"More than a third of British medal winners in the 2012 London Olympics were from private schools, which educate 7% of the school population, a study by the Sutton Trust shows."
Being able to pursue a life in sport, just like the arts, is more and more becoming the realm of the privileged rather than the meritocracy it should be. Look how many of our newest generation of award winning actors are from priviledged backgrounds. Just another example of the lie that is trickle down social mobility.
That doesn't really stop me from enjoying the Olympics doe. But fuck a horse ridding toff all day every day. How is that shit a sport. The horse is doing all the work, the competition is just who's a rich enough cunt to own the best horse. Fuck that. And fuck football being in the Olypics. As a sport, from top to bottom, it's irrevicably disconnected from the 'spirit of the games'. The rugby sevens I could tolerate, Fiji bossed that shit playing with an attitude and athletic ability that could compete with any of the other accepted sports. Also fuck a million convoluted ways to cycle in circles. And fuck lauding British sailing dominance. 'We rule the waves'. Dumb. If some East African country hosted the games and came up with 30 fucking ways for long distance runners to win medals people would cry foul. Now for the team pursuit 10,000 meter medley relay triathlon. No thank you.
Excellent Moke, thanks. Jook were certainly a favourite of mine, all feather cuts, turn-up denims and hobnail boots. like what Pilot could have been, had they had some balls. Earlier this year I caught Jack The Lad and a resuscitated East End Baddoes, who though largely from Oi! time were definitely of the bovver rock ilk. The latest releases of both don't stand up to the raucous fun of the gig though. All such dudes never invest in a suitable producer, the schmucks.
Previously I never really payed any attention to the Olympics. But for some reason, probably the great opening ceremony, it finally connected in 2012. So this is only the second games I've even bothered watching.
I watched some of the British female hockey games. The Dutch team were robbed, but similarly to football, the best team is rarely guaranteed victory. The cycling was fun but got repetitive. The BBC have done a pretty job covering the games in general, at times in the velodrome you could really get a sense of the people behind the athletes because the team reporting it were practically part of the extended team. The live streams have been good. Just dipping into sports that never really get covered because they're not something Brits good at. There are so many sports included now it's pretty ridiculous. Had a good laugh at the syncro-swimming entry walks. Watched some of the Greco Roman Wrestling, which is some oldschool homoerotic stuff - if you commit an offence they make you get on all fours whilst the other dude mounts you from behind. Very big with the Russians and former soviet bloc, but this giant Cuban was bossing it. I watched the UK dude just lose out on gold in kicky kicky and his devastating interview afterwards. And I watched the UK mens 4x400 get disqualified for some bullshit just so the Brazilian team could be put in as fastest losers. It's not been a great games in that respect.
I thought the Beeb coverage has been dire. Balding really grates. The pundits have ranged from average to embarrassing. The constant switching from 1 to 2 has been painful. Cram and Brendon love fest for certain athletes is cringey. Interviewers constant craving for medalists to pour out their hearts on sacrifice and pain has been pathetic. Overall refusal to call out blatant roid shit (see Ethiopian woman distance runner) is weak.
But GB have been incredible. Real people with real characters, generous in defeat - mostly -, humble in victory, but most of all, performing and winning when it mattered. In the starkest of contrasts with the pampered, overpaid, inarticulate selfish cunt footballers. Sir Mo Farah, Dame Laura Trott, Sir Jason Kenney now surely? Afaik none of them from a money background. All there on merit. No Stevie G favourites there. No permanent Rooney captain shit. Perform or you're out. Two thumbs up.
I'm no sport fan AT ALL, and only dip me toe in now and again, but def an impression that a lot of the winners across the board were real, brah *thumps chest*. Down to earth, honest reactions to wins and defeats. Is it lottery money making a difference?
Presenters - Inverdale has been an arse, getting pulled up by Murray and that.
