What its like to live and work in UK?

[Guest LukeSkywalker]

Interesting thoughts, so are you saying that all 'Goverment employees' who are on a final salary pension should lose it. As someone who worked in the Ambulance service for 32yrs who gets this magnificent NHS pension of £700 a month that I paid 6% of my wages for every month (as do all NHS workers) does not deserve a pension I paid for. Police and fire also get a final salary pension that I beleive they pay 11% of their wages for. We also pay tax's and struggle like everyone else. Whilst I agree that the 'Fat cats' who do little to earn their pension should be capped on what they get, please dont tar all public sector workers with the same brush. To Qualify for a full final salary pension (50% of your working wage) you have to work 40yrs in you cushy goverment paid job. I had to retire from my job due to illness. Sorry but it makes me mad when people presume because you are public sector you are better off than anyone else.

 

Ok rant over with :jiggy:

 

Nope. I'm not saying all government workers should have their pensions cut, but there must be a firm limit on government pensions of say final salary up to 3x the state pension. Thats all - a cap.

[Guest LukeSkywalker]

Do we still have a Scottish labour vote in Westminster? Steadily dwindling, I would say. Scottish seats in Westminster this time around will probably be dominated by the SNP with the Lib dems coming in second.

 

You have:

 

a. An unelected prime minister who is completely biased in Scotlands favour

b. 40% of the cabinet from Scotland

c. £1500 per year of English money per head subsidising your free unis etc

d. Your own parliament

e. A massive percentage of government jobs diverted to Scotland

f. Free care for oldies

 

And yes, you still have almost TWICE as many MPs per head of the population than the rest of the UK. As an Englishman, I'd say the Scots do very very well out of the UK, unlike England, which simply pays for everything.

 

I really hope the SNP do get a majority, and then take you swiftly to independence. It would be the best thing ever to happen to England. We would be very prosperous, no need to subsidise anyone and, best of all, we could have an English leader who would be, strangely enough, elected.

 

Brown has damaged the reputation of the Scots forever. Almost every Englishman I know wants England to go it alone and longs for Brown to just get out of our country. Its a pity that one man can damage relations between a country so much.

[Guest trigger]

Here's a link to a Podcast from Nature Magazine (A very serious and respected scientific publication).

 

What its like to live and work in UK?

 

 

The content of the podcast is based on in formation provided by the Office of National Statistics UK.

 

To listen to it you'll need Windows Media Player or something similar. Double clicking on the above link should find something suitable on your PC.

IVE NOW HAD MY OWN BUSINESS FOR 22 YEARS. AND LOVE MY WORK. HAVE 50 PERSONEL WORKING FOR ME DO ON AVERAGE A 70-75 HR WEEK + WORKING FROM HOME ON SUNDAY MORNINGS ETC. MADE A GOOD LIVING AND A GOOD LIFE STYLE OUT OF IT BUT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS GETTING TOTALLY CHEESED OFF WITH PEOPLE WHO DONT WANT TO PAY AND IF THEY DO ITS NEVER IN FULL AND LATER THAN ITS DUE. OF COURSE THIS REALLY EFFECTS THE CASH FLOW. AND EVEN THOUGH YOUR OWED EX AMOUNT AND ITS BEEN INVOICED YOU AS A COMPANY STILL HAVE TO PAY OVER THE VAT TO HMC.THERE IS WORK IN THE UK AND IN MY OPINION ITS THE SAME AS USUAL, THE BEST ARE WORKING! SELLING UP AND OFF TO WA ASAP. OH ONE MORE THING WE ARE LUCKY THAT WE DO ALOT OF GOVERMENT WORK, BUT EVEN THEY HAVE SLOWED UP SOMEWHAT ON PAYMENTS. THERES ONLY ONE PROFESSION WHICH IS DOING OK OUT OF THIS SO CALLED CREDIT CRUNCH AND THATS THE SOLICTORS WHICH ARE CARRYING OUT LEGAL WORK TO RECOVER OWED MONIES!!:arghh:

[NigelWaring]

I've been away from UK for just over 40 years but I do read the newspapers and visit regularly. I get the impression that the current labour governments just carried on with Margaret Thatcher's policies. She was once asked what was her greatest achievement, without any hesitation she replied "New labour". During our visits, which usually last a few days before or after a trip around continental Europe we get the impression that UK is a good place to be if you are self employed or have a good steady job. Historically this has often been the case, in recent centuries the haves would take advantage of depressions to use cheap labour to carry out improvement works, there are many towers and similar that are often called so and so's folly.

