Rotten Rajoy, Eager To Grab At British Gibraltar?

“We are going to ask that all decisions affecting Gibraltar be made bilaterally between the United Kingdom and Spain.”

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Rajoy

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That’s rotten Rajoy, a man who thus wants to pose as an expansionist, some kind of super-patriot, by loudly coveting somebody’s else’s country, while refusing to let his border guards in Ceuta defend themselves against savage crimmigrants.

The strategy this Spanish git seems to be looking at is to use the Brexit talks to advance its imperialist agenda. Maybe using the UK expats living in Spain as bargaining chips.

But there’s nothing to bargain about!

British sovereignty over The Rock is not only cast-iron legal but also under-pinned by overwhelming democratic mandates in repeated referenda.

Madrid has recently offered dual citizenship to Gibraltarians in exchange for joint sovereignty of the territory, which offers strategic control of access to the Mediterranean.

“I think that our proposal of shared sovereignty is quite reasonable,” Rajoy said…

In what possible way is it reasonable?

Madrid has no more legitimacy in its arguments than the Argies have in their bombastic hogwash about imposing their will on the Brits on the Falklands!

What we have to watch out for is the Enemy Within types in London…

—

Bliar with Blood-Beast Adams

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….like Tony Bliar, who was exposed a few years ago as having entertained a Gibraltar sell-out scheme…

Cool Britannia’s Gibraltar Sell-Out? Tell the Truth, B.Liar! 

…and who’s now attempting to re-launch his clapped-out career by leading a Remainiac strike against British democracy.

Expat Money Troubles – Who’s To Be Trusted?

An English friend here in Jakarta had a terrible time getting his work pension payments transferred here from The Old Country last year.

Eventually, when he was very ill, and his Indonesian wife was on the phone with the well-known international bank concerned, he shouted loudly –

‘If I just die, will that solve the problem?’

• 

  ‘How am I going to check my email now..?’

  0000

• Happily, he didn’t die, but one gets the impression from some financial institutions that we overseas customers are truly seen as a mere inconvenience.

Fidelity FundsNetwork on FCA complaints list

October 2016

 Fidelity FundsNetwork has been named alongside banking giants Barclays, HSBC and Santander in receiving the most investment-related complaints in the first half of the year.

http://www.portfolio-adviser.com/news/1031892/fidelity-fundsnetwork-fca-complaints-list

• 

High finance looks down on us mortals?

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And even back in Blighty, the snooty lords of high finance are often fairly cavalier in their dealings with small investors.  

I myself have had a few run-ins with people in The City who ought to know better than needlessly antagonise a cantankerous retiree of Ulster-Scots descent.

Sometimes I have won – amazingly, by the simple method of pointing out common-sense solutions which they appear to be incapable of noticing themselves – but if you can’t get it sorted, there’s always the good old advice –

‘Write to your MP!’

Oh-oh!

Thanks to Cameron’s failure to honour the Tory pledge to give expat Brits their votes back, anyone resident abroad for more than 15 years doesn’t have an MP!

Still subject to Inland revenue, of course – none of that nonsense about ‘no taxation without representation!’

0000000000000

• 

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Will Theresa May prove more honourable than her predecessor?

Wouldn’t be hard!

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However, there’s another option.

Here’s the details of the UK Financial Services Ombudsman, the body mentioned in the article above.

How to complain – Financial Ombudsman Service

They can’t solve everything, but it’s worth a try.

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And Canadians in such plights have an equivalent. 

OBSI – Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments | OBSI

If expats from countries other than the UK and Canada have similar info for their fellow-citizens, please feel free to send them in as comments.

One More Camoron Double-Cross – No Right to Vote for UK Expats!

So a court has ruled that Brits who have lived overseas for more than 15 years have NO right to take part in what must be the most important decision likely to be made in their lifetime.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

• 
• ============

• Yet citizens of a foreign country who have resided in the UK for maybe a couple of years, who owe NO allegiance to HM The Queen, and whose government is actively encouraging the Europhiliac side in the June 23rd referendum – Fear in the air as Irish firms worry about Brexit – have the right to cast a ballot? 