The presenters are indeed grating but if you'd used the red button then you wouldn't have had to sit through any of it. I haven't watched the main channel feed unless something was happening. It's no easy feat covering as much of the games as the BBC have and putting it together in a way that gave the viewer so much choice. Today I watched some of the team rhythmic gymnastics which was like some kind of live animation, then some crazy handball semi final and finally a bit of boxing before my brain started to complain about too much sport. The only bit of filler presenter talk was an interview with our gold winning boxer from 2012 who spoke well and had some insight into what a fighter goes through leading up the a gold medal final fight.
It's been cool to cheer on some Brits but tbh I'm just as happy watching the world's very best do their thing. It's nice to just enjoy watching something for the spectacle and in respect of their personal achievement and not be caught up in some partisan armchair warrior bullshit.
Most sport is ok in small doses, but it can be a magnet for tiresome cunts and I could quite happily live without it in that respect. I think it's fair to say most sports compare favourably to football, which is slowly disappearing further and further away from anything remotely 'real people'. The amount of money there is in the PL now is just obscene. In the same country where people are having to rely on foodbanks to eat.
I think GB's success in part is down to the funding that was pumped into British sport in the years leading up to 2012. Money makes a huge difference. Japan got silver in the men's 4x100 after having previously never had a finalist in the event. That's simply because they are pumping money into sport to improve their chances when they host in 4 years. It's tough to say whether we'll keep this momentum, now it will become expected that we do this well but I can't see how sport funding can be kept at a high level when everything else is being cut. The paralympians are getting shafted already, but nobody really cares about disabled people anyway.
I read a report that said each medal we've won cost £4 million in funding. Not sure if they're worth it tbh.
Anyways, anyone heard from L*o? GB just had utter success in the Olympics, dude must be in total fucking despair. Be strong hun xx
Yeah but, like, Spain yeah, VIVA ESPANA, right?
I've watched very little of the Olympics, but was discussing them with a friend and on the subject of "winning mentality", he said a highlight was the slow-mo of Kenny having a peep over his shoulder before cutting the Japanese rider off and causing a massive crash.
Anyways, anyone heard from L*o? GB just had utter success in the Olympics, dude must be in total fucking despair. Be strong hun xx
Yeah but, like, Spain yeah, VIVA ESPANA, right?
I've watched very little of the Olympics, but was discussing them with a friend and on the subject of "winning mentality", he said a highlight was the slow-mo of Kenny having a peep over his shoulder before cutting the Japanese rider off and causing a massive crash.
It was Mark Cavendish rather Jason Kenney. And dude was Korean, not Japanese. Perhaps they all look the same? British cyclists, I mean. :-)
The paralympians are getting shafted already, but nobody really cares about disabled people anyway.
Yep, Rio was always going to have money problems, looks like they've fucked it on the main event and jettisoned the paralympics, because, fuck them.
The Paralympics (though not quite to the standard of the Winter Paralympics) are some crazy shit. I don't know if the fact that the stadiums are now likely to be 95% empty is going to detract or add to the surreal edge those games have.
And Team GB were incredible. Horse trotters aside, which is really really not a sport, I don't think the athletes backgrounds really played into it - we may have done well in "posh" sports like rowing and sailing but these people still beat the best in the world. In The World. So props to them.
I also have to say, despite a massive natural dislike for anyone with a hint of a silver spoon in their jaws,perhaps these people are actually better role models than the came-from-nothing million pound footballers?
Also, fuck the EU and their "EU" medal table. What are they even trying to prove there?
Junior said: ...perhaps these people are actually better role models than the came-from-nothing million pound footballers?
Well for a start, these people are very good at what they do. These people are, or are striving to be, the very best in the world. So, as far as football goes, we don't have many (any?) of those. And the Olympians do it all for relatively little reward compared to BIG sports.
Our footballers are widely understood to be completely mediocre by international standards, yet still make millions a year, demand to be served by white people, do time, assault Ulrika, kill while drunk-driving, put cigars out in people's eyes, assault the pubic, shag slag sisters-in-law, shag under-age slags and buy slag birds pink Benklees (sic) and still think they should be treated as gods.
