“This is now my home, definitely for the next year,” she says, reeling off a comprehensive list of UK grievances: “s*** pay”; high taxes without seeing where that money is going; expensive tuition fees and student loan interest payments; NHS waiting list times; lack of mental health provision; lack of pension provision; lack of career opportunities; lack of affordable housing or job satisfaction; a decade-long waiting list for her disabled adult sister to have access to supported accommodation so that she can live independently.
“From the weather, to government decisions, to the cost of living and even simple things like going to a supermarket and communicating with the staff, it feels like nobody is happy, nobody wants to be there.” He adds that he doesn’t blame people for this – “It’s like a knock-on effect, everything starts at the top and unfortunately it has worked its way down and the people at the bottom are the ones who are suffering the most.”.
This is why the UK is losing talented young people to life abroad Our best and brightest seem to be engaged in a mass exodus from Britain, setting up their lives and careers overseas.
“I did a startup accelerator in the US for two or three months – I think the attitude towards people who have big ambitions or big hopes in the UK is quite different to America and other cultures.
In Amjad’s opinion, the UK puts a cap on ambition; young people who want to succeed are encouraged, but only up to a point.
