# Prepare for riots in euro collapse, Foreign Office warns



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Prepare for riots in euro collapse, Foreign Office warns - Telegraph





> British embassies in the eurozone have been told to draw up plans to help British expats through the collapse of the single currency, amid new fears for Italy and Spain.


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## Johanna (Apr 13, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> Prepare for riots in euro collapse, Foreign Office warns - Telegraph


Not good news at all.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> Prepare for riots in euro collapse, Foreign Office warns - Telegraph


It's starting to get a bit scary isn't it...:shocked:


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## DROOBY (Aug 5, 2008)

I'm the first to admit I know very little about the Finance world. No matter how much I read I'm still no further forward on understanding the future of the Euro. Watching the news my head says it simply cannot survive under the weight of all these bail outs, why would other countries simply keep sending good money into bad? Then again I read forums etc and general comments seem to suggest that the Euro will never be allowed to fail! At what point does it all have to come to an end??
What is the future I wonder?? Be good to know as I'm never sure when to bring my money over from my British accounts??


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

I imagine that the Embassies also have plans for the invasion of little green men so not sure I can read too much into this. I have always thought Embassy workers were all boy scouts and girl guides in their past and "be prepared" was a motto they had taken to heart 

But jokes aside I guess it is a thought for anyone on medication. Might be as well to be prepared


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

When I read that I had visions of the Royal Navy picking up British citizens from the beaches of Malaga and shipping them back to Blighty like they did in 1936 (according to Laurie Lee anyway). 

If I'm going to have to live on a sinking ship I'd rather do so here, personally. No point in worrying about it.


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## Guest (Nov 28, 2011)

*********************************************!!!!!!!!!!!!

Followed by reading this as El Pais' headline: Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia y Valencia son las comunidades con más déficit | Política | EL PAÍS

All three are PP run! *twitch* 
I'm almost actually willing to defend the job that Ignacio Diego is doing here in Cantabria... He's keeping me from really throwing in the towel on the new government.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> When I read that I had visions of the Royal Navy picking up British citizens from the beaches of Malaga and shipping them back to Blighty like they did in 1936 (according to Laurie Lee anyway).
> 
> If I'm going to have to live on a sinking ship I'd rather do so here, personally. No point in worrying about it.


And last year (was it?) with the Spanish controllers strike!!


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Take it with a pinch of salt. 

The F.O. have to have contingency plans for the all many possible emergencies, evacuations etc.

I wonder what clown leaked this one to the press?


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

nigele2 said:


> I imagine that the Embassies also have plans for the invasion of little green men so not sure I can read too much into this. I have always thought Embassy workers were all boy scouts and girl guides in their past and "be prepared" was a motto they had taken to heart
> 
> But jokes aside I guess it is a thought for anyone on medication. Might be as well to be prepared


I am sure you are right, Nigel. 
Well, I hope so as I bought several £k worth of euros today to last us for a year...
I am tempted to go and draw it all out tomorrow and stash it under Azor's bed (the safest place in the house) but then if we all did that we would bring about the very thing we are afraid of.....


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

*The Real Agenda*

EU: Treaty of debt (ESM) - stop it now! - YouTube

That being the case they need to create a big crisis so they can send the knight in shinning white to save us all from doom & before you know it ...........


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> I am sure you are right, Nigel.
> Well, I hope so as I bought several £k worth of euros today to last us for a year...
> I am tempted to go and draw it all out tomorrow and stash it under Azor's bed (the safest place in the house) but then if we all did that we would bring about the very thing we are afraid of.....


 but is not your money off shore 

Seriously dearest Azor if you want to come and stay with me I can offer 100 yards to the village butchers, open countryside, as much old speckled hen as you can drink, and ..... just bring your own bed roll


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

Whilst the article has more than a dash of Telegraph hysterics in it, it does focus the mind a bit on the practicalities should the euro collapse and there is a run on the banks..... What should you do if you practically can't use your bank cards, can't withdraw cash from the bank, and even if you did have paper money, it is worthless in the shops?? Should we all prepare an emergency box containing some dried food stuffs and cans? Maybe we should have some gold stashed away?? 
Here's some suggestions to think about:
How to Survive a Currency Collapse | eHow.com


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2011)

Dude, canned olives and tuna. 
We'll be fine!


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Hepa said:


> Take it with a pinch of salt.
> 
> The F.O. have to have contingency plans for the all many possible emergencies, evacuations etc.
> 
> I wonder what clown leaked this one to the press?





take the The F.O. have to have contingency plans for the all many possible emergencies, evacuations etc. also with a pinch of salt. As someone who has this year tried to get in touch/evacuated/ information/telephone call to my local embassy... I can tell you the first people the embassy helps is embassy personnel and their family, you will be killed in the rush when they are sent to the airport.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

the media doing what it does best!