[Guest LukeSkywalker]

I've been away from UK for just over 40 years but I do read the newspapers and visit regularly. I get the impression that the current labour governments just carried on with Margaret Thatcher's policies. She was once asked what was her greatest achievement, without any hesitation she replied "New labour". During our visits, which usually last a few days before or after a trip around continental Europe we get the impression that UK is a good place to be if you are self employed or have a good steady job. Historically this has often been the case, in recent centuries the haves would take advantage of depressions to use cheap labour to carry out improvement works, there are many towers and similar that are often called so and so's folly.

 

Margaret had gone barmy by the time she answered that question. What she meant was "old" Labour couldn't exist any more. Brown though is an unreconstructed, hard-core, socialist. He took over from Blair when Blair lied his way to power by saying he would serve a full term. The UK is a great place to be if you have money, otherwise its crap. BUT I work in IT and it is definately picking up at the moment - the question is will it continue next year?

[NigelWaring]

My impression was that Margaret meant that she had converted Labour to her way of thinking, Some things did not change very much when Blair was elected. I saw a cartoon once, it was actually passport size photos side by side of Thatcher & Blair, underneath it said "Can you spot the difference".

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

Hi everyone,

 

getting back to the original topic, whats it like to live and work in the Uk at present, well you will get the odd person saying that where they live it isn't as bad as we doom mongerers are making out, but most of us know its desperate at the moment and for anyone to say it isn't is going against what the majority are experiencing. As i have said previous we have good well paid secure jobs, but i won't say I'm alright Jack and i don't care about others who are out of work. It is a disgrace to the country how badly this useless labour government have behaved getting the country into 175billion pounds of debt and i have voted for labour all my life, because the Tories are even worse, especially that lizard Cameron,but politics is a rubbish topic. If anyone wants to come back to the UK because they are missing family and friends then do so, but do not come back because you think the education system is better in the UK because even if it is, there are no decent jobs to be had and i will say this again, all companies are using this time of depression to squeeze contracts and pay until the jobs are almost not worth having. Is it the same in OZ, i have heard if you are an electrician then its difficult to find work in Brisbane, are there any other jobs that are difficult to get currently in OZ. is it still the same as before where if you want to work you will get a job, granted it might not be exactly what you want, but a stepping stone to something better, or has the employment market imploded where there are millions out of work with no prospect of employment, which is what it is like currently in the UK. JIM.

[Guest flipflop]

Honest opinion about the work stuation ....ITS PATCHY

some people are struggling,some are absolutely flying.

I was talking to a guy in recruitment ,his business is flying.

We have a small business,set up 2 months ago,attached to a bigger building and maintenance company - both are growing well in a so called " recession"

Our company has loads of work at the moment as does our suppliers and I honestly have not noticed any recession i London in the shops or in the pubs restaurants, I think the media is to blame for blowing it all out of proportion, yes some people are finding it hard and are relying on the genourous hand outs.

[johnd]

certain areas of oz have done better than others, my friend lives in perth and he says that he hasnt noticed the reccesion as such, ( but he has a steady government job so it probably wont effect him that much ), on the other hand here in the illawarra, nsw, there are jobs but loads and loads and loads of people going for them, its not what you now its who you know. the firms are doing the same as uk, i was permenant in a place and got finished because of the global downturn, been away form there 5 months now and i am only working , literally for dole money 2 days a week. the firm i worked for is re-hiring again, all done very quietly on a recruitment website, no adverts in the paper. when i enquired about the jobs i was told they had already interviewed a significant number of people and if i was interested then hurry up!. this was on the monday , the advert only went on the website on the previous thursday!!!, how can they have interviewed a load of people?.also it is now all fixed term contracts, 12 months then you are out...no permenant places....., so it can be just as bad in oz.

we are going back because we miss family and friends. we are bored in oz, it is in my opinion a boring place...nice well kept lawns.....but somebody make me laugh for gods sake!!!. the aussies, that i have met, take themselves far too seriously, its the macho i'm a hard working man bull****!!. for all the people who think the uk is f**ked, well fair enough , come to oz, have a go like we did , if you settle great , but beware it definatley IS NOT the paradise some peole make it out to be, we both feel that if you do not have a large family/friends group in the uk you will probably settle, we were the other way and have found it very hard , from steeping off the plane till now, and thats 2 and a half years!!. end of rant.

