"I'm going to an Abu Dhabi hedge fund because I don't want to be mugged in London"
Like many other people in the City of London, my family and I are leaving the UK. My wife is Spanish and I'm from Pakistan. We've spent over a decade here and have been raising our young family in London while I work as an equities portfolio manager. We've had enough.
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London has changed. People from outside the UK are less welcome now, and the crime feels out of control. I'm fearful for my safety. I do not want to be mugged at knife point while my wife watches.
We're going to Abu Dhabi. It's something we've pondered for a long time. London is better from the perspective of climate and culture, and raising children in Abu Dhabi certainly isn't ideal. In London, though, we are already raising them in a bubble: they go to private schools and are driven everywhere to clubs, tutors and play dates. They only see a select friend group. They might as well be in Abu Dhabi instead.
It's a shame. I like London, but this country is rapidly losing its social structure. I have no issue with paying high taxes, but it's becoming clear that the government doesn't want people like me. - It just wants the taxes that I pay. There's no longer enough to keep me here in return.
Rifat al-Naim is a pseudonym
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