guest" at Giorgia Meloni's rightwing political festival in Rome this weekend. Previous attendees at Atreju, organised by Brothers of Italy, include Steve Bannon and Viktor Orban
The rise in Ref does now seem real even if their absolute vote share is somewhat questionable. They are pretty obviously benefiting from the focus of news being on immigration, and possibly from Farage's profile on I'm a celeb too.
Montenegro is likely to accede to the EU in 2025-30
- digital nomad visas have significant limitations compared to the right to work anywhere in the EU. If you can’t work digitally then they’re useless. You can’t work in a bar in Spain, or as an English teacher in Italy, or an engineer in Malta, as a UK digital nomad. You can if you are an EU citizen.
- without wishing to pull an argument from authority, I am an employment lawyer. The risks being regarded as established as an employer for mandatory employment law and local tax purposes in an overseas jurisdiction mean that most UK employers will not let you do so. Different if you’re freelance I concede but that’s a very small part of the workforce. I guess you’re self-employed?
So, if, like you, you’re self employed and work in the digital or knowledge economy you’re golden. If not you’re fucked. But you’re okay so who gives a shit about anyone else?
Again, your arguments are so pathetic that I am surprised you can tie your shoelaces, let alone operate a computer.
Sources close to chief whip say absolutely no prospect of bill being pulled this evening and that there is no emergency meeting with No10. Lots of briefing/counter briefing going on as we get towards the final stages of this Commons debate. Vote is 7pm.
So you had people advocating mass immigration and, in the next sentence, demanding that the countryside not be built on.
That ship has sailed. We need to build new cities for the people who are here *now*. The backlog is huge.
"A declassified U.S. intelligence report assessed that the Ukraine war has cost Russia 315,000 dead and injured troops, or nearly 90% of the personnel it had when the conflict began."
https://x.com/michaeldweiss/status/1734619751953965427?s=20
Still there are vast areas of Lincolnshire which are currently pencilled in for solar farms. Build houses on them instead and put the solar panels on their roofs. Two for the price of one (and a bit).
Even if your company has a registered and domiciled business unit in said county (which helps), the problems are still extensive.
It makes me laugh that such a patriotic Brit wants to avoid his land and in particular paying tax here.
When Donne wrote "'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's" he was writing on 13 December, St Lucy's Day, which was the solstice before the calendar reform. Pope Gregory's intervention also made a white Christmas less likely by moving it 10 days earlier, perhaps to deprive 16th century bookmakers of a nice if impious little earner. And I recall my primary school teacher saying, in all seriousness, "I'm glad February's the shortest month because the weather's so terrible".
1 day until our earliest sunset (13th Dec)
10 days until winter solstice (22nd Dec)
18 days until our latest sunrise (30th Dec)
99 days until Spring equinox
141 days until May day when we dance up the sun to welcome in the summer.
But it's not a landscape which moves me. It's not a landscape which makes me want to be part of it. I can look at a picture of, say, a sunset over the Serengeti or the Namib desert and appreciate its beauty, but it's an objective appreciation. It doesn't excite me in the same way as a bleak bit of Peak Moorland in winter.
You want to be British? Well pay your fecking taxes like the rest of us!
Depending on how much blood is in his alcohol stream....
Just for how cool it could look. Plus you could power the whole thing off the outrage.
https://labour.org.uk/updates/press-releases/keir-starmers-speech-in-buckinghamshire/
As far as tax goes, it is likely I have paid more tax to His Majesty's Revenue than 80-90% of PB contributors
Otherwise, good point
Just had cards and letters from our family in Wick, who said they were delighted to see our son feature on 'saving lives at sea' in the same episode Wick RNLI crew also featured and referred to his family ties with the town
Will Sunak still be PM then?
"Here's a running thread of all the things the current Prime Minister cannot recall whilst under oath at the Covid Inquiry."
https://twitter.com/nathan_oswin/status/1734189700813132273
I thought Miliband was in his shadow cabinet !!!
https://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/knowledge-center/renounce-us-citizenship/
Sorry - what could I have been thinking of? - as if Tories have a taste for smoked salmon! - never have so many bacons been sandwiched unnecessarily.