[bunbury61]

certain areas of oz have done better than others, my friend lives in perth and he says that he hasnt noticed the reccesion as such, ( but he has a steady government job so it probably wont effect him that much ), on the other hand here in the illawarra, nsw, there are jobs but loads and loads and loads of people going for them, its not what you now its who you know. the firms are doing the same as uk, i was permenant in a place and got finished because of the global downturn, been away form there 5 months now and i am only working , literally for dole money 2 days a week. the firm i worked for is re-hiring again, all done very quietly on a recruitment website, no adverts in the paper. when i enquired about the jobs i was told they had already interviewed a significant number of people and if i was interested then hurry up!. this was on the monday , the advert only went on the website on the previous thursday!!!, how can they have interviewed a load of people?.also it is now all fixed term contracts, 12 months then you are out...no permenant places....., so it can be just as bad in oz.

we are going back because we miss family and friends. we are bored in oz, it is in my opinion a boring place...nice well kept lawns.....but somebody make me laugh for gods sake!!!. the aussies, that i have met, take themselves far too seriously, its the macho i'm a hard working man bull****!!. for all the people who think the uk is f**ked, well fair enough , come to oz, have a go like we did , if you settle great , but beware it definatley IS NOT the paradise some peole make it out to be, we both feel that if you do not have a large family/friends group in the uk you will probably settle, we were the other way and have found it very hard , from steeping off the plane till now, and thats 2 and a half years!!. end of rant.

#

 

In advance " WELCOME HOME " . Contrary to popular myth ,we are not all falling apart at the seams here.

I hope its a sunny day when you fly back in ,and see those green fields for the first time......We know its far from perfect, in different weather, overcrowded in places, expensive.

[Guest em2oz]

IVE NOW HAD MY OWN BUSINESS FOR 22 YEARS. AND LOVE MY WORK. HAVE 50 PERSONEL WORKING FOR ME DO ON AVERAGE A 70-75 HR WEEK + WORKING FROM HOME ON SUNDAY MORNINGS ETC. MADE A GOOD LIVING AND A GOOD LIFE STYLE OUT OF IT BUT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS GETTING TOTALLY CHEESED OFF WITH PEOPLE WHO DONT WANT TO PAY AND IF THEY DO ITS NEVER IN FULL AND LATER THAN ITS DUE. OF COURSE THIS REALLY EFFECTS THE CASH FLOW. AND EVEN THOUGH YOUR OWED EX AMOUNT AND ITS BEEN INVOICED YOU AS A COMPANY STILL HAVE TO PAY OVER THE VAT TO HMC.THERE IS WORK IN THE UK AND IN MY OPINION ITS THE SAME AS USUAL, THE BEST ARE WORKING! SELLING UP AND OFF TO WA ASAP. OH ONE MORE THING WE ARE LUCKY THAT WE DO ALOT OF GOVERMENT WORK, BUT EVEN THEY HAVE SLOWED UP SOMEWHAT ON PAYMENTS. THERES ONLY ONE PROFESSION WHICH IS DOING OK OUT OF THIS SO CALLED CREDIT CRUNCH AND THATS THE SOLICTORS WHICH ARE CARRYING OUT LEGAL WORK TO RECOVER OWED MONIES!!:arghh:

We were advised by our accountant that we didnt have to pay the VAT until it was paid to us... just a thought.

 

Getting back to the OP.... It was recently announced that Britain are the only country not to have move out of, or at least towards, getting out of the recession. The Gov on the other hand told us differently... but there again they'll say anything it seems and are not adverse to lying through their teeth.

Even this morning on the news they have said they are going to take single parents of income support and put them on job seekers allowance so that they have to look for a job - the question would have to be "what jobs?"

 

Make of that what you will - but I would also take a look at www.rightmove.co.uk to see what you get property wise for your money..... that may make you want to stay in Oz!!!!

