If US/UK had free movement of people agreement

Also, I know from experience that the idea that immigrants take jobs that natives don't want isn't true. I've known native-born Americans who have taken jobs as janitors, shoe-shiners and dishwashers in the US because they needed the money.

And conversely, there are very few (any?) native-born Americans who are pulling weeds by hand for cash payments in the vast dryland farming of the Great Plains - that's a job for Mexicanos clandestinos, or in the ginormous beefpacking plant (feedlot & slaughterhouse on a massive, massive scale) out there - with a very high proportion (2/3 not speaking English) of immigrant workers (Mexicans, Central Americans, and southeast Asians).

Those jobs are a wee bit different from janitors, shoe-shiners & dishwashers...  

Also thinking about those poor Moroccans who work in what is not far from slave labour in the Spanish plasticultura industry. 

The dream of people moving freely between the US and the UK is mind boggling if you think of the people who would move east to get on the NHS.
As has been said the majority of the population I think want to stay were they are.

I hadn't thought of the NHS aspect.  That is interesting.  But replying to noirem, who brought up the population differences, I'm not sure that would play a big role.

Looking at different states within the Western EU that are equally developed I don't think you see smaller countries being flooded by them. Fore example, I don't think Denmark or The Netherlands or Austria was flooded by Germans, as Germany has a much larger population,  in the same way Noirum brings up the US/UK population difference.

When you have countries that have the same development level, you don't really see a huge exodus. As Poland still had(and has) a way to go to match Western European living standards, the ability to freely work in the UK that didn't enact the 2004 gradual border controls like other EU states shows this.

There seems to be a lot of people disillusioned with the UK, and I'm talking about native born Brits here.

I do't think there are "a lot". There may be a few vocal whiners and people with some kind of ax to grind.

I suspect that if there were a free movement of people agreements between the UK and the other major English speaking countries, there would be quite an exodus of people under 50 years of age from the UK.

I don't suspect anything of the kind.

The fact that there are already are a lot of Brits living in Spain or elsewhere in the EU is not really relevant here.  I think because, most Brits, would much easily decide to move to the US, Canada, NZ, or Australia.

Utterly untrue. I'll stake my life on that. I think this is some kind of wishful fantasy akin to the (utterly ridiculous) "51st State" notion that some "white Anglosphere" enthusiasts peddled a few years ago.

I was talking a about people I 've known personally, i.e. in New York City. There are no weed pulling jobs in New York City.

Also , immigrants will not speak up against poor or illegal working conditions - my ex was a union shop steward in an industry with a large number of immigrant workers.  This discourages employers from hiring natives who expect decent pay and decent conditions.

Also, immigrants will not speak up against poor or illegal working conditions - my ex was a union shop steward in an industry with a large number of immigrant workers.  This discourages employers from hiring natives who expect decent pay and decent conditions.

This is true.  For example, when I spoke of 'slave labour' conditions for Moroccans in Spanish plasticultura - it's because the employers can get desperate people to work for next to nothing with the fear of being reported to immigration if they speak up or rebel against working conditions.  'Handy' way of exploiting a very low paid work force, for a hard job with poor conditions.  Same thing for those working without papers in US agriculture.  These employers know what they are doing.

I hadn't thought of the NHS aspect.  That is interesting.  But replying to noirem, who brought up the population differences, I'm not sure that would play a big role.

Looking at different states within the Western EU that are equally developed I don't think you see smaller countries being flooded by them. Fore example, I don't think Denmark or The Netherlands or Austria was flooded by Germans, as Germany has a much larger population,  in the same way Noirem brings up the US/UK population difference.

When you have countries that have the same development level, you don't really see a huge exodus. As Poland still had(and has) a way to go to match Western European living standards, the ability to freely work in the UK that didn't enact the 2004 gradual border controls like other EU states shows this.

Those aren't equal comparisons, population wise. And population isn't the most important consideration:  US culture looks favourably on picking up and moving hundreds or thousands of miles for opportunity or change. As a country, we're the (hyperbolic) children of people who gave up everything to chase a dream. It makes a difference.

Round Populations
EU           500,000,000
US           300,000,000
Germany     80,000,000
UK             60,000,000
Netherlands 15,000,000
Australian     8,000,000
Denmark       5,000,000

This is true.  For example, when I spoke of 'slave labour' conditions for Moroccans in Spanish plasticultura - it's because the employers can get desperate people to work for next to nothing with the fear of being reported to immigration if they speak up or rebel against working conditions.  'Handy' way of exploiting a very low paid work force, for a hard job with poor conditions.  Same thing for those working without papers in US agriculture.  These employers know what they are doing.

Which makes it that much harder for people who are trying to improve working conditions for everybody - native and immigrant.

My ex had to struggle to get workers to sign a legitimate union contract that was agreed on by both parties because they were afraid to sign their names to anything.

Maybe more people would want to work in "slave labour" industries if employees received a decent minimum wage, regular breaks, sick leave, etc.  But then it wouldn't be slave labour.  There are other jobs, such as construction in the US, that are very physically demanding, but you don't think of the workers as being exploited because they are protected by strong unions, and those who grew up in the US were raised to expect to be treated in a certain way and will speak up if they feel they are being treated poorly

Just to add a statistic I read in the various Property related sites and resources I read.
http://www.aplaceinthesun.com/

10% of the UK population live abroad.

This is a mixture of economic migrants, retirees for the main part.

As mentioned, I think statistically, most UK or British Indigenous (sp?) would probably want to stay here even if such a 'open US/UK agreement' ever happened, those who are perhaps from immigrant families may want to look into this, I'd be off like a shot if it was to come about! however as I know it won't, I currently favour Canada over the US, but only just!

Everyone is different though, so there'll be allsorts of answers from the general public if you could ask more people here rather than just UKY members.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Healthcare. The British are too worried about the US system. (Not the only ones)

Healthcare. The British are too worried about the US system. (Not the only ones)

I agree on this!