Jo xx


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

MaidenScotland said:


> take the The F.O. have to have contingency plans for the all many possible emergencies, evacuations etc. also with a pinch of salt. As someone who has this year tried to get in touch/evacuated/ information/telephone call to my local embassy... I can tell you the first people the embassy helps is embassy personnel and their family, you will be killed in the rush when they are sent to the airport.


Sorry Maiden to hear you had a bad experience. But information is always made available and even when an embassy pulls out, which is normally very late and well after brits have been advised what to do by the foreign office, a skeleton staff is left or another embassy of a friendly, to the UK, nation takes over. And London can always respond.

Also many British embassy staff around the world are locals and for them to carry on working is often not good for their life expectancy. I doubt the brits form much of a queue at the airport 

In the broader picture I am amased why I as a UK tax payer should pick up the bill for people who choose to put their lives in danger (not suggesting you did Maiden) and do not take advise when it is offered. Like the crazy couple who recently sailed their yatch into pirate infested waters, the students who went hiking along the Iran/Iraq border with poor navigational skills, the brits who went sailing close to iranian waters with no backup if the motor failed. All in my opinion candidates for the Darwin awards  

My own experiences of UK embassies in the far east, South Africa during apartheid, and Brasil is god bless 'em :clap2:


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

nigele2 said:


> Sorry Maiden to hear you had a bad experience. But information is always made available and even when an embassy pulls out, which is normally very late and well after brits have been advised what to do by the foreign office, a skeleton staff is left or another embassy of a friendly, to the UK, nation takes over. And London can always respond.
> 
> Also many British embassy staff around the world are locals and for them to carry on working is often not good for their life expectancy. I doubt the brits form much of a queue at the airport
> 
> ...




I am talking from experience. Have you ever had to flee a country and tried to get help from the embassy? 
Fact.... the team leader of security went on vacation during the revolution.

Fact... the embassy did not know that we have a wardens system with walkie talkies in place.

Fact... the expat residency list at the embassy had not been updated for 4 years.

Fact. Embassy staff were evacuated almost immediately plus their family.

Fact. .The embassy sent out emails telling us what to do when we had no internet.

Fact.. if you managed to get the flight the embassy was offering you had to make your own way to the airport despite a curfew being in place. Embassy staffed where taken in a coach.

Fact.. we were given a London phone number to call despite that in Egypt you have to have an international phone line installed before you can phone overseas.. many landlords do not allow this. The phone lines with the number given rang engaged constantly.

Fact. William Hague did admit that the foreign office and the embassy did not respond in an ideal way.

Fact.. William Hague has never answered my emails nor friends emails concerning this matter.


Fact.. I work for an embassy so I am well aware what should and can be done.

Fact the embassy I work for had me picked up, taken to lunch in a hotel where they were sorting out flights etc for their nationals and on an airplane in less than 8 hours.

I strongly agree that people who deliberately put themselves in danger should pick up the bill and this includes people in the UK.


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## Beachcomber (May 10, 2009)

I was in Spain during the attempted coup in 1981. There was absolutely no help on hand whatsoever. Telephone calls made from a rickety telephone in a local bar to the British consulate and embassy went unanswered.

We all breathed a sigh of relief, Spaniards and foreigners alike, when the King came on television and effectively put down the coup. If the worst had come to the worst it was obvious that we would have been left to our own devices and to fend for ourselves the best we could.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

nigele2 said:


> but is not your money off shore
> 
> Seriously dearest Azor if you want to come and stay with me I can offer 100 yards to the village butchers, open countryside, as much old speckled hen as you can drink, and ..... just bring your own bed roll


My UK income gets paid into my offshore account but then I send it back to my dil who can get a better than usual exchange rate with no transfer fee as she works for a bank.
She then sends it to my 'working' Spanish account. Slightly convoluted, no? I don't like the idea of keeping a lot of money here in Spain and we pay our rent in two lump sums so keep just enough for day-to-day living..food, petrol etc.
But you guessed right, Nigel....we won't go anywhere without Our Little Azor.
I wonder if he'd like ale??
My son and dil have started going to the pub with their dog, or so I learned from Facebook. It's quite sweet...they are now alone together, both boys at Uni.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

halydia said:


> Dude, canned olives and tuna.
> We'll be fine!


