As an immigrant here in Sweden – you might even say a refugee – but needing to return to the UK occasionally, I’ve recently become alarmed by the rapidly rising costs of air and rail travel there, even by ‘cheap’ airlines or with the benefit of Euro-railcards. A projected trip at the end of this month (including rail travel in England, grossly over-priced) is likely to set me back about £300. And then the same amount, I guess, to return.
In view of this I’m tempted to switch my political support to the far-Right Sweden Democrats, who are offering money to unwanted foreigners to enable them to return ‘home’. (See https://www.thelocal.se/20240819/sweden-democrats-push-to-overrule-inquiry-on-re-emigration-grants/.) I seem to remember Enoch Powell’s floating much the same idea for Britain in the 1960s. Did anything come of it? I doubt whether it will work in Sweden, either. But then you never can tell, these crazy days.
Of course it would make no sense my taking the money and buying a ticket to Blighty with it, if I weren’t allowed back. On the other hand, could they stop me re-entering Sweden with a Swedish passport (which I have)? And then my re-applying for the grant for another trip? I imagine that even the racists in the Sverigedemokraterna will have thought of that.
Porter’s Pensées 
I don’t know if the airline offers in the link might help – you that is, not the Swedish far right – but they cover Sweden, apparently.
https://www.connexionfrance.com/news/budget-airlines-499-all-you-can-fly-year-deal-includes-uk-france-flights/673578
I should say I’ve never used the airline myself so I can’t comment on it, I just saw the offers by chance the other day.
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Thanks. I’ve tried all the cheap carriers and they’re all pricey: even Wizzair, featured here, which doesn’t seem to fly from Stockholm, and in any case has been voted the ‘worst European airline’ three years running. Ditto the poxy Ryanair. We’ve done rail before; more ‘environmental’ and more fun, but even more expensive, with hotels and/or ferries on the way, and taking 3-4 days. I used to be able to get Norwegian Airline tickets, Arlanda to Gatwick, for about £40, but no longer. Short of buying a boat, learning to sail, navigating the Baltic, sailing round Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and crossing the North Sea from Holland to the Humber, I can no longer find a way that suits my purse. Apart from waiting for a Sverigedemokraterna government to extradite me.
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