So yeah, Olympians are deffo better role models. Shame there is not the money in it.
I hear EU exiting is now the strive-for model du jour.
I was a supporter in many of the aims hitherto, but now recognise that any design flaws will be tested, even for simple random walk reasons. There will be sticking plasters and reworks, but the currency is a mess, The people movement is unsustainable and the uneven playing field is all areas will lead to conflict.
So far there is limited downside. Lets play a longer game and see what's what in 6m, 1y, 3y, 5 and so on.
Pre-vote, if EU is great, and benefits of being in are better than out, why the Calais camps etc? And why those dudes not going to (random country alert) Portugal or Poland?
If EU is better, and we are headed out, why many dudes still trying to get through the tunnel?
Regarding the second question. Isn't it part of the point that the EU is also better with the UK in rather than out? Not saying it's all going to go immediately to shit but I think it was a beneficial relationship both ways (something that was always ignored in statements by Juncker in his with us or against us crap).
Also, if you only know some of a second language and that language is English, where would be your first stop in Europe? Plus, if you're an illegal immigrant, freedom of movement, lack of visas etc isn't so much of a priority.
I entirely agree this is a waiting game now anyway - no-one really seems to know what the effects are going to be (pound on par with Euro vs. Pound =1.5€ etc.) and there is still no timeline on any actual action. AT the moment it's just newspaper fodder for handwringing on both sides of the media.
I think our benefits system is the easiest to milk, hence manamana tunnel. "My wife, she die"-R. Summary
1. In-work benefits for the low paid are generous in the UK compared
to other countries in the EU15 and may act as a much stronger pull
factor towards Britain than to other member states. This paper finds
that the UK is the fourth most generous country of the EU15[1]
in its provision of benefits to low income workers after Denmark,
Luxembourg and Ireland – with populations of 5.5 million, 500,000 and
4.5 million respectively. Furthermore, the UK is more generous than
Finland and France and much more generous than Germany, Sweden the
Netherlands and the rest of the EU14 in topping up low wages. When the
costs of living are accounted for, low paid workers in the UK are the
second richest in the EU15 after Luxembourg. Access to unemployment
benefit, while paid at a lower rate than in many of the EU15 countries,
is much easier to access in the UK where there are virtually no
conditions of access, compared to more robust controls elsewhere.
Health care Available immediately but required to pay minimum of 10 per cent of some treatment costs
Child benefit Immediate payment of up to £97 per month
Unemployment benefit Minimum contribution of nine months
Housing benefit Only available if you already have social housing
SPAIN
Health care Only available with a card proving entitlement
Child benefit Immediate payment of up to £20 per month
Unemployment benefit Immediate payment available based on a variable proportion of average wages
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
SWEDEN
Health care Available immediately; basic fees for care
Child benefit Immediate monthly payment of £101
Unemployment benefit Six-month qualifying period
Housing benefit Immediate monthly allowance of up to £125
HOLLAND
Health care only available with a certificate proving entitlement
Child benefit Immediate payment of £943 per year
Unemployment benefit Six-month qualifying period
Housing benefit Means tested, available immediately
UNITED KINGDOM
Health care Available immediately and free of charge under the National Health Service
Child benefit Paid
immediately if the child is under 16, or 16 to 19 and in education or
training, and the claimant has an individual income of less than
£50,000. Amount is £20.30 a week for the eldest or only child, £13.40
per additional child
Unemployment benefit Immediate
payment of £71.70 a week in Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) after proving
you are actively seeking work. EU migrants have to pass the
“right-to-reside” test to show they are “economically active”. The
European Commission wants to abolish this test. There is also
contribution-based additional JSA which is only available after working
for at least two years.
Housing benefit Available immediately if you are on a low income, whether you are working or unemployed.
