Further Developments on UK Immigration and Reciprocal Rights in Europe

Two trips from Brittany to Paris (5.5 hours each way x 2 =22 hours in a car), one overnight stop in a hotel, photographs, documents including three years income tax returns (French), three years bank statements, proof of my pension and my wife's employment, birth certificates for three of us, marriage certificates, proof of permanent residence, detailed itinerary of every day within proposed visit including hotels details, telephone numbers, original wedding invitation card, completed multi page forms, two interviews in Paris, proof of medical cover etc about one hundred pieces of paper plus expensive application fees. No wonder foreign non EU tourists don't want to go to the UK! The UK are now asking for returnable cash deposits from certain nationals. The whole process has been sold off to an American company and you are treated like an animal.

Yes, we know that now. I'd love to stick something very sharp in that bubble though ;-)

Alas Brian, we did not pay into a fund that was invested for our pensions but into a government Ponzi scheme that relied on us dying at or before 70 years of age plus an ever-expanding workforce of contributors to pay off the pensions. We, the inconveniently still alive pensioners, also did not have the luxury of generous payments if we were out of work nor assistance with rent or mortgage payments. Mortgage rates were much higher than at present so we worked hard and did not spend money we did not have. Now we are considered a target by the younger "poor" the definition of which appears to be similar to the definition of "rich" that applied when I was younger. Politicians of all persuasions seem to live in a bubble of privilege that comes from the ability to spend someone else's money ad infinitum.

Absolutely.

Yes it was a great gesture but nothing to do with the voting issue. It was to do with his work on victims and survivors of the Italian camapaign and he deserves all our thanks for that and our support for the voting rights stuff.

(that was said with a Victor Meldrew accent, by the way :-) )

Colin - I enjoy your satirical sense of humour. There are 4 elections in the near future - EU and Scottish Ref in 2014, General in 2015 and EU in/out Ref in 2017 (maybe). Then we will be able to judge accurately who believes the coalition, whose policies no-one voted for in 2010. And still the LibDems are trying to persuade us they are fit to govern!!

It wouldn't be a such a shock. We have got used to this type of announcement almost monthly from the coalition. I pay a large amount in UK tax each year from my pension - I feel I have a right to complain - and vote!

BTW did you notice that Harry Shindler, long time campaigner for expat voting rights, got an MBE in the NYH list.

Bonne Annee

Guy's ever thought wear your taxes actually go,

social security,

health care

MOD.

the MOD spends 1.5Billion a year on a ship lift in Faslane in Scotland, this small amount is just a minor figure they actually spend on the whole current Trident project £28.5 BILLION last year alone just keeping three submarines with twelve missiles and 18 nuclear war heads at sea to protect us from an invisible non existing threat. it cost £350,000 a day to keep a missile submarine alongside .

well there is also the fact that the government is spending 50% of its income on debt repayment. that was in GO's speech the other day.

ALL UK POLITICIANS CAN NOT BE TRUSTED.

Of course it's a wind up but they are knawing at the edges to see just how far they can go- time alone will tell. If the EU Referendum happens in the UK you may well see hordes of Brits returning- if they are allowed to. Personally I would already have to undertake a means test to return to the UK with my wife and daughter as my wife is a non EU citizen. Both my daughter and I would be fine as we are both Brits. If my wife was a Romer gypsy it would be no problem. Life is getting quite strange!!! It cost us about £1k to get a visa to enter the UK for one week to visit my son's wedding in the UK. I kid you not. Farrage is determining British politics and policy already.

I don't believe it!

Thank you for your lesson in the economy. You may be surprised to find out that I accept the principle. However as a Tory myself my view is that you should stick to principles and policies that you said you would follow before being elected and then didn't. As somebody who was very active in the public sector in the UK and over a very long period I saw heaps of examples of wastage of public funds (for which the taxpayer pays) so I feel pretty well qualified to offer comments, even if they are sometimes of a satirical nature. If you give anybody even tacit and unquestioning support things will get even worse. Many of the "pensioner savings" come to much less than the money wasted by DWP. And BTW the current government is still spending shedloads more than their income as any fule no.

No, we shall moan. We paid tax, that was supposed kept (invested) as a fund to pay our pensions. Now bits and pieces of pension are being whittled away, not just we moaners but all pensioners. It really does not matter which party did what, except that this is the most dispassionate and incompetent government for years, which is saying something after Brown, the fact is that the most vulnerable get it in the neck, the best off get a pat on the head and let off their taxes whilst the DWP who are responsible for pensions fritter away vast amounts of our money on IT systems that are not fit for purpose. Yes, we have every right to moan and we shall continue to do so.

Stop moaning, the Tories are doing the best job possible what with deficit left by many years of hopeless mid-management by the previous government who led us down the path of self destruction. Anyone with a minuscule amount of common sense knows you can’t spend more than your income

Wandsworth then and now- John Young and the American Ambassador![](upload://qgmVd0dpxuMEA5FtmzDPtZhRF1E.jpg)![](upload://t8SFGx40kbBaKZnje5TXnuPZyuG.jpg)

After Gideon's need to cut £25 billion expenditure announcement this rings almost too true. Over the next 492 days we have lots of scope for expecting surprises. To that end I might just take a large malt myself!