[boganbear]

My dad phoned last night and we discussed coming back and he simply said DON'T. We are better off in Oz for the forseeable future as the economy in the Uk is up the creek and my mates say finding a job is a waste of time at the moment as there are so many applicants. Having said tha, i think the benefits of working in the Uk are better than Oz - more holidays, genreal working conditions and better training and people seem to be a bit nicer at work too. I miss my old work colleagues - more than I can say about the people I work with now!!

[Guest siamsusie]

My husband has no complaints about working in Australia (and neither do the poms working with him)

6 weeks annual leave

long service leave.... H & S (excellent) and training courses second to none

compassionate and sick leave & pay

4 flights for each member of the family paid for throughout Australia every year

Extras: Free electricity & water (admittedly it is hot)

Great social life, good commarderie, I have never heard one pom complaining this end, they have embraced the lifestyle the sought here and reaping their just rewards. ss x

 

There are some atrocious employers everywhere in this world but wrong to tar them all with the same brush. ssx

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

Hi everyone,

 

this is my last message on this thread, good luck to everyone where ever you end up going the UK has a lot of good things to offer, it is really struggling at the moment and Australia looks to be the better option, but just think how lucky we are to have this choice, it could be be either Iraq, or Iran and what a bloody awful choice that would be, merry x-mas, a bit early i know. jim.

[johnd]

My husband has no complaints about working in Australia (and neither do the poms working with him)

6 weeks annual leave

long service leave.... H & S (excellent) and training courses second to none

compassionate and sick leave & pay

4 flights for each member of the family paid for throughout Australia every year

Extras: Free electricity & water (admittedly it is hot)

Great social life, good commarderie, I have never heard one pom complaining this end, they have embraced the lifestyle the sought here and reaping their just rewards. ss x

 

There are some atrocious employers everywhere in this world but wrong to tar them all with the same brush. ssx

 

 

what the f**K!!! sort of job does your husband have!!!!, jesus for a lot of people coming to oz means the same sort of 'blue collar' job they did in the uk. in my case that means 4 weeks annual leave, ( one week and 3 days less than uk), sick pay which you have to build up over time,(as against 6 weeks up front in uk then half pay for the next 6), a longer working day, (20 mins more and 10 mins less dinner time, so half an hour all up),terrible health and safety,(15 years behind uk),training courses badly organised, a general acceptance by most aussies to work 16 shifts with minimal notice, ie, 10mins before home time, and if you dont its, "all right mate thanks",but is it?, i dont think so!!.this is all for a company which i wont name but it is in the top ten or twenty oz companies, (it is one of the main steel producers ). as for social life after work, out of a hundred plus employees i had something in common with about 4-5 of them!. free flights, elec & water????, is your oh kevin rudd?.

i have worked in industry all my life , around uk and europe and in oz now for the 3rd time in my life, and in my opinion oz is further behind europe in working conditions for 'ordinary' people.....but then i'm not the oz prime minister!

[Guest siamsusie]

Hi John, You are an ozzie dweller and and as you are aware in the rural areas you will find "hardship allowances" are more the less the norm here. No my DH isnt Kevin Rudd, just a normal tradie that has gotten his hands dirty for the last 20 years in impossible heat and conditions. As I type it is in the 40's outside and on the railways it borders on the 50's and getting hotter, therefore electricity is free , we couldnt survive without air con for ll months of the year, and of course water. Bear in mind in the 80's when workers were being recruited from all over Australia, free flights were introduced for their workers to be able to go home for their holidays and for also children to either attend boarding school or university down in the cities and this has remained until today, untaxed (upon proof of ticket purchase) Long service leave appears to be the norm but I can only speak for the Pilbara and the 6 week holiday package was and has been a long standing package along with the "right to buy", Medibank private etc to encourage workers into the area. Woodside are the "creme de la creme" of employers up here, we are the poor relations compared to them:biglaugh: and there is a distinct dichotomy between a "Woodside wife" and a "Rio Tinto wife" sad but true lol. Health and safety issues are taken seriously and quite rightly so, we live in a cyclonic area and I have to say I am extremely impressed at how well the company look after our personal needs and requirements. A couple of years ahead there were some needless deaths over in Port Hedland, yet more lessons to be learnt that you cannot sacrifice health and safety.