Happily, as it was a diving trip it didn't especially matter, but Jeez I felt bad for the honeymooners
(*The rules are complex, I'm simplfying)
However renunciation can be a nightmare, it is as if they make it especially hard for anyone trying to flee the US tax system - which is itself already insanely bureaucratic - so as to gouge as much money as possible. I have personally met people stuck in this bind
Anyone who thinks America is a super efficient easy place to do business has clearly never encountered a US tax form
Seriously, Rachel Reeves: are you listening? You can get a lot of great ideas on this site.
https://www.druces.com/selling-your-business-move-to-monaco/
However if you HAVE paid a ton of tax to the Inland Revenue (like me) then I think it is perfectly justifiable to expect some payback from the British state, especially as you are not using British resources (roads, cops, defence) if you live abroad for a period
Some sort of sliding scale seems fair
Perhaps we will need a US-style law, taxing Brits wherever they live, but that will also mean fewer people wanting to become Brits, or more Brits renouncing citizenship entirely (meaning the UK is unlikely to see them returning, and paying tax again)
Tricky balance. The same problem will afflict all bad weather northern countries with high taxes
You'll have to take my word for it that I have been fortunate enough to earn a lot in my life and consequently pay a lot of tax.
Now, go and read the previous thread header (it's really rather good) and tell me why you think Sunak's undoubtedly high IQ has not been enough to give him a modicum of good judgement.
Lancaster/Kendal/Northallerton about an ideal latitude.
And I don't want more warmth.
But I wouldn't mind rather less cloud. A winter of short bright days and cold clear crisp nights would be ideal. Plus two or three big dumps of snow.
81% of 2019 Conservative voters think the government have done a bad job managing immigration.
We've allowed in 1.3m legal migrants in two years and the UKG has spent £150m not sending anyone to Rwanda and not stopping any boats
What kinda weird 2019 Tory voter thinks this is a "good record"?
Must be this one?
https://www.countypress.co.uk/news/23982519.bonchurch-landslide-latest-isle-wight-council/
Plenty of interesting data in the IPSOS poll tables. The base line has Labour on 25%, DKs on 23%, Conservatives on 13% and Won't Vote on 13%.
The 2019 Conservative DKs account for just under a third of the total DK vote.
Concerns for Labour? Not as many as for the Conservatives one might argue. However, with 53% of certain voters saying they may change their mind, you just get the sense Labour hasn't completely sealed the deal (to use the euphemism) for all we don't know what (if anything) might make voters more sympathetic to the Conservatives.
My assumption is Sunak is hanging on for lower interest rates next summer and a better economic background in general - in truth, it's about the last card he has to play.
Anyhow, we now live near the sea, and are getting nearer every day. There’s a project up the road, digging bore holes to investigate the morphology, with a view to installing groundwater pumps deep down to extract the groundwater when it starts to build. But implementation of the pumps is still some years away.
Twenty residential properties evacuated, one summer business probably ruined, and of the three roads into the town, two are currently closed, almost cutting off the rest of the island. And it rains, still.
There are, however, there are cases where citizenship gets confusing, to say the least. In instances where an individual's actual connection with USA is minimal and/or tangential, think there could & should be more leniency re: taxes levied by IRS for Uncle Sam.
Speaking of confusing, know a woman who was born in British Columbia circa 1940, her mother was Canadian but her father was American; they moved south of the border when she was a infant and she's always lived and worked in the US.
Told me that at one point, she and her mother had a devil of a time establishing that she was in fact an American citizen, by virtue of her (by this time deceased) father's nationality. (Think her mom was also US citizen based on her husband according to law in affect when they were married.)
Fortunately, they were able to locate her dad's birth certificate (or maybe military discharge records) documenting that he was indeed a US citizen. And so was his daughter, she having never claimed to be Canadian or any other nationality than American.
Yet they change back only at the end of March, that is 3.5 months after the earliest sunset and 3 months after the latest sunrise.
If the clocks have to change in the winter, why don't they at least change back at the end of February not March?
Local councils will no longer be forced to set aside greenfield land to meet their future housing needs, under a new planning system to be announced by ministers.