What manner of British justice is this?  

These exiled Brits against whom Camoron discriminates include maybe a million or more who have retired, after long years of hard work, home and away, and others still working abroad but who, in many, probably most cases, remain fiercely loyal to their country.

The lying swine made another of his infamous ‘cast-iron’ pledges not long ago to restore their enfranchisement, which Labour stripped from them – but now he tells them –

000000000000000000000000

• ‘Aaah, yes, but not just yet, wait till we have the UK safely subjugated to Brussels, then we’ll see…’

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Would the expat vote have helped or hindered the fight for freedom?

Who knows?

A lot of those featured in the media have been the selfish sort, more concerned about the risk of extra Euro-bureaucratic form-filling than about their country’s sovereignty. UK Expats Are NOT All Europhiliac – And ‘Abroad’ Reaches Further Than Brussels. 

And there are plenty on the Brussels pay-roll, over-paid flunkeys with snouts deeply embedded in the Eurocrats’ NGO gravy-train.

But that does not justify what’s happened.

There’s to be an appeal to more judges, who, I fear, will be no more sympathetic to democratic principles.

To those patriots now disenfranchised, I can only urge participation to whatever extent is available. A donation to the Leave EU campaigners would be a small but proper step to take,

Dear Supporter, Here at Leave.EU, we’re certainly excited. After a turbulent week and a bit, during which No. 10 threw the kitchen sink at us in the form of a dodgy Treasury document, an undisguised threat from President Obama, and yet another dubious economic forecast, this time from the OECD, we emerged victorious: a lead in the polls. On Wednesday, Leave.EU Founders, Arron Banks and Richard Tice made a brilliant case for Brexit, defending the interest of their, and YOUR nation in front of the Treasury Select Committee in Parliament. Richard Tice made the often neglected point that you don’t need a free trade deal to trade, just look at America, Britain’s biggest export partner. Arron Banks, meanwhile was laboured with having to point out the difference between ‘the deficit’ and ‘the national debt’ to the Committee’s members, his lessons in economics didn’t end there. Click here to see them in action. Time for a shake-up to the establishment? We think so. A monumental win for the ‘Leave’ side would be a great start, paving the way for a better future for Britain in the process. Let’s get everyone we can behind the referendum on the 23rd June, and make those votes count. We have new leaflets for distribution offering the necessary facts and the arguments. With only 55 days left to make a difference, every day of campaigning counts. We need leafleters for busy town centres, volunteers to knock on doors and put on street stalls, as well as organising our local events and supporting our national activities. With more than 400 task forces set up around the country it couldn’t be easier to get involved. Contact groupsupport@leave.eu to find out where your nearest group is so you can get involved. Leave.EU have a big calendar of events coming up. Show your support by coming along and promoting our events to all your friends, family and colleagues. We know you like to hit the streets daily, and we encourage that, in addition we have organised national events such as our; Leave.EU Fight for Independence Day: Saturday 14th May We need all our supporters to grab their Leave.EU t-shirts, round up friends, family members and colleagues and hit the streets with our “Know the Facts” leaflet. We need your help to distribute a million leaflets in one day!Freedom Run: Sunday 12th June Join a host of famous faces on Sunday 12th June at Wolverhampton Race Course for our Freedom Run. Run 5km, walk 1km or come along and support people participating. You can also organise your own freedom run or walk in your area – post your photos on Twitter, tag us @LeaveEUofficial and join in the fun. Our aim is to have supporters up and down the country running for freedom. Let’s tell the EU to jog on!The Great British Street Party: Weekend of the 18th, 19th June. To attract the young families and young people in general we want to make politics fun, and how better, than through a Leave.EU Great British Street Party: an occasion to inform people of the facts on why we are better off our of the EU, and have a lot of fun at the same time. Street party packs will be available to order very soon. For more information on how you can lend your support, promote and take part in any of these events, please write to: groupsupport@leave.eu

 

Brexit and Expats – Court V Cur Cameron?