How much depends on individual circumstances, but amount cannot
normally exceed £250 per week for a one-bedroom property, or up to £400 a
week for four bedrooms or more
Sources: European Commission
guides to social security and health care in member states, Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development, Department for Work and
Pensions.
I will admit it was and still is a horrible shock when I moved over here and found out that, despite earning a considerable amount more than in the UK (assuming Euro = Pound), I actually took home less a month than before due to the list of monthly deductions that almost ran to an entire page. Everything from sickness insurance to health insurance tax. I really miss the NHS, or what's left of it :(.
On the other hand, were I to procreate, I get considerably more money than in the UK on my paternity leave and my kid gets free education. Also, when I get sacked/redundacised, I will get 3/4 of my full pay for the first year of unemployment. Which is glorious.
I guess it all depends on where you are in the system but I will say, as "open" as it is over here, the lack of free healthcare for starters means it can never compare with the everyone welcome aspect of the UK, bless it.
But I thought we were all about importing needed skills and such. So why the talk of low pay, benefits and so on? Surely skilled peeps will be avoiding that shit? Or is the real skill to work like a dog for a pittance? That's possibly the reason Big Business leaders campaigned for Remain.
And lol at the English as second language idea. Dudes obviously never met herds of low cost Eastern Euroman and them in real life.
But I thought we were all about importing needed skills and such. So why the talk of low pay, benefits and so on? Surely skilled peeps will be avoiding that shit? Or is the real skill to work like a dog for a pittance?
Well you brought it up St*ve regarding the tunnel. I don't think it's generally the case that the skilled workers are the ones who have to try and sneak into the country. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see what the uptake is if British citizens do finally get the chance to do all these jobs that people are coming over and stealing from them.
There's also a difference between just importing needed skills and the idea of general collaboration from different backgrounds and new ideas.It will be interesting to see what happens to the science industry post-brexit considering the proportion of people in that area that come from outside the UK or are collaborating internationally.
The dudes in the Calais are illegal immigrants and not eligible for mainstream welfare benefits, even if they managed to claim asylum they still don't qualify. An entirely different ball game to Eastern Euroman. Let's not drink all that Daily Mail coolaid.
Compared to many countries in the world the UK is a peaceful, inclusive, prosperous place to live. So when neo-colonialism and globalisationsells the world on it's capitalist dream, is it of any surprise that motivated young people in search of said dream, failing to find it in their home countries, decide to risk their lives in the hope of finding it in one of the places that's been selling that dream in order to further it's own interests. Or maybe they're just big fans of Doctor Who.
Partly I mean, once illegals are in Calais, why travel here? Particularly if EU is a better bet than UK? i get that we have history in the immigrant acceptance game, and certainly bits of EU have bad reps for treatment of outsiders. Perhaps it's a bet on long term odds.
And for EU migrants, why still want to come here if EU is so rosy compared to the UK future?
It's still way too early to draw conclusions from any of this, but I do think the hysteria from the Remain set, which was often rabid and frequently pitiful, has calmed down.
It was kind of cool that I could live, for as long as I wanted, in any of the member states and no-one could say JACK about it. Not Romanian gypsy colonies, natch. The nice bits of EU with stuff we don't have here - sun, tampon-free beaches, bucolic vistas, Hapricaan beach hawkers. Dem yards is now way beyond the horizon, financially. Although I did see 20p on Decathlon floor this evening and instructed #2 son to put it in the charity tin. @Karma - you watching son? cough:lottery:cough
Comments
Being able to pursue a life in sport, just like the arts, is more and more becoming the realm of the privileged rather than the meritocracy it should be. Look how many of our newest generation of award winning actors are from priviledged backgrounds. Just another example of the lie that is trickle down social mobility.
