Who is paying for them?

Are those being rescued charged or is this tax payer funded?

In my opinion if you take a job in these states you know the risks thats why you get big $ + most wont pay UK income tax if they are outside the uk fo r6 months? Am I right?

If they are paying themselves thats fine and grump over.

part of being a British citizen is getting protection.

I think it’s no more than 90 days in uk to avoid tax btw.

I kind of agree with you carbon. I heard people complaining about the govt not doing enough/anything to help the people “stranded” in Libya, but no-one seemed to think the multi-billion dollar oil companies should be the ones helping them. I’m pretty sure however, the plane that landed back today was chartered by BP, not the UK govt.

I’m not saying they should be abandoned, absolutely not, but I honestly can’t believe that anyone could be in Libya or any other volatile place without being aware of the possible risks they face. I also imagine the rewards for being there are commensurate with that risk. Good luck to them all though, I hope they get back safe and sound.

Bit harsh on those working for the foreign office, british council, humanitarian organisations etc.

However i do sort of agree regards some of those out there working in other fields though – Personally i could never voluntarily move to go work in (and in turn serve the interests of )a repressive dictatorship that has a long history of human rights abuses in order to make a bit extra cash. It is not so much the risk that is not worth the money, i just could not live with the ethics of it.

mostly oil workers who have sold a little bit of their soul to go and work in a country like libya anyway imho

mostly oil workers who have sold a little bit of their soul to go and work in a country like libya anyway imho

Do you check where your petrol originated from before you sell your soul and fill up your car at the petrol station…

One of my friends is currently sat on a rig off the Libyan coast, we’ve heard nothing from him for the last few days. Don’t really care how he gets home or who pays for it, just as long as he gets home safe.

yeah my petrol comes exclusively from sustainable north sea reserves 😉

these people are well aware of the facts before they decide to work in countries such as this for a considerable salary bump

and fwiw teh government werent able to organise the pi$$ up in a brewery rescue flight out so the oil companies chartered the planes themselves

I had a chance to work in Afghanistan as a contractor to an IT company – I rejected it as it wasnt worth the risks to my saftey, money was massive but there is more to life than that imo.

However if i had taken it I would have expected to fund my own return if it had become more dangerous.

Oil company putting on their own flights for their staff thats fair enough but the other ones that are going today are government chartered ones picking up other uk citizens – get them out yes but then get them invoiced afterwards.

On the not paying tax thing – a friend works on ships and he openly doesnt pay tax yet comes home for treatment from the NHS etc when he needs it. He claims though that driving a Range Rover he pays enough by the ammount of fuel he uses when he is home.

the flights that were sent to Tunisia to bring folk back when it all kicked off over there cost each person on the plane £360 for a one way ticket back to the UK

that was the charter flights, dont know how it works when they send the RAF in e.g the c130 that currently on its way

On the not paying tax thing – a friend works on ships and he openly doesnt pay tax yet comes home for treatment from the NHS etc when he needs it. He claims though that driving a Range Rover he pays enough by the ammount of fuel he uses when he is home.

The not paying tax while working on ships- thats a fairly exclusive thing to people who work mostly out of the UK on various large vessels- Its called seafarers earnings deduction- which was brought in by the UK gov. to make working on such vessels more attractive, as at the time (after the falklands war if I recall) there wasn’t that many UK nationals working in that role, so britans merchant marine fleet was a tad undermanned.

They should pay. Its not like they will be out there on holiday and even if they were wtf?

As expected, the Daily Mash summarising things perfectly

Mash

I was considering putting my name forward for doing a months site supervision work at Bengazii airport as my company has a project there. Might stick with the Newbury office for now!

Who is paying for them?

Are those being rescued charged or is this tax payer funded?

In my opinion if you take a job in these states you know the risks thats why you get big $ + most wont pay UK income tax if they are outside the uk fo r6 months? Am I right?

If they are paying themselves thats fine and grump over.