Shift patterns were abysmal when I arrived here( but rigid H & S hours were kept) first due to lack of accomodation for the workers and secondly the harsh working conditions so incentives had to be given. I for one was delighted to see Uk signal technicians arrive and I have to say out 8/8 of them have proved to be valuable members and hugely welcomed by the team, they have gone from strength to strength and now consider themselves Australians in every way and they have accomplished their dream in Australia through sheer hard work.

This was not meant in any form to be a "boasting thread" John., I have done nothing to contribute here at all, it has been my DH's work. I realise that I have been blessed, the journey has been an easy one for me and I doubt whether I could have the courage or convictions of some of these folk in here., and my respect to them. My retort is to some of the same members that constantly "down" Australia, there are some excellent companies out here, it's just finding the right job with the right company (and plain & simple JOBS full stop!) and the unscrupulous companies hopefully shall fall by the wayside when the economy picks up.

Have a nice day:wubclub: ss x

[johnd]

well at least you cleared that one up. considering what and where your oh works all the beneifts are understandable...hats off to him...and you for living there. i am a boilermaker myself and i know that nothing on earth would get me to live there...i couldnt stand the conditions.....not even for a short time. anyway as i have mentioned earlier oz isnt for us and we are off in the new year back to where we came from.

[Guest siamsusie]

well at least you cleared that one up. considering what and where your oh works all the beneifts are understandable...hats off to him...and you for living there. i am a boilermaker myself and i know that nothing on earth would get me to live there...i couldnt stand the conditions.....not even for a short time. anyway as i have mentioned earlier oz isnt for us and we are off in the new year back to where we came from.

Hi John this is it entirely isnt it, it isnt for everyone as you quite rightly say.. back in the 80's there wasnt too much work around apparently (before my time) and as a single parent father this was the only option to come up here to buy a home, educate 2 young sons and obtain some reasonable employment. As for me, its a question of adapting to the given situation at the time, its been a chance to see some wonders of this side of the country, places like Coral Bay, Exmouth, Broome, jumping on a plane to Bali, great fishing , Karijini, the national parks the list is endless.

I wish you and your family all the happiness in the world John back in Europe also a magical part of the globe, at the end of the day you just have to wake up happy. So many best wishes :wubclub: ss

[Guest LukeSkywalker]

Hi everyone,

 

getting back to the original topic, whats it like to live and work in the Uk at present, well you will get the odd person saying that where they live it isn't as bad as we doom mongerers are making out, but most of us know its desperate at the moment and for anyone to say it isn't is going against what the majority are experiencing. As i have said previous we have good well paid secure jobs, but i won't say I'm alright Jack and i don't care about others who are out of work. It is a disgrace to the country how badly this useless labour government have behaved getting the country into 175billion pounds of debt and i have voted for labour all my life, because the Tories are even worse, especially that lizard Cameron,but politics is a rubbish topic. If anyone wants to come back to the UK because they are missing family and friends then do so, but do not come back because you think the education system is better in the UK because even if it is, there are no decent jobs to be had and i will say this again, all companies are using this time of depression to squeeze contracts and pay until the jobs are almost not worth having. Is it the same in OZ, i have heard if you are an electrician then its difficult to find work in Brisbane, are there any other jobs that are difficult to get currently in OZ. is it still the same as before where if you want to work you will get a job, granted it might not be exactly what you want, but a stepping stone to something better, or has the employment market imploded where there are millions out of work with no prospect of employment, which is what it is like currently in the UK. JIM.

 

I cant beleive that someone would write "the Tories are worse". On what rational basis do you talk such rot? Since 1945 every Labour administration has ended with the country close to bankruptcy.

 

ALL of them promised (and lied) to improve education.

ALL of them promised (and lied) to improve poverty and help the "working man".

 

The FACT of the matter is working class and middle class families are ALWAYS better off under the Conservatives. End of. Just read the facts.

 

All Labour governments end the same way, the country in a complete mess and then the Tories have to rebuild it. When the rebuilding is complete and the economy is flying, idiots that cant remember Labour vote for them and the whole cycle starts again. Hopefully this time people will remember Brown and his bunch of liars and thieves for a lot longer.

