Another week, another story of the callousness of the British state; the already failing e-Visa system seems to be corrupting & dismissing people's right to stay in the UK, has this week halted a mother's return to be with her child, while stranding her in Germany with another.
As so often the Home Office is quick to make mistakes but slow to rectify them with (seemingly) no regard to the human costs.
The state's runs rough shod over normal people (again).
#politics
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/17/woman-dusseldorf-uk-home-office-return-flight-blocked
@ChrisMayLA6 Is it possible to live somewhere in the UK without being monitored 24/7 by CCTV cameras?
It seems to me that the mismanagement of the country might have dropped house prices outside the main areas, and the fact that it is so close to mainland europe makes it quite an attractice place to live, especially if the taxes can be kept low and surveillance to a minimum.
In all my naivete, I imagine parts of the UK as the opening scene in lord of the rings.
I should also say, that while there are myriad problems in the UK, the collapse has not been of Low proportions
@ChrisMayLA6 I spoke with my neighbour in spain who runs real estate investments in the UK in the 100-1000 million GBP range, and his opinion is that around London, there will never be a sharp drop. Too little space and too many people.
@samueljohnson @ChrisMayLA6 This sounds very plausible. I think some is loot and some is legit. Difficult to separate out which is which. But I'm convinced that in one form or another, we'll have a little bit of Venezuela money, russian money, iranian money, and all of the other gulf states in one way or another, represented there.
@h4890 @ChrisMayLA6 It's much much worse than that. The money comes from everywhere, not just petro states. I have plenty of first hand knowledge as a chair of a residents' association networked w many others. In my former block in London there were flats owned by Greeks with money hidden from the taxman, among others, and currently one flat is incurring massive service charge debt because Indian "owner" (via Cayman Island Co) is in jail for fraud. Guess who pays? Taxpaying Londoners.
@samueljohnson @ChrisMayLA6 It is not good. In spain, I've experienced the same situation. Someone refuses (or cannot) pay, and the rest of the community gets stuck with the build and there is nothing that can be done unless you want to engage in a long, multi-year legal process.
It seems that the only place I know where this does not happen on a regular basis is two communities I'm involved in in Stockholm. Everyone knows everyone, and I think only physical owners are allowed in the
@samueljohnson @ChrisMayLA6 community. Legal owners are not allowed to buy apartments.
@h4890 @ChrisMayLA6 There will be a very sharp drop if there's ever a government committed to ending the use of London property to stash money looted from other countries. Read Oliver Bullough's books.
70% of premium developments in London are owned offshore by non-resident "investors". 11% of property in Westminster is owned by companies in British Virgin Islands & similar, many with nominee directors to conceal beneficial ownership. Property owners in the legislature like it.