You were right! - Page 3

Matthew wrote on Tue Sep 19, 2023 6:24pm:

Sorry Stuart, I cannot run with some of your beliefs although I'll always fight for your right to express them. Brexit was the worst disaster to hit the UK since Julius Caesar. Blaming the EU or its peoples for Brexit and its faults is folly - the faults are entirely within the borders of Britain...

Read more...

.... 

I think Dario is correct and that the UK needs some kind of membership of the EU. Full membership is unlikely as the EU is in the driving seat for quite some time and likely to demand full use of the Euro rather than the GBP£ (on full membership). You know and I know that won't happen no matter what. 

Partial membership is the way forward for Britain. It'll cost, it'll be embarrassing for many, but it will work both ways.

Matthew wrote on Tue Sep 19, 2023 6:24pm:

Sorry Stuart, I cannot run with some of your beliefs although I'll always fight for your right to express them. Brexit was the worst disaster to hit the UK since Julius Caesar. Blaming the EU or its peoples for Brexit and its faults is folly - the faults are entirely within the borders of Britain...

Read more...

.... 

I think Dario is correct and that the UK needs some kind of membership of the EU. Full membership is unlikely as the EU is in the driving seat for quite some time and likely to demand full use of the Euro rather than the GBP£ (on full membership). You know and I know that won't happen no matter what. 

Partial membership is the way forward for Britain. It'll cost, it'll be embarrassing for many, but it will work both ways.

John99andrew wrote on Tue Sep 19, 2023 1:51pm:

Try telling that to the folk who pland to retire in Spain and are now finding it difficult to move here now

Steve2023 wrote on Tue Sep 19, 2023 2:48pm:

Brexit was a total mess. With many untruths along the way. But when they say we voted to leave , that is true. But it was by 51.89 % leave to 48.11% remain. A very small margin of 3.78%. So don’t put us all in the same bracket. We need more marches and protests. This is why the politicians won�...

Read more...

...��t allow another referendum, now we all know the truth. And the economic disaster on the UK. If by some miracle Starmer who should win the next election had the  bottle to have another referendum if bet the results would be massively different, 

Stuart47 wrote on Tue Sep 19, 2023 6:44pm:

Matthew, I respect your servitude towards the EU, that is your wish. But it is not the wish of the people of the United Kingdom to be part of the EU. Since 1066 we have have been our own masters. 

I believe that change is coming and will be seen at the next general election towards the end of next year when neither Conservative nor Labour will hold a majority....

Read more...

...

The youth have been grossly misrepresented by the mainstream media as not being politically bothered. They are and they are as sick as are most other responsible voters to how our country is being torn apart by these two reprehensible party's. At the moment the UK is a tinderbox waiting to explode. The people have had just about enough with our politicians lies and inadequacies.   

We will not be rejoining the EU in part or in full.

Stuart47 wrote on Tue Sep 19, 2023 12:49pm:

Typical Champaign socialist Remainer comment. 

John99andrew wrote on Tue Sep 19, 2023 1:51pm:

Try telling that to the folk who pland to retire in Spain and are now finding it difficult to move here now

Andymac1951 wrote on Wed Sep 20, 2023 11:46am:

Can you please explain to me how it is difficult?  All that is required to move to Spain is that they meet the NLV requirements that is to say they need to show some euro 32,000 or is it 34,000 in the bank.  Now I would suggest that most Brits moving overseas, including Spain, are going...

Read more...

... to sell a property in the UK and with the prices of property in the UK as they are now, they would raise a princely sum, more than sufficient to place the required sum in the bank.  If how ever you are talking about those living off the state (pensioners) on the absurdly low UK Pension, with no property to sell, then yes they will find it difficult, if not impossible.  That being said they will, and are, finding it difficult to get by in the UK.  But of course at the other end of the spectrum you will have those who will be in a position to purchase a property valued in excess of euro 500,000 and will thus qualify for a 'golden visa'.   I will grant you that the 90 day rule has made it difficult for 'holiday home owners' (snow birds) who now can no longer spend the majority of their time in Spain whilst declaring themselves resident in the UK for tax purposes. Many UK Citizens are still relocating to Spain, and other parts of Europe without difficulty and I see no reason for this to stop, my opinion only of course, bur I think you will find the figures speak for themselves.  

Matthew wrote on Tue Sep 19, 2023 10:15am:

This is a serious subject still. Keir Starmer anticipating that he will be Prime Minister after the next general election in the UK appears to be just rattling a few opinions around. For me, he appears to want to get much at no or low cost. He's just short of placing an advertisement on this foru...

Read more...

...m offering to feed your cat and walk your dog for three winter months provided you give him and his family accommodation free of charge.

Stuart is right about one thing though - the EU now has all the cards and the UK can only look on hoping that somebody will throw them an ace. The war in Ukraine seems to be deflecting public opinion in the UK from UK Reality. The EU is intent on expanding and interference from the UK to many (except us Irish) is on a par with political interference from Turkey. 

Why is Ireland the exception (of throwing smiling eyes towards the UK)? - Watch that space. The Good Friday Agreement (brought peace somehow to Northern Ireland and before had been championed by Mow Mowlam (my favourite UK politician) and Tony Blair. Brexit has weakened that Agreement and one day not too far away is the unthinkable. Keep an eye on interviews of Jeffrey Donaldson and even some of his supporters. Not only are they intent on offending (I'm being careful with semantics) the nationalist population of Northern Ireland, but everybody in the Republic of Ireland too. Mary McAleese (former President of RoI and resident of Northern Ireland) indicated the weakening of the GFA (Good Friday Agreement) only last weekend and like me blames Brexit. 

I jumped at the offer for £5.00 electronic membership of the Sunday Times and The Times for 12 months (excellent deal I covered in a previous thread). Especially the Sunday Times has been excellent value. But, I fear what is happening on a large scale in the UK , not just towards NI but generally towards the EU and even RoI. I spent 3 weeks touring in South Wales (spiritual home for Mrs Matt and me) and along the south coast of England. I don't know what newspapers they're reading (or if they are reading any) but a growing consensus points a blaming finger towards the EU which (to me) is a surprise. 

I'll return to the subjects of our visit to Wales, UK and blaming finger later should this thread develop. 

DarioMartin wrote on Wed Sep 20, 2023 12:06pm:

Prior to Brexit, all that was required was to arrive, prove you had 12 months IPREM and a Padrón and you were able to not only live, but work as well.

Post Brexit, a hopeful migrant must not only prove 400% of IPREM available to primary applicant and 100% of IPREM to each subsequent applicant on a visa, but must also pay around £512 non refundable just for the visa application.  That just gets you the NLV, assuming all your paperwork is c...

Read more...

...orrect.  There are other costs attached with obtaining doctors certificates and the like, which all mount up to a hefty fee on top of the visa application itself. If you’re intending retiring here, it puts it out of reach now to many pensioners.

If you now want to come here ahead of retirement and actually work, then you have to go through the process of applying for a Work Permit.  Considering there are two basic ways to get one, and one of those is to have a skill on the shortage list AND then find a company in Spain to sponsor you with a contrato completo, that in reality narrows it down to self-employed … which requires at minimum a solid business plan to be presented as well as letters of intent from prospective clients to even get close to a work permit.  Not impossible - but certainly not easy.

There is of course the Digital Nomad visa, which again is a path to residency.  But even then there are restrictions on top of other requirements e.g. financial, in that only a very very small percentage of income can be derived from companies based in Spain. 

To say that it is not more difficult to now move to Spain is at best disingenuous and at worst willfully blind to the realities.