Quitting Britain for a New Life Elsewhere--The Egress of the Young Professionals

In just the past seven months, applications to leave the UK have soared 80% to almost 4,000 a week! What could possibly be driving so many young professionals to quit Britain for the new world?

Most people are relocating within the Commonwealth – in Australia, Canada and South Africa. They are almost all young professionals and skilled workers aged 20-40.

And many cite their reason for wanting to quit as immigration to these shores – and the burden it is placing on their communities and local authorities. The dearth of good schools, spiralling house prices, rising crime and tax increases are also driving people away.

Obtaining a visa to live abroad can cost as little as £1,500 for the right candidates. Plumbers, electricians, construction workers and doctors are famously in demand. The only obstruction to emigration from the UK is a criminal record, poor health, advancing age and being a “third country national”.

...“It’s a shame people at the top don’t recognise they’re not doing enough to retain highly skilled workers in this country. A lot of them are quite young, and they’re not idle. They just can’t see a future for themselves in this country. They want to get married and settle down and buy homes, but they can’t see it happening here.

“And time and time again they are saying to us they don’t want to be seen as racist because they are quitting because of immigration. We tell them of course they’re not.”

According to the most recent Office of National Statistics figures, in 2005 the official number of people leaving UK shores was 352,000 – up from 249,000 in 1995. The majority – around 150,000 – migrated from London and the south east.

Source

(via Kim du Toit)

The same thing is happening in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and many other European countries. Changes in demographics and government policies that are unfriendly to indigenous Europeans are making it more difficult and dangerous to stay in Europe and the UK. Not to mention the increased crime that accompanies the changes above.

In Canada and Australia, the same sort of changes are happening--though at a slower pace. The conservative governments in Australia and Canada are trying to hold back the problems currently swamping Europe. As for South Africa, I suspect that those who emigrate from the UK to the former land of apartheid may enjoy a few years of affluence there before the country's economy begins to follow the path blazed by Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Live and learn.