That doesn't really stop me from enjoying the Olympics doe. But fuck a horse ridding toff all day every day. How is that shit a sport. The horse is doing all the work, the competition is just who's a rich enough cunt to own the best horse. Fuck that. And fuck football being in the Olypics. As a sport, from top to bottom, it's irrevicably disconnected from the 'spirit of the games'. The rugby sevens I could tolerate, Fiji bossed that shit playing with an attitude and athletic ability that could compete with any of the other accepted sports. Also fuck a million convoluted ways to cycle in circles. And fuck lauding British sailing dominance. 'We rule the waves'. Dumb. If some East African country hosted the games and came up with 30 fucking ways for long distance runners to win medals people would cry foul. Now for the team pursuit 10,000 meter medley relay triathlon. No thank you.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/18/giuda-bovver-rock-interview
Jook were certainly a favourite of mine, all feather cuts, turn-up denims and hobnail boots. like what Pilot could have been, had they had some balls.
Earlier this year I caught Jack The Lad and a resuscitated East End Baddoes, who though largely from Oi! time were definitely of the bovver rock ilk.
The latest releases of both don't stand up to the raucous fun of the gig though.
All such dudes never invest in a suitable producer, the schmucks.
have you enjoyed/admired/been awed by/amazed by any of the GB performances at Rio 16?
if so, what's the criterion?
I watched some of the British female hockey games. The Dutch team were robbed, but similarly to football, the best team is rarely guaranteed victory. The cycling was fun but got repetitive. The BBC have done a pretty job covering the games in general, at times in the velodrome you could really get a sense of the people behind the athletes because the team reporting it were practically part of the extended team. The live streams have been good. Just dipping into sports that never really get covered because they're not something Brits good at. There are so many sports included now it's pretty ridiculous. Had a good laugh at the syncro-swimming entry walks. Watched some of the Greco Roman Wrestling, which is some oldschool homoerotic stuff - if you commit an offence they make you get on all fours whilst the other dude mounts you from behind. Very big with the Russians and former soviet bloc, but this giant Cuban was bossing it. I watched the UK dude just lose out on gold in kicky kicky and his devastating interview afterwards. And I watched the UK mens 4x400 get disqualified for some bullshit just so the Brazilian team could be put in as fastest losers. It's not been a great games in that respect.
Cram and Brendon love fest for certain athletes is cringey. Interviewers constant craving for medalists to pour out their hearts on sacrifice and pain has been pathetic. Overall refusal to call out blatant roid shit (see Ethiopian woman distance runner) is weak.
But GB have been incredible.
Real people with real characters, generous in defeat - mostly -, humble in victory, but most of all, performing and winning when it mattered. In the starkest of contrasts with the pampered, overpaid, inarticulate selfish cunt footballers.
Sir Mo Farah, Dame Laura Trott, Sir Jason Kenney now surely?
Afaik none of them from a money background.
All there on merit. No Stevie G favourites there. No permanent Rooney captain shit. Perform or you're out.
Two thumbs up.
GB just had utter success in the Olympics, dude must be in total fucking despair.
Be strong hun xx
Presenters - Inverdale has been an arse, getting pulled up by Murray and that.
Chapeau!
It's been cool to cheer on some Brits but tbh I'm just as happy watching the world's very best do their thing. It's nice to just enjoy watching something for the spectacle and in respect of their personal achievement and not be caught up in some partisan armchair warrior bullshit.
Most sport is ok in small doses, but it can be a magnet for tiresome cunts and I could quite happily live without it in that respect. I think it's fair to say most sports compare favourably to football, which is slowly disappearing further and further away from anything remotely 'real people'. The amount of money there is in the PL now is just obscene. In the same country where people are having to rely on foodbanks to eat.
I think GB's success in part is down to the funding that was pumped into British sport in the years leading up to 2012. Money makes a huge difference. Japan got silver in the men's 4x100 after having previously never had a finalist in the event. That's simply because they are pumping money into sport to improve their chances when they host in 4 years. It's tough to say whether we'll keep this momentum, now it will become expected that we do this well but I can't see how sport funding can be kept at a high level when everything else is being cut. The paralympians are getting shafted already, but nobody really cares about disabled people anyway.
I read a report that said each medal we've won cost £4 million in funding. Not sure if they're worth it tbh.
