]Thank you Tony Blair]

Mon Aug 26, 9:29 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - More than half of Britons would like to emigrate from their homeland, fed up with the price of living and terrible weather, and would prefer to live in the United States or Spain, a survey published Monday said.

Fifty-four percent of Britons surveyed by pollsters YouGov for the Daily Telegraph newspaper said they would like to settle abroad if they were free to do so.

Similar polls found just 42 percent wanted to emigrate in 1948 shortly after World War II, and only 40 percent in 1975.

Of those wanting to leave Britain behind, the United States was the most popular destination followed by Australia.

However, if language wasn't a barrier -- Britons are the worst linguists in Europe according to an EU poll -- then Spain would be their preferred country of residence followed by France, with the U.S. pushed back into third place.

The survey found that being able live more cheaply and the chance of new opportunities were cited as the main reasons for moving abroad. Unsurprisingly the notoriously wet and shifty British climate was the next most popular reason for leaving.

However, the much maligned British cuisine was less of a problem with only 25 percent citing it as a problem.

The biggest draw for staying in Britain was being with family and friends, whilst the second most common reason was Britain's proud history.

-- Anonymous, August 26, 2002

Answers

How does moving to the States improve the "terrible weather"??

-- Anonymous, August 26, 2002

Weather was only third!

But then again, the Brits (and others in the world) see Miami Vice, Baywatch, and so on, and think the States consists of permanent sunshine, polite waves (as in ocean), lithe, young bodies in expensive swimwear and beautiful beaches. When I came over here I thought everyone should be wearing check shirts, jeans and big hats and riding horses, except in New York where people dressed like those on the Dick Van Dyke show. I was not prepared for the New Orleans climate.

My Dad's neighbors went to Orlando and then to St. Pete and thought it was great. I tried to tell them that the US has as many different sceneries as all the rest of the world put together (except for the Yorkshire Moors, of course) and that it's so vast that Texans differ from New Yorkers who differ from Floridians who differ from Oklahomans who differ from Californians, etc., etc. I don't know if they understood but they plan to come over here again, maybe starting in Charleston and driving all the way down to the Keys.

Then again, I have to admit that there IS far more opportunity here and taxes are lower, which means consumer goods are much cheaper (even the exact brand and model, especially any type of electronics-- thanks to the EU, in large part). And, after seeing how people behaved when my Dad died, I have a feeling that the Brits have been thoroughly brainwashed into being lefties (no personal responsibility and also a busybodiness bordering on playing God), far more so than when I lived there, even worse than the last time I was there in 1987.

-- Anonymous, August 26, 2002