Same here. Living in a village on the edge of a nature reserve has its advantages. Venison, boar, rabbit, partridge, wild asparagus, tagarninas, caracoles, orange trees, free range eggs, wheat flour, dairy goats ... And every other Juan and Jose has a _huerto_ bursting with produce. Alcalá was practically self-sufficient for decades and could be again - I'll just have to learn to like camomile tea instead of coffee!


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## Johanna (Apr 13, 2009)

nigele2 said:


> My own experiences of UK embassies in the far east, South Africa during apartheid, and Brasil is god bless 'em :clap2:


 Hi nigele
Were you evacuated from SA during the aparheid years?
Or do I not follow your experiences correctly?

:confused2:


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Beachcomber said:


> I was in Spain during the attempted coup in 1981. There was absolutely no help on hand whatsoever. Telephone calls made from a rickety telephone in a local bar to the British consulate and embassy went unanswered.
> 
> We all breathed a sigh of relief, Spaniards and foreigners alike, when the King came on television and effectively put down the coup. If the worst had come to the worst it was obvious that we would have been left to our own devices and to fend for ourselves the best we could.




Exactly... you cannot rely on the embassy to help out in an emergency.
I could go on and on with lists of blunders that happened during the revolution so many that there was actually a petition to get rid of the Consul after she told one UK national, I am off the clock now call me tomorrow!!


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Regarding the British Consul, we will have no problem whatsoever here, there isn't one, but with our previous professional experience, we are more than capable of fending for ourselves.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Hepa said:


> Regarding the British Consul, we will have no problem whatsoever here, there isn't one, but with our previous professional experience, we are more than capable of fending for ourselves.




Others are not so lucky,


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Can't see where "Luck" is part of the equation.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Hepa said:


> Can't see where "Luck" is part of the equation.




Well as I and I suspect the majority of people do not have a gas mask, bullet proof vests, satellite phone at hand I have to rely on luck.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> Well as I and I suspect the majority of people do not have a gas mask, bullet proof vests, satellite phone at hand I have to rely on luck.


Time to unsuscribe


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Can I just add for those who dont know. MaidenScotland was caught up in the major unrest in Egypt at the beginning of the year and is there now, while the country goes thru even more turmoil.

Jo xxx


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

jojo said:


> Can I just add for those who dont know. MaidenScotland was caught up in the major unrest in Egypt at the beginning of the year and is there now, while the country goes thru even more turmoil.
> 
> Jo xxx


Well, I think it sounds horrendous. 
I'm glad we've got Maiden's account of what the treatment has been like so that we can be more aware of what happens around the globe. 
Whilst it's good to know that nigele2's experiences have been good, it's also beneficial, surely, to know that you cannot blindly rely on official bodies to be there.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

jojo said:


> Can I just add for those who dont know. MaidenScotland was caught up in the major unrest in Egypt at the beginning of the year and is there now, while the country goes thru even more turmoil.
> 
> Jo xxx




I have seen no protests this time round although I am still living in the same area. I have had a sore throat which I now put down to the tear gas drifting over from the Midan.
In the apartment below me is a VIP in the embassy I work for, I have been told that I must call in to him if I am scared, worried etc and of course in the event of trouble coming to my street I will be flown straight out if I so wish.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Well, I think it sounds horrendous.
> I'm glad we've got Maiden's account of what the treatment has been like so that we can be more aware of what happens around the globe.
> Whilst it's good to know that nigele2's experiences have been good, it's also beneficial, surely, to know that you cannot blindly rely on official bodies to be there.




To be fair it is not just the British Embassy, the USA is also under fire as one of their citizens was raped by an army officer and when she reported it to the embassy they told her to go alone and report it to the local police station, those of you who have followed Egypts revolution will know that we had no police as it was the army that was doing the work of the police so she was expected to report a rape by a senior army officer to his brother in arms plus of course any unwanted sexual contact here is always the women's fault.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

MaidenScotland said:


> To be fair it is not just the British Embassy, the USA is also under fire as one of their citizens was raped by an army officer and when she reported it to the embassy they told her to go alone and report it to the local police station, those of you who have followed Egypts revolution will know that we had no police as it was the army that was doing the work of the police so she was expected to report a rape by a senior army officer to his brother in arms plus of course any unwanted sexual contact here is always the women's fault.



Waws that the CNN reporter, Maiden?


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

I dont' think so. That was a different case. 

But hey, the british or american embassies werent that bad compared to the spanish, which went totally AWOL during the revolution. 

I even thought I was not in their email list...

except that I do receive emailsl from them once a year, to invite me to the 12 october party. And every now and then I get information about flamenco shows. Ole. 

so they must have some sort of system. They just didnt use it during the revolution.