I've watched very little of the Olympics, but was discussing them with a friend and on the subject of "winning mentality", he said a highlight was the slow-mo of Kenny having a peep over his shoulder before cutting the Japanese rider off and causing a massive crash.
And dude was Korean, not Japanese.
Perhaps they all look the same?
British cyclists, I mean. :-)
And Team GB were incredible. Horse trotters aside, which is really really not a sport, I don't think the athletes backgrounds really played into it - we may have done well in "posh" sports like rowing and sailing but these people still beat the best in the world. In The World. So props to them.
I also have to say, despite a massive natural dislike for anyone with a hint of a silver spoon in their jaws,perhaps these people are actually better role models than the came-from-nothing million pound footballers?
Also, fuck the EU and their "EU" medal table. What are they even trying to prove there?
Well for a start, these people are very good at what they do. These people are, or are striving to be, the very best in the world. So, as far as football goes, we don't have many (any?) of those. And the Olympians do it all for relatively little reward compared to BIG sports.
Our footballers are widely understood to be completely mediocre by international standards, yet still make millions a year, demand to be served by white people, do time, assault Ulrika, kill while drunk-driving, put cigars out in people's eyes, assault the pubic, shag slag sisters-in-law, shag under-age slags and buy slag birds pink Benklees (sic) and still think they should be treated as gods.
So yeah, Olympians are deffo better role models. Shame there is not the money in it.
you planned it, by the way lol
I was a supporter in many of the aims hitherto, but now recognise that any design flaws will be tested, even for simple random walk reasons.
There will be sticking plasters and reworks, but the currency is a mess, The people movement is unsustainable and the uneven playing field is all areas will lead to conflict.
So far there is limited downside.
Lets play a longer game and see what's what in 6m, 1y, 3y, 5 and so on.
Potential downsides : Very little nutrition in a keyboard.
Pre-vote, if EU is great, and benefits of being in are better than out, why the Calais camps etc? And why those dudes not going to (random country alert) Portugal or Poland?
If EU is better, and we are headed out, why many dudes still trying to get through the tunnel?
Also, if you only know some of a second language and that language is English, where would be your first stop in Europe? Plus, if you're an illegal immigrant, freedom of movement, lack of visas etc isn't so much of a priority.
I entirely agree this is a waiting game now anyway - no-one really seems to know what the effects are going to be (pound on par with Euro vs. Pound =1.5€ etc.) and there is still no timeline on any actual action. AT the moment it's just newspaper fodder for handwringing on both sides of the media.
Summary
1. In-work benefits for the low paid are generous in the UK compared to other countries in the EU15 and may act as a much stronger pull factor towards Britain than to other member states. This paper finds that the UK is the fourth most generous country of the EU15[1] in its provision of benefits to low income workers after Denmark, Luxembourg and Ireland – with populations of 5.5 million, 500,000 and 4.5 million respectively. Furthermore, the UK is more generous than Finland and France and much more generous than Germany, Sweden the Netherlands and the rest of the EU14 in topping up low wages. When the costs of living are accounted for, low paid workers in the UK are the second richest in the EU15 after Luxembourg. Access to unemployment benefit, while paid at a lower rate than in many of the EU15 countries, is much easier to access in the UK where there are virtually no conditions of access, compared to more robust controls elsewhere.
http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefing-paper/284Imma break it down (2013 figures)
AUSTRIA
Health care Available immediately, but only if you pay “social insurance”
Child benefit Immediate payment of £89 per month
Unemployment benefit Only available to people who have paid social insurance
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
BELGIUM
Health care Available after a year
Child benefit £115 a month, available immediately
Unemployment benefit Have to have previously worked in Belgium
Housing benefit No national scheme; amounts vary regionally.