In a move that industry sources have claimed would be “disastrous”, Michael Gove will allow local authorities to reduce the number of houses to be built if development would significantly alter the character of their areas or impinge on the green belt.
Councils will also be given an exemption from building new homes on prime agricultural land.
The reforms, which could be announced as soon as Thursday, are designed to appease rebel Conservative MPs who have warned that opposition to housebuilding in their constituencies will cost them their seats at the next election.
But critics have warned that they amount to a “nimby’s charter” that will lead to a continuing shortage of housing in the areas of greatest need.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gove-to-slash-housebuilding-targets-for-green-belt-0btt76rgd
…there’s only one party to vote for
WaPo (via Seattle Times) -A man flew to the U.S. with no passport or ticket — and no idea how, he says
A man has been accused of being a stowaway on a flight from Denmark to the United States, after he apparently disembarked at Los Angeles International Airport last month without a passport or ticket.
Despite not appearing on the manifest for Scandinavian Airlines Flight 931, Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava — who, according to court documents, is a dual Russian-Israeli national in his mid-40s — appeared to make little effort to hide his presence during the roughly 12-hour journey from Copenhagen on Nov. 4.
The alleged stowaway walked around the plane and changed seats regularly. He requested two meals at each meal service. He tried to strike up conversations with fellow passengers. And at one point, he even attempted to eat some chocolate belonging to the crew members, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent investigating the case.
Ochigava this month pleaded not guilty to violating a section of the U.S. criminal code that prevents anyone from boarding or secreting themselves on an airplane or vessel without the consent of the owner or person in command. Ochigava is due to appear in court on Dec. 26. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the affidavit filed by FBI agent . . . “Ochigava did not remember how he got on the plane in Copenhagen. Ochigava also would not explain how or when he got to Copenhagen or what he was doing there,” . . . [and] claimed he did not know how he had passed through security checks without a ticket.
Speaking in English, Ochigava allegedly told [US] border officials [at LAX] that he had left his passport on the plane. They could not find his passport number listed on their system — as would normally be required for anyone booking a U.S.-bound flight. Border officers searched his bag and found Russian and Israeli identity documents, but no international passport for either country. No passport was found on the plane.
Scandinavian Airlines didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for the airline confirmed the incident to Court Watch, an organization which surfaced the unusual court case, but declined to comment further.
. . .crew members noticed Ochigava take a seat, 36D, that was meant to be unoccupied. But they did not see his boarding pass. Some crew members also did a head count for their sections, but did not tally the numbers up across the aircraft. . . .
So the BBC reports on 'Key' MPs not backing the Rwanda bill, than specifically names Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates. Now, they are not the most obscure MPs in the House, I have at least heard of them, but with the best will in the world they are not exactly party heavyweights.
That doesn't mean in a party split situation the less known people cannot be important, every vote counts after all, but sometimes the descriptions can overdo it.
And that can be a good thing on occasion, giving those who do not get much attention a bit of limelight, even if the labels can be overblown.
Though if they make it a habit to be the anti-leadership voice, over time it loses its impact.
As @TSE is too nice to say, it all smacks of pathetic desperation, an attempt to shore up the crumbling edifice that once was the Conservative vote in southern England. It now validates and legitimses anti-development groups and policies and does little or nothing to tackle this country's acute housing issues.
To my mind, this government has committed lots of sins. But the greatest one of all is using all its time and energy to enact an absurd policy that clearly won't have any significant impact on migration, illegal or legal. Meanwhile, public services are left to rot.
Also, I recall this being suggested before - to much approval - only for voters to be told No we can't do that we must abide by EU law
So, now we're out of the EU: do it? This would be one tangible Brexit benefit, for the govt to crow about
Practically every local MP is a NIMBY, it makes sense to be because they are not involved in the decisions and not directly in the rules the decision makers apply either. Competing to be more NIMBY therefore will not save them, since the local MP could already campaign against any local development, as do most of their opponents.
Is there anything to his intended reforms other than making development harder, and if not what is the official plan for getting housing built (eg force developers not to bank land etc), since I imagine they are at least pretending they want some houses built?
I am intrigued by islands in general but I know island fever is a thing
Was that the point, that they were banking on the polarisation over it and that this would be enough to counter every other negative factor they are facing?