Half want to quit ‘broken Britain’ for a move Down Under: One in two Brits believe they would have better quality of life off by swapping UK for Australia or New Zealand – as the Aussies launch bid to ‘steal’ 30,000 doctors, nurses, police and teachers
- One in two Britons believes life would be better in Australia or New Zealand
- Three in four people fear Britain is ‘broken’ and are pessimistic about UK politics
- READ MORE: Western Australia’s to lure UK doctors, nurses, police and teachers
People are so fed up with ‘broken Britain’ that nearly half of them want to emigrate to get a better life, new research claims today.
In a dismal ‘state of the nation’ report, nearly one in two Britons say they believe they would be better off swapping the UK for Australia or New Zealand.
And neither Rishi Sunak’s Tories or Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party seem to be inspiring them to stay.
The new report comes as Western Australia has launched an audacious bid to ‘steal’ 31,000 British doctors, police officers and teachers to work in the land Down Under.
In a dismal state of the nation report, nearly one in two Britons believed they would better off swapping the UK for Australia or New Zealand (Pictured – Lamberts Beach in Mackay, Australia)
In a dismal ‘state of the nation’ report, nearly one in two Britons say they believe they would better off swapping the UK for Australia or New Zealand. And neither Rishi Sunak’s (left) Tories or Sir Keir Starmer’s (right) Labour Party seem to be inspiring them to stay
The report comes as Western Australia has launched an audacious bid to ‘steal’ 31,000 British doctors, police officers and teachers to work in the land Down Under
The damning verdict is revealed in new polling by Right-of-centre think tank the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
It says that three in four people fear Britain is ‘broken’ while more than half cannot name a single Tory or Labour policy to tackle poverty.
Pessimism about the state of modern society was voiced by many, along with a collapse in confidence in the mainstream political parties to turn things round.
Asked whether they could have a better quality of life and earn more in Australia than the UK, 45 per cent of people agreed with only 14 per cent disagreeing.
And 44 per cent said that was true of New Zealand.
But also popular as potential boltholes were Denmark (39 per cent), Germany (34 per cent), Spain (29 per cent) and France (26 per cent), with more people in each case agreeing than disagreeing that they would have a better quality of life by going there.
The worrying new findings, by pollsters J.L. Partners, come nearly 20 years after the CSJ’s ‘Breakdown’ and ‘Breakthrough Britain’ reports which were credited with a huge shake-up of the welfare system and the introduction of Universal Credit.
The think tank, founded by former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, has set up a cross-party Social Justice Commission to carry out research and make recommendations to improve the nation’s quality of life.
But the research published today suggests little confidence in either the Tories or Labour to make a difference.
Mr Sunak and former PM Boris Johnson are both seen as badly out of touch with many ordinary people, with around four in five (84 per cent) saying that the two politicians have little idea of what it is like to live in poverty today.
The new campaign focuses on the lifestyle appeal, promising that hard-working Britons can ‘have it all’
The new campaign boast the energy bills – up to £2,600 this year in the UK – will cost almost half in Australia, with the savings spent on booze and dining out (Pictured – Couple drinking at Henry Deane’s rooftop cocktail lounge, Hotel Palisade, Millers Point, Australia)
The campaign Australia’s ‘wine regions’, ‘coral reefs’ and ‘culinary scene’ (Pictured – Customers at Suffolk Bakery in Byron Bay, Australia)
Of the minority of people who could name a relevant Tory policy, most people focused on the Government’s energy support package.
When asked about the Tories’ general approach to tackling poverty, people said it was either non-existent or in some way ‘bad’, with the most popular choices including ‘poor’, ‘non-existent” or ‘useless’.
Sir Keir fared better than his Tory rivals on knowing what living in poverty was like but still fully 66 per cent said the Labour leader had little idea.
The most commonly cited Labour policy was raising taxes.
And although the reaction was positive about the party’s approach to combatting poverty, most responses were still negative – with the most popular one-word summaries including ‘poor’, ‘rubbish’, ‘benefits’ and ‘unrealistic’.
The CSJ argues that reducing the strain on crumbling public services, including the NHS, and enabling economic growth cannot be tackled through higher spending on welfare benefits alone but needs a more strategic approach to tackling poverty.
Former Bank of England governor Lord King, a member of the Social Justice Commission, said: ‘The bill for welfare and health will continue to rise unless we tackle those root causes head on.’
Sir Iain said: ‘It is clear Britain needs a reboot.
‘My hope is that the Social Justice Commission will get our country moving again.’
Police and defence industry minister Paul Papalia (pictured with Rafael Nadal, left, in 2020) highlighted Western Australia’s ‘wine regions’, ‘coral reefs’ and ‘culinary scene’
Australia has a long history of immigrants from Europe, as well as the post-war scheme dubbed the Ten Pound Poms where Brits moved to the other side of the world, including these women who were members of staff of an electrical firm in Glasgow who have sent them out there to start a new life in the firms counterpart factory near Adelaide in 1947
The NHS is battling shortfalls of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives amid crippling strikes. Pictured: A nurse holds a placard as members of Royal College of Nursing picket outside St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster on February 6
‘It’s not all it’s cracked up to be’- Modern-day ‘Ten Pound Poms’ reveal why they turned their backs on new life in Australia: CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Mangala Holland, a sex coach from Glastonbury, moved to Melbourne in 2015 but decided to return after five years
The report comes as a delegation of Australian government and industry officials will visit the UK later this month to lure workers away to fill more than 31,000 vacancies.
They are also on the hunt for miners, plumbers, mechanics and builders.
Arriving on February 25, the delegation will hold events and attend job fairs in London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Dublin in an attempt to sell the Australian lifestyle to UK and Irish workers.
The new campaign focuses on the lifestyle appeal, promising that hard-working Britons can ‘have it all’ and boast the UK’s energy bills – up to £2,600 this year – will cost almost half in Australia, with the savings spent on 183 pints of beer, 110 roast dinners or 500 jars of Marmite.
It even boasted that the UK-Australia trade agreement that comes into force this year will make workers moving even easier.
Police and defence industry minister Paul Papalia also highlighted Western Australia’s ‘wine regions’, ‘coral reefs’ and ‘culinary scene’.
He said: ‘Our wages are higher and our cost of living is lower. Our health system is world class. You will be taken care of.
‘Many of our ancestors were sent from the UK to Australia as convicts. Now, it would be a crime not to make the move.’
The Police Federation warned that as many as nine police officers a day are already submitting requests to transfer to a police force on the other side of the world.
Meanwhile, the chair of the education select committee, Robin Walker MP, said the plan demonstrates we’re in ‘competition’ with the global market.
It comes as the British public sector faces severe staff shortages and crippling strikes.
The NHS is battling shortfalls of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives.
The British Medical Association revealed before Christmas that a third of junior doctors are planning to leave the UK – with the majority choosing Australia or New Zealand.
Source: Read Full Article
