Lord Pearson of Rannoch is the Leader of UKIP and a working member of the House of Lords. This site will follow his various activities
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
World at One
For those who missed Election Call on the World at One today, with listeners putting their questions to Lord Pearson, the programme can be heard for a week.
Re the Pearson discussion with the irate Briton resident in France. Like most British expats living in France, he lives in a state of woeful ignorance of the country he lives in. He obviously does not understand that though he gets treatment from the French healthcare system, it is paid for by him (through minimum direct payments for each treatment and prescription, and complementary private assurance) and the UK government which gets billed by the French government for its costs. In fact, we probably subsidise the system. Nor does he understand the important role that UK expats have on the economy in rural areas (where most of us live – yes, I am an expat too). The French may have different tastes from the British but they are not fools. France first is their motto, and they will do nothing to jeopardise the flow of British money to these areas. We help to maintain employment and services in these areas. Some communities would not even exist without British money.
The irate ( and fairly stupid) expat is unfortunately not going to be deported should the UK leave the EU, though I wish people like him would be! No, like the Swiss, the Yanks, and other nationalities who live over here, we will always be given residence if we are regarded as net contributors to the French economy.
The UKIP is not right wing, neither is it extremist. It has a full range of policies and a brief glance at its web site is all that's needed to convince that it represents the views of the silent majority in Britain. In my book it is the centre party. It also represents the views of that largely ignored and trampled on ethnic minority group "White Anglo-Saxons". The other main political parties are completely out of touch with the mood of the country and I see a potentially dangerous situation ahead as an increasingly disenfrachised electorate drifts to the political extremes out of frustration. The UKIP offers a vision of Great Britain which appeals to me and as such they will get my vote at the next election.
Re the Pearson discussion with the irate Briton resident in France. Like most British expats living in France, he lives in a state of woeful ignorance of the country he lives in. He obviously does not understand that though he gets treatment from the French healthcare system, it is paid for by him (through minimum direct payments for each treatment and prescription, and complementary private assurance) and the UK government which gets billed by the French government for its costs. In fact, we probably subsidise the system. Nor does he understand the important role that UK expats have on the economy in rural areas (where most of us live – yes, I am an expat too). The French may have different tastes from the British but they are not fools. France first is their motto, and they will do nothing to jeopardise the flow of British money to these areas. We help to maintain employment and services in these areas. Some communities would not even exist without British money.
ReplyDeleteThe irate ( and fairly stupid) expat is unfortunately not going to be deported should the UK leave the EU, though I wish people like him would be! No, like the Swiss, the Yanks, and other nationalities who live over here, we will always be given residence if we are regarded as net contributors to the French economy.
The UKIP is not right wing, neither is it extremist. It has a full range of policies and a brief glance at its web site is all that's needed to convince that it represents the views of the silent majority in Britain. In my book it is the centre party. It also represents the views of that largely ignored and trampled on ethnic minority group "White Anglo-Saxons". The other main political parties are completely out of touch with the mood of the country and I see a potentially dangerous situation ahead as an increasingly disenfrachised electorate drifts to the political extremes out of frustration. The UKIP offers a vision of Great Britain which appeals to me and as such they will get my vote at the next election.
ReplyDeleteI got the distinct impression that the irate caller was a plant. Possibly a Tory or Labour.
ReplyDelete