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

Some of this posts remind me of my mother. She likes to say that if the world goes pearshape, we go to her house in Galicia. She grows the most horrible sour grapes, an apple tree that gives one apple per summer, a plum tree, tomatos, lettice and even a walnut tree, so at least we dont' starve! 

Not sure I could live on walnuts and lettuce, and drink some awful wine, though.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Waws that the CNN reporter, Maiden?




No it was a charity worker in Suez.. I will try and find the link for you.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

I am mistaken it was not the American Embassy it was the British..

m.guardian.co.uk


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Well, I think it sounds horrendous.
> I'm glad we've got Maiden's account of what the treatment has been like so that we can be more aware of what happens around the globe.
> Whilst it's good to know that nigele2's experiences have been good, it's also beneficial, surely, to know that you cannot blindly rely on official bodies to be there.


Very true Pesky but in a time when hundreds of thousands of British nationals are all over the world it seems to me that one should have realistic expectations. In days of old when Brits were threatened we sent a gun boat. i think it is not a bad thing we have less capability of doing so although others may disagree 

And are we really suggesting that we should be able to fully evacuate, door to door, all British nationals from any zone of unrest?

Clearly Maiden has a personal experience and without full details it is difficult for anyone to comment. But in general terms one needs to be practical. 

To put it in perspective at the height of the trouble the Foreign Office believes there were still 30000 Brits in Egypt. If you picked them up by bus and drove them to the airport that would be 750 return coach trips, assuming they grouped together at pick up points, in a country disrupted by unrest. It would be 192 Easyjet A319s. 

Yes there will be problems if you put yourself in a country with troubles without the ability to make foreign calls or use the internet. And there will be cases of serious need that justify unusual action by the foreign office. And people will screw up when under pressure. But embassies have many other functions that in my experience they perform well. And how much we should be spending on just in case scenarios I feel needs discussing by those who are paying and not only those who would benefit.

Just my personal view of course.

ps I'm with you Hepa all the way


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

nigele2 said:


> Very true Pesky but in a time when hundreds of thousands of British nationals are all over the world it seems to me that one should have realistic expectations. In days of old when Brits were threatened we sent a gun boat. i think it is not a bad thing we have less capability of doing so although others may disagree
> 
> And are we really suggesting that we should be able to fully evacuate, door to door, all British nationals from any zone of unrest?
> 
> ...




My original post

take the The F.O. have to have contingency plans for the all many possible emergencies, evacuations etc. also with a pinch of salt. 

I did imply that you will have to look after yourself as the embassy will not, this is regardless of any contingency plans that are in place.

Egypt has the internet after all I am using it now, it also has the ability to make international calls.. however when the government pulls the plug on them then you are closed to the outside world.

Other countries bused their citizens to the airport..


The British government did not restrict travel to Egypt... Thomas Cook etc were flying in holiday makers as embassy staff were flying out.


It reminds me of a scene from Titanic... first class passengers first to the lifeboats.


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## andmac (Nov 9, 2010)

I don´t know but maybe other countries need to prepare to evacuate their citizens from Britain!

710,000 Public sector job losses,
Public sector pay rises pegged to 1% until 2015
Inflation at over 5%
Retirement age is now 67,
Aviation tax to increase (unless you own a private aircraft, it increases in 2 years for you),
Average increase on burden to taxpayer is 9.5% (you can bet that those at the very top avoid this and those at the bottom rightly avoid this - so how much is it costing those in the middle?),
£111 billion "extra" needed by the government. If the UK was in the Euro, would we be talking about "bailouts" yet?

I still think I'd rather live here. At least if it comes to it the climate is more favourable for growing your own food, tobacco and wine!


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

MaidenScotland said:


> My original post
> 
> take the The F.O. have to have contingency plans for the all many possible emergencies, evacuations etc. also with a pinch of salt.
> 
> ...


Yup so we agree on nearly everything. Certainly I think the advice to the 20000 on the red sea was spot on. If you are nervous don't go, you can cancel. you can return home but in truth the area was very stable. My mate Steve runs a diving school there and he kept everyone up-to-date daily on everything from atms working, the attitude of the locals (which was largely excellent), etc. 

I agree much wasn't perfect but when Embassy workers can become a target I believe pulling them out to be a good decision. You clearly do not. We agree to disagree I guess 

As for Andy inferring that your situation in Egypt at that time was like a foreigner working in the UK I think he misunderstands what conditions were like in Egypt and the risks you were running. Or maybe it was Sottish humour


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