BULGARIA
Health care Free emergency care immediately; other treatments only available if you pay social insurance
Child benefit Targeted schemes restricted to Bulgarian citizens
Unemployment benefit Minimum of nine months of working in the country required to qualify
Housing benefit Immediate monthly allowance buzt only if you have a local authority home already
CYPRUS
Health care Free, available immediately
Child benefit Immediate yearly payment of £444
Unemployment benefit Six months of work in Cyprus required to qualify
Housing benefit Immediately available, limited to £506 a month
CZECH REPUBLIC
Health care Available immediately but cash charges apply
Child benefit £23 a month available immediately
Unemployment benefit 12-month minimum qualifying period
Housing benefit Available immediately
DENMARK
Health care Free, available immediately
Child benefit Up to £161 a month available after 12 months
Unemployment benefit Minimum of one year’s work required to qualify
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
ESTONIA
Health care Available immediately but cash payments required for some treatments
Child benefit £16 per month available immediately
Unemployment benefit £12.50 per week available immediately
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
FINLAND
Health care Public health service charging flat-rate fees. Available immediately
Child benefit £88 per month available immediately
Unemployment benefit Basic weekly unemployment allowance available after two months
Housing benefit Up to 80 per cent of housing costs available immediately but system varies regionally
FRANCE
Health care Only available with a card proving entitlement, issued to residents
Child benefit Immediate payment, but only for parents with more than one child
Unemployment benefit Four-month qualifying period
Housing benefit Immediate; scheme based on house size and local factors
GERMANY
Health care Only available with a health insurance card
Child benefit £155 per month available immediately
Unemployment benefit Immediate means-tested allowance for jobseekers who have made "intensive efforts" to find work
Housing benefit Full amount of housing costs available immediately
GREECE
Health care 100 days of work required to qualify
Child benefit No equivalent scheme
Unemployment benefit Minimum of six months of work required to qualify
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
HUNGARY
Health care Not immediately available
Child benefit £40.60 per month available immediately
Unemployment benefit Minimum qualifying period of 360 days
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
IRELAND
Health care Free after living in Ireland for three consecutive years, but free immediately to UK citizens
Child benefit £110 per month available immediately
Unemployment benefit £160 per week available immediately
Housing benefit Immediate rent supplement providing short-term support
ITALY
Health care Free, available immediately
Child benefit No equivalent scheme
Unemployment benefit Qualifying period of three months
Housing benefit No national scheme; varies according to region
LATVIA
Health care Public health service with fees for GP and hospital visits, available immediately
Child benefit Immediate monthly payment of £9.30
Unemployment benefit One-year qualifying period
Housing benefit Varies locally
LITHUANIA
Health care Three months qualifying period but “urgent care” free immediately
Child benefit Immediate monthly payment of £24
Unemployment benefit 18-month qualifying period
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
LUXEMBOURG
Health care Not available immediately, as insurance-based
Child benefit £157.10 per month available immediately
Unemployment benefit Minimum of six months of work required to qualify
Housing benefit Immediate rent allowance of up to £104.90
MALTA
Health care Free, available immediately
Child benefit Immediate payment; up to £81.55 a month
Unemployment benefit Immediate means-tested benefit of up to £16 per day
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
POLAND
Health care Free, available immediately
Child benefit Immediate payment of up to £54 per month
Unemployment benefit Qualifying period of one year
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
PORTUGAL
Health care Free, available immediately
Child benefit Monthly payment of up to £40
Unemployment benefit Qualifying period of 180 days
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
ROMANIA
Health care six-month qualifying period, except for emergencies
Child benefit monthly payment of up to £20
Unemployment benefit minimum qualifying period of 12 months
Housing benefit no equivalent scheme
SLOVAKIA
Health care immediately available; nominal cash payment for treatments
Child benefit immediate monthly payment of £19
Unemployment benefit minimum two-year qualifying period
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
SLOVENIA
Health care Available immediately but required to pay minimum of 10 per cent of some treatment costs
Child benefit Immediate payment of up to £97 per month
Unemployment benefit Minimum contribution of nine months
Housing benefit Only available if you already have social housing
SPAIN
Health care Only available with a card proving entitlement
Child benefit Immediate payment of up to £20 per month
Unemployment benefit Immediate payment available based on a variable proportion of average wages
Housing benefit No equivalent scheme
SWEDEN
Health care Available immediately; basic fees for care
Child benefit Immediate monthly payment of £101
Unemployment benefit Six-month qualifying period
Housing benefit Immediate monthly allowance of up to £125
HOLLAND
Health care only available with a certificate proving entitlement
Child benefit Immediate payment of £943 per year
Unemployment benefit Six-month qualifying period
Housing benefit Means tested, available immediately
UNITED KINGDOM
Health care Available immediately and free of charge under the National Health Service
Child benefit Paid immediately if the child is under 16, or 16 to 19 and in education or training, and the claimant has an individual income of less than £50,000. Amount is £20.30 a week for the eldest or only child, £13.40 per additional child
Unemployment benefit Immediate payment of £71.70 a week in Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) after proving you are actively seeking work. EU migrants have to pass the “right-to-reside” test to show they are “economically active”. The European Commission wants to abolish this test. There is also contribution-based additional JSA which is only available after working for at least two years.