 

I wish I could critisise you for voting for Gordon Brown, but I cant.

 

Unelected.

No balls to hold an election.

 

Oh I forgot, he "cured boom and bust" and "saved the world". That probably means that you'll vote Labour again then?

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

Hi Lukeskywalker- great name by the way,

 

I wrongly said i have voted Labour all my life i didn't vote for them the last time and i am now voting UKIP and i mentioned this previously on PIO. If you read my last few posts i have gone to town on how bad this useless bent Labour government have been and i won't rant on again about them. I will say though that anyone voting for them must be plain stupid, but on the other hand the Tories are not much better. If anyone votes for them they will do so because they are better than Labour who are worse than sh-t and that makes the Tories just plain sh-t. I said i wasn't going to post anymore on this topic but i needed to correct the slight error, which was my fault, i couldn't bear the thought that people thought i was voting Labour. Again all the best to everyone wherever you may end up, some people love the UK and Australia and some people don't, everyone has a different life and their own thoughts and experiences, so its each to there own. jim.

[Guest LukeSkywalker]

Hi Lukeskywalker- great name by the way,

 

I wrongly said i have voted Labour all my life i didn't vote for them the last time and i am now voting UKIP and i mentioned this previously on PIO. If you read my last few posts i have gone to town on how bad this useless bent Labour government have been and i won't rant on again about them. I will say though that anyone voting for them must be plain stupid, but on the other hand the Tories are not much better. If anyone votes for them they will do so because they are better than Labour who are worse than sh-t and that makes the Tories just plain sh-t. I said i wasn't going to post anymore on this topic but i needed to correct the slight error, which was my fault, i couldn't bear the thought that people thought i was voting Labour. Again all the best to everyone wherever you may end up, some people love the UK and Australia and some people don't, everyone has a different life and their own thoughts and experiences, so its each to there own. jim.

 

Thank God you clarified. I was worried there was still one d1ckhead left outside Scotlan that couldn't see through this bunch of scum. As you say - its a choice between total sh1t and sh1t. With 60 million people in the country isnt that amazing?

[Guest treesea]

I cant beleive that someone would write "the Tories are worse". On what rational basis do you talk such rot? Since 1945 every Labour administration has ended with the country close to bankruptcy.

 

ALL of them promised (and lied) to improve education.

ALL of them promised (and lied) to improve poverty and help the "working man".

 

The FACT of the matter is working class and middle class families are ALWAYS better off under the Conservatives. End of. Just read the facts.

 

All Labour governments end the same way, the country in a complete mess and then the Tories have to rebuild it. When the rebuilding is complete and the economy is flying, idiots that cant remember Labour vote for them and the whole cycle starts again. Hopefully this time people will remember Brown and his bunch of liars and thieves for a lot longer.

 

I wish I could critisise you for voting for Gordon Brown, but I cant.

 

Unelected.

No balls to hold an election.

 

Oh I forgot, he "cured boom and bust" and "saved the world". That probably means that you'll vote Labour again then?

 

The Tories better than Labour? I won't be voting Labour, but hell will freeze over before I vote the Tories back into power. Thatcher and her band of robber barons were a disaster for Britain. She came to power on a slick campaign of "labour isn't working" then promptly tripled unemployment. Yes, she crushed the unions, and her legacy is hospital workers like porters and cleaners on zero hour contracts working for far less today in real terms than they worked for in the early 1970s. Oh yes, the relatively few, the well off, did very well out of her, but for the people doing the "real work" whose real wages fell, she was a disaster.

 

These days the government didn't, for instance, let our car industry go down the toilet - they invested and saved it instead. What a pity for Britain that Thatcher didn't see fit to do the same for our ship building and coal mining industries. Thank goodness Labour introduced the minimum wage. If it had been up to Thatcher, we'd all be on zero hours contracts. That witch bankrupted some pit communities and turned parts of Britain, England in particular, into towns that have more in common with the third world than the first world.

 

If there's any justice, the Lib Dems, the SNP and the rest of the minor parties will control the balance of power. That way we might get a decent democracy here in Britain, based on proportional representation and avoid both the "spend more than they earn" Labour and the "rob from the poor to give to their rich cronies" Tories having total control.