Are you serious? I’m just struggling to comprehend waht sort of person you really are thinking like that. What would you do? Leave your countrymen to die if they didn’t have credit on their Visa card?

It’s very rare I dish insults out, but you’re a bloody idiot.

So if you fall off your bike a need an ambulance, should you pay for it as you knew the risks? Of course not. People need help. Reading the news today looks like utter chaos, one Brit got out on the Polish presidential jet, the British flight took any EU citizens it could. The BP flight had non BP people on it It is an emergency and people should be helped

If the paperwork comes though okay I’m off in the next ten days or so to work for a civilian company in Afghanistan. I won’t pay income tax if I stay out there for the full year (that’s with 90 days leave back in the UK) but I will still pay NI. My employer tells me they have a legal duty of care to get me back to the UK if anything happens, even if I get sacked for gross miss-conduct I will get a free flight back home.

£360 to get back. I wouldn’t be able to afford that I would take my chances or start walking!

l_ache – i think if you work in these places it would be wise to save up a small buffer of dollars stashed in a sock or something.

They were sayin the other day on the news that cash machines wernt working and neither were card machines so nobody could get cash.

one Brit got out on the Polish presidential jet

…out of the frying pan…

It depends on whether you take the view that evacuation flights should be covered by general taxation (personal or corporation) like the NHS is, or whether it should be an additional benefit to be paid for, either with a private travel insurance policy or paying the full cost after the event.

I’m with PeterPoddy, they’re humans, and they’re our fellow citizens, it should be a no-brainer, go get them. It’s an easy win for any political party. Get them; bask in reflected glory of protecting Brits abroad…Don’t get them; run the risk of headlines that say “The Govt Allows Citizens To Die At The Hands of Gadaffi’s Henchmen.”

Or give them a housing loan and get them to pay back with interest. Everyone is happy.

Are you serious? I’m just struggling to comprehend waht sort of person you really are thinking like that. What would you do? Leave your countrymen to die if they didn’t have credit on their Visa card?

It’s very rare I dish insults out, but you’re a bloody idiot.

It’s rare that I agree with PP. Money before people.

wonder how much the dog is paying?

Is it just me, or does William Hague come across as a complacent, patronising knerbhed who’s about as much use in a crisis as a wet fart in a firestrom?

peterpoddy ended this for me well said sir.
i love the way people think that as you work in the desert you must be motivated by tax evasion.
sorry folks but you need to have a word with yourself.
i know a few lads on siesmic crews and the like, the only thing that motivates them is that you can earn a load of money in one big lump and then do something with your life for a few months.
i dunno though i suppose if your on the fiddle yourself you probably think everone is. 🙄

Do you check where your petrol originated from before you sell your soul and fill up your car at the petrol station…

Yup. Only British Petroleum or Tesco diesel for me.

Yup. Only British Petroleum or Tesco diesel for me.

You do realise that supermarket petrol stations get supplied by different places and these terminals can get fuel local or shipped in from anywhere.

Leave your countrymen to die if they didn’t have credit on their Visa card?

Mixed feelings they went there for the money [ are the paying tax here?] and they were aware of the risks. Yes we should assit but they should pay. Hardly an unfortunate set of circumstances that they could not avoid etc. They freely went their- to a non democratic dictatorship ruled over by an unstable nutter with soul glo hair and bad military outfits and then stayed whislt the countries either side fell in revolutions.
FWIW I have been to Libya I was aware of the risks when I went.
I have also needed FO assistance and it is poor.
I like the way the right wingers who preach self reliance etc get all state interventionist in situations like this.

You do realise that supermarket petrol stations get supplied by different places and these terminals can get fuel local or shipped in from anywhere.

Noooooooooo – tell me this isn’t true! 🙄

Listening to the British people who have got back, it sounds their main complaints (in fact not many of them were complaining, it’s just the meeja) were that they had to pay for their tickets and the airport smelled of poo.