Housing benefit Available immediately if you are on a low income, whether you are working or unemployed.
How much depends on individual circumstances, but amount cannot normally exceed £250 per week for a one-bedroom property, or up to £400 a week for four bedrooms or more
Sources: European Commission guides to social security and health care in member states, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Department for Work and Pensions.
I will admit it was and still is a horrible shock when I moved over here and found out that, despite earning a considerable amount more than in the UK (assuming Euro = Pound), I actually took home less a month than before due to the list of monthly deductions that almost ran to an entire page. Everything from sickness insurance to health insurance tax. I really miss the NHS, or what's left of it :(.
On the other hand, were I to procreate, I get considerably more money than in the UK on my paternity leave and my kid gets free education. Also, when I get sacked/redundacised, I will get 3/4 of my full pay for the first year of unemployment. Which is glorious.
I guess it all depends on where you are in the system but I will say, as "open" as it is over here, the lack of free healthcare for starters means it can never compare with the everyone welcome aspect of the UK, bless it.
So why the talk of low pay, benefits and so on?
Surely skilled peeps will be avoiding that shit?
Or is the real skill to work like a dog for a pittance?
That's possibly the reason Big Business leaders campaigned for Remain.
And lol at the English as second language idea.
Dudes obviously never met herds of low cost Eastern Euroman and them in real life.
There's also a difference between just importing needed skills and the idea of general collaboration from different backgrounds and new ideas.It will be interesting to see what happens to the science industry post-brexit considering the proportion of people in that area that come from outside the UK or are collaborating internationally.
Compared to many countries in the world the UK is a peaceful, inclusive, prosperous place to live. So when neo-colonialism and globalisation sells the world on it's capitalist dream, is it of any surprise that motivated young people in search of said dream, failing to find it in their home countries, decide to risk their lives in the hope of finding it in one of the places that's been selling that dream in order to further it's own interests. Or maybe they're just big fans of Doctor Who.
Partly I mean, once illegals are in Calais, why travel here? Particularly if EU is a better bet than UK?
i get that we have history in the immigrant acceptance game, and certainly bits of EU have bad reps for treatment of outsiders.
Perhaps it's a bet on long term odds.
And for EU migrants, why still want to come here if EU is so rosy compared to the UK future?
It's still way too early to draw conclusions from any of this, but I do think the hysteria from the Remain set, which was often rabid and frequently pitiful, has calmed down.
Not Romanian gypsy colonies, natch. The nice bits of EU with stuff we don't have here - sun, tampon-free beaches, bucolic vistas, Hapricaan beach hawkers.
Dem yards is now way beyond the horizon, financially.
Although I did see 20p on Decathlon floor this evening and instructed #2 son to put it in the charity tin.
@Karma - you watching son? cough:lottery:cough