"Give A Little Bit" - Supertramp, 1977

It seems that each time I'm getting a step closer to more secure residency in the UK -- and perhaps even eventual dual US/UK citzenship -- somebody comes up with another hurdle.

As I may have written about earlier, last year the requirement for residency time in the UK before applying for "Indefinite Leave to Remain" increased from 4 years to 5...about 8 months before I hit my own 4-year anniversary here. So now I wait for December of this year to be able to apply.

Now Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown (and pretender to the throne once Blair resigns as Prime Minister some time this year), in what appears to be an effort to make sure he's not forgotten by the press, has come up with a suggestion for yet another requirement for "migrants" before they can obtain UK citizenship. He thinks we should have to do some sort of community service first. This isn't a done-deal yet...only a suggestion from Gordon.

Maybe I'm just being a little grumpy this afternoon, but this idea doesn't exactly thrill me. I guess I have this image of myself in bright yellow overalls, spearing litter along the side of the M25...

Janet

Listening to: Harry Connick, Jr. - "Oh, My NOLA"