26-11-14, 12:39 AM
Oh this will piss you all off then, I was a seafarer all my working life , marine engineer, since 1982 I legally never paid a penny in UK income tax. One of the reasons why, is the later years I was allowed 180 days a year in the UK. It was basically the UK's way of ensuring there was always a pool of skilled merchant seamen. It was a form of job protection for us as cheaper foreign crews were starting to creep in on British Flagged ships. At the same time though the British Ship owners made us redundant and then invited us to re-apply for our jobs again at greatly reduced terms and conditions, Pensions frozen etc!!
Why would the government want to ensure there was apool of British seafarers, well Mrs Thatcher found a use for me and a few others down in the Falklands and in the Gulf wars as well.
Sadly now the British Merchant Navy has all but gone, there are still lots of ships that fly the Red Duster, it has become a flag of convience.
Why would the government want to ensure there was apool of British seafarers, well Mrs Thatcher found a use for me and a few others down in the Falklands and in the Gulf wars as well.
Sadly now the British Merchant Navy has all but gone, there are still lots of ships that fly the Red Duster, it has become a flag of convience.
MT-09 Tracer for those who no longer can handle a BIG boy Fazer