Global suburbanization

The UK Daily Express reports that thousands of [white] Brits want to leave:

BRITAIN is facing a mass exodus of people looking to escape the crime and grime of modern living.

The country’s biggest foreign visa consultancy firm has revealed that applications have soared in the last seven months by 80 per cent to almost 4,000 a week. Ten years ago the figure was just 300 a week.

Most people are relocating within the Commonwealth – in Australia, Canada and South Africa. They are almost all young professionals and skilled workers aged 20-40.

And many cite their reason for wanting to quit as immigration to these shores – and the burden it is placing on their communities and local authorities. The dearth of good schools, spiralling house prices, rising crime and tax increases are also driving people away.

I got this link via reddit and I have no idea how reliable it is. It does seem a bit dodgy. Later on the article cites figures from the Office of National Statistics showing that "in 2005 the official number of people leaving UK shores was 352,000 – up from 249,000 in 1995." By my math, that works out to 6700/week, up from 4800 week 10 years ago - numbers that don't correspond at all. Maybe they're using different figures.

But numbers aside, the most interesting part of the article is how it almost exactly replicates stories about American suburbanization: a desire for better schools, less crime, etc., all with a subtle racism thrown in - a racism stoutly denied by all involved:

“And time and time again they are saying to us they don’t want to be seen as racist because they are quitting because of immigration. We tell them of course they’re not.”

But the comments section suggests that, for some at least, race really is a driving factor:

Whilst I understand these peoples' decisions, I really wish that they would stay & fight for their country. If they've got kids, then I don't expect them to live in any of our major cities - God knows I wouldn't - but there are small towns & villages in Britain that are still free from the dark menace.

Harry Potter, where are you? England needs you to free her from the dark menace.