I see there’s a challenge in the High Court in London this week to one of Cameron’s many broken pledges, the (non)-restoration of voting rights to several million Brits.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/12194820/Ensuring-expats-vote-in-the-EU-referendum-could-guarantee-Brexit.html

Posh Boy actually promised that the iniquitous ban on Brits who’ve lived abroad for 15 years or more, currently disenfranchised, would have that right if his party won the last election.

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• 
• ———–

• But suddenly it’s not convenient to keep his word in time for them to have their say in the Brexit referendum in June.

So we have the bizarre spectacle of hundreds of thousands of foreigners, Eire citizens…

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day, sir, but don’t vote in other people’s referenda!

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…wielding votes on an historic BRITISH decision – and no doubt paying heed to their own country’s hostility to the campaign to Get Britain Out Fear in the air as Irish firms worry about Brexit – while many more potential voters, loyal subjects of Her Majesty, are told to get lost.

I don’t know if the Telegraph article linked above is correct in its assumption that the cause of deliverance from Brussels would benefit from the promise Cameron made and has so blithely broken. Some of the complainants seem to be motivated purely by individual economic circumstances, concerned that their sunny stays in Italy or France might be disrupted by Brexit.

That kind of selfish perspective is regrettable – the recovery of a nation’s freedom ought to rank higher than any personal advantage or disadvantage.

But nevertheless, there is a wrong to be righted.

I frankly doubt the court will rule against Cur Cameron. It’s a matter of legislation and needs to be fought at Westminster.

But there is still time.

After JIS, More Reasons For Expats To Beware- ‘Always Carry Passports!’

Only yesterday, with that JIS shocker…   https://rossrightangle.wordpress.com/2016/02/26/jis-shock-will-canada-match-tough-talk-with-action/  …the expat community in Jakarta was abuzz with concerns about what goes on here.

If one falls foul of the law, one can find oneself in a precarious situation – to say the least.

• 

• So here’s another bone to chew on. 

Expats in Indonesia will maybe remember our previous post on their document concerns…

Iya, Cinta Indonesia…Tapi Jangan Pakai Fotokopi2! 

…about eight months ago, although I myself had forgotten all about it.

It arose from reading an article in Indonesia Expat magazine, and it was only when I came across the latest issue of said mag, last weekend, that the concerns expressed then re-entered my mind.

I should take this opportunity again to praise that vastly improved publication. They had an outstandingly beautiful girl on the front cover just before Christmas…

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…apparently her name’s Zahara – but the content too is usually well worth perusal!

Anyway, what sparked interest then was  a story of an Imigrasi raid on Jalan Jaksa, when some ill-starred expat showed a photocopy of his documents and that was deemed insufficient.  http://indonesiaexpat.biz/featured/the-immigration-inquisition/

Only the real thing would do!

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—

Prior to that, most of us carried photocopies, for the good reason that if your actual passport is lost or stolen, or even, bizarrely, gets wet in the rainy season, you can find yourself steeped in worry, expense or even worse.

Being a cautious fellow, I’ve been asking about and now I am given to understand that at least one major Western Government has recently altered its guidelines. 

Non-Indonesian nationals must be able to show and submit their valid travel document (e.g. passport) or stay permit (e.g. KITAS / KITAP) that they hold at any time when required to do so by an active Immigration Officer in the interests of Immigration control.

And if the UK is advising its nationals so to behave, it’s reasonable to assume other countries’ citizens face similar hazards as they go about their lawful business, or leisure!

Indonesia, of course, is perfectly within its rights to enforce this stern requirement. And we strangers in a foreign land are obliged to acquiesce.

But, especially in the rainy season, do wrap the document in waterproof plastic.

Iya, Cinta Indonesia…Tapi Jangan Pakai Fotokopi2!

 

 gado2

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I was going to confine myself today to a mellow tale of the rather beautiful tukang gado2 spotted near Grogol during one of my food forays last week, a dishy lady from whom I bought two take-away portions of that spicy dish and whose small stall I shall certainly revisit, and not only because the food was good.

