I agree 100% with Roger's and Sid's posts, this country has been allowed to degenerate beyond all recognition from the country my Grandparents lived in, and the blame for that lies 100% with the politicians. Frankly I don't believe what Paul is saying to be true, but that is just a personal belief, I have no way of proving it to be so.
That said, I'm as patriotic as ever I was, and I love my country - I just want to see it run better, that's all. I have always craved remoteness, and for that reason alone, given the opportunity and the money, I would move to Orkney (if only to be next door to the Highland Park distillery!
) whence I could still run my online business efficiently enough.
I'm not a sun worshipper, so the attraction of sunnier climes isn't for me, for me it's about quality of life, and in that respect we have be badly let down by those we have elected into office, from across the political spectrum. The last politician whom I believe put 'Great' back into 'Great Britain' who stood up to the bullies and restored some pride into this country was Margaret Thatcher, and she was vilified for it (and still is by many). Even she started to lose it at the latter stages of her premiership, and the succession of second raters who have held office since she was ousted have long since undone all the good that she did. Quality of life in the UK is second rate right now, and with the legacy of debt being left by the current government, I cannot see things ever improving in my lifetime. Tory sleaze, Labour lies, City greed and incompetence at all levels of our government strata have left us looking pretty shabby. I can understand why so many want to leave.