Collie

It gets well covered in the Irish media. You're not missing a lot. NI politics are far from the usual left right divide, they are based on the Nationalist and Unionist communities. Not as bad as in the past but still quite sectarian.

Correct - they do not take their seats. They still get paid and receive the various perks though.

Most people in Britain do. Something the unionists up there can't get their head around. Sinn Fein generally do not take their seats in Westminister (as they refuse to swear an oath of allegience to the Queen) which reduces the number required for a majority to 322 (SF got 7) It's either a deal with the DUP or LDs, a new election or a minority Govt

She called an election with the expectation of a large increased majority (c. 100 seats). She made a a balls of the campaign, lost the existing majority. It has been a personal political failure of huge proportions. All the momentum is with Labour, if she doesn't resign she will be knifed by one of her own.

What do you mean? Tories expected to be about 316 which is close to 50% of 650.

Tories need to move back towards the centre. The people have said that they do not want a hard Brexit or No Deal. What it shows is that the UK is deeply divded. 52:48 on the Brexit vote and now nearly 50:50 between Tory and parties of the left Those damn lefty Londoners - subsidising the rest of the country. Could they not just get it the hard right isolationist agenda? Don't they want to see their EU colleagues and jobs moves to Europe?

Labour sweeping London - Brexit backlash from the city?

It depends on how quickly you will get working, the standard of accomodation that you will want and what sort of vehicles you will want to buy. There was a previous detailed thread on this stuff. I think you would need $50-60K. It can be done for less but not very comfortbly.

Big strategic call for SInn Fein. If they were to take their seats (4-6) they could hold the balance of power.

Yep, Perth is struggling but there are some signs of green shoots but it slow. Have a look for the Irish families in Perth facebook page, I see posts for tradies on there a bit, I hink there is work but rates have come down. Perth is very much a who you know town so tap up all your contacts

Hey mate, Have a look through the money section, there are a good few threads on bank accounts already. Not much between the big 4, my preference is CBA for the quality of their onine/app banking. INGDirect are good too, particularly fo refunding atm fees FYI - most rentals in Australis are unfurnished and are quoted by weekly rent. Domain & Real estate.com.au are best for long term rentals, Stayz and airbnb for short term furnished rentals/ Castle hill is North west Sydney, 45 mins to an hour out of the city. I don't know the hills district too well, my impression is very much family surburbia. Public transport not great although the new north west rail link is under construction, may not be ready in time for you.

Vote early and vote often

Can you expand on this please? Peace in NI was achieved by talking to both sides through a number of administrations in both countries. It was John Major and Albert Reynolds who kickstarted it with John Hume and David Trimble. Later followed through by Blair governments in the UK and the Bruton followed by Ahern goverments in Ireland. Point of information - Germany is the UK's largest trading partner (c.14% bigger than the US) and the UK does about 4.5 times more trade within the EU than with the US.

The major benefit is that it allows you to move, work and live legally in Australia. The downside of a 457 (or it's new equivalent) is that she will be tied to that employer and that there is no automatic path to PR and citizenship. They can sponsor her for PR which would be great, I think she is obliged to work for them for 2 years and then after that she is free to move but worth checking with an agent.

Wow, what car do you drive? That is impressive. Is that a lot of country driving. I'm getting more in Perth than Sydney, less traffic and longer distances. 1.8l Octavia, think it's about a 55l tank and get about 600km out of 3/4 of a tank (I fill up on the 1/4). I had a 2004 outback in Sydney 2.5l and got about 500km city driving, 600-650km on a trip to the snowys.

Yes, I am aware of that, it was purely for illustrative purposes. I'd imagine the EDL nutters would vote UKIP. Great to see them laughed out of Liverpool to the Benny Hill music

That is a bit of an open ended ?. What is important to you in terms of lifestyle, commuting etc. for an area to live in? Also what is your budget? Rental properties in Oz are generlly unfurnished and rent is quoted per week. Have a look at domain.com.au and realestate.com.au to get a feel for markets

Gumtree, facebook marketplace are both good for furniture etc. Household stuff - pots, pans, crockery glassware etc can all be gotten quite cheaply in Kmart, Big W, Ikea

Hard to say, I think Nicola Sturgeon is looking for a referendum in late 2018 or early 2019. The c. 34% who voted to leave the EU are probably in the 55% who voted to stay with Britain. It's how the c.20% who wanted to stay with the UK and the EU would vote if it was either or is what the key ? is. There are probably some swings and roundabouts in the other buckets ( I know of 1 Scotsman who voted leave in both and now wants a referndum to leave the UK to rejoin the EU - he argues with himself) but that 20% is the swing factor. If the 45% are still leave the UK, then it only needs another 6% of the swing voters to plump for the EU over the UK. Plus if memory serves most remain with UK voters were older and leave voters were younger so you will have a 4 year change in the electorate (4 years of deaths and 4 years of newly eligible voters) NS should be talking directly to the EU to see if Scotland leaves the UK, can they stay in the EU or fast track entry. The big ? would be what would they for a currency

I'm not following you. NI, Scotland and Wales all have their own devolved parliments. NI have a forced coalition to ensure both communities are fairly represented in government. I think Scotland has more devolved powers now (as a bribe to stay within the UK). Scotland voted to remain in the UK (think it was 55:45) before Brexit but voted to remain in the EU (66:34 I think). You can't have both so shouldn't they be allowed to make a call, either the UK or the EU?

It sounds like the landlord is willing to work with you which is good. A bit of communication and good will on all sides may resolve the isses and would be the optimal outcome.

Well you can, when they are separate countries with their own devolved parliments. The UK is effectively a federation of 4 countries, if a specific country want to leave the UK to remain within a larger federation (EU) shouldn't that be their own democratic choice. The people in NI have that right enshrined within the Good Friday agreement and the EU have confirmed that should the people of Ireland (North & South) vote for re-unification (per the terms of the Good Friday agreement), then NI would automatically rejoin the EU. East Germany re-unifying with West Germany set the precedent. BTW - I know a lot of scousers who don't really consider themselves English but from the Peoples Republic of Liverpool but that is a side issue.

Brexit isn't very democratic if you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland. If system is out of sync with the popular vote, then it's time to change the system. Same with the UK's 1st past the post system. Did I read that some states in the US are going to start allocating their electoral college votes to the winner national winner of the popular vote? ASAIK, how an individual state allocates their electoral college votes is ourely a matter for that state.

Not tell the bank I mean, obviously you ask the relatives if it is ok

Do you have a relatibe's address that you can use? If so, I would just do that and not tell them. I still have a few Irish accounts open and use my parent's address. I have everything pretty much set up online so post is minimal anyway.