But instead, let me draw your attention to a disturbing story read yesterday afternoon as I sat in Ya Udah (yes, again – I do like that place!)

While a beer in the nearby Jalan Jaksa may well be cheaper, at least in Ya Udah it seems there’s less risk of being roughed up by government raiders!

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WHAT?

I’m referring to the quite long but highly readable account in Indonesia Expat magazine (copies of which were on the mag rack of said watering-hole) about a raid by President Jokowi’s Imigrasi ‘officers’ on the bars and cafes of Jalan Jaksa which, in terms of behaviour described, is rivetting enough.

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•  Jalan Jaksa
• ====================

• But what’s worse is the fact that it appears that no longer are we foreigners safe-guarded from such raiders by carrying photocopies of our documents with us wherever we go.
• Up till now, most of us have always carried copies, because the real papers are valuable and expensive documents, not easy to replace if they are stolen by one of Jakarta’s numerous pick-pockets, or lost, or damaged, for example if you’re caught outdoors in the rainy season. 
• ===================

•   rainy season in Jakarta
• ===========

• My personal interest needs to be declared at this point, because for two months I had only photocopies to carry – the dynamic bureaucrats at Immigration took that long to process, insert the required renewal stamp and return my passport.

To be fair to them, the problem was exacerbated by my embassy’s refusal to return my expired passport (which had all my immigration stamps) on the ludicrous grounds that it was ‘damaged.’

It wasn’t.

A few rain-stains, but perfectly legible throughout. Their rationale – that my old ‘damaged’ passport could be stolen and misused, makes NO sense at all, because had it NOT suffered the rain-stains, it would have been returned with the new one, and an expired passport in 100% good condition is surely much more useful to bad guys who get hold of it than one which is ‘damaged.’

–

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The embassy does provide a formal letter ‘to whom it may concern’ verifying that all is in order, but clearly that two months of processing (usually nearer two weeks!) suggests the letter was of scant interest as far as Indonesian Immigration is concerned!

But that’s BTW – there I was, gallivanting round Jakarta, photocopies only, so fortunate indeed that no bureaucrat raiding party netted me in that time.

Not so lucky a mixed bag of foreigners, whose fate Kenneth Yeung relates in his well-written and most disturbing article, which I recommend you take the time to read. Here’s a brief extract, with his conclusions…

So we must always carry either a passport, KITAS, KITAP or KTP-Asing (residency card for foreigners). Should these be originals or photocopies? The law does not explicitly say so, but given the recent raids, photocopies and scans are not enough.

In which case, it’s high time for countries such as the UK to update their travel advice for Indonesia. The UK Government advises: “Carry a photocopy of the relevant pages of your passport and copy of your arrival card for identification purposes and keep the original documents in a safe place.”

…and here’s the link so you can read it all over your Sunday brunch.  http://indonesiaexpat.biz/featured/the-immigration-inquisition/

I might add that. a few years ago, an official at another big embassy here, when phoned to ask for help with an Imigrasi problem, stated very clearly that ‘we don’t get involved with immigration.’ 

And here’s me thinking their job was to help their citizens.

If all Kenneth Yeung says is true, and I’ve no reason to doubt him, it indicates an ‘attitude’ on the part of some zealous ‘officials’ here, not – which would be perfectly understandable – against illegals, but against any foreigner whose documents are kept in a safe place and who therefore goes out and about with copies.

Mr. Yeung does add that much comes down to a foreigner’s attitude.

Always be polite, friendly and cooperative. Establish a respectful rapport with Indonesian officials and you’ll find there’s less risk of being treated like a criminal…most Indonesian officials are friendly at heart, provided we don’t antagonize them..

And that’s all good advice, which I learned long ago while still new in Jakarta.

Grasp the truth, that you are a guest in someone else’s country.

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• 
• ……………………….

• But if you’ve been enjoying a few beers with friends, secure in the knowledge that you have followed your embassy’s advice, clear copies of legitimate documentation in your pocket, and then suddenly you’re grabbed and hauled off to a cell, respectful rapport is not always that simple to summon up!