RECEIVING A HELPING HAND.....

There's a country just south of Zimbabwe, the inflation capital of the world - its called South Africa. I was born, bred and educated there, in and around the coastal city of Durban. This had a fairly relaxed lifestyle, unlike one of its inland counterparts, Johannesburg. There the pace is faster, the distances travelled further and originally the crime was worse. But it didn't matter where you lived - everyone paid the same income tax.

I paid income tax from the day I started to work. With my after tax income, I bought things on which I paid VAT (value added tax). I also filled my car up with petrol on a regular basis and the lion's share of this expenditure was made up of taxes. When I bought my house I paid rates to the local municipality for services rendered - refuse, sewage etc. Cutting a long story short a lot of money went to the government's coffers.

I also paid for the services of a private security company to keep my family and possessions safe at home, I paid for private medical cover and I paid for my children to go to school. Security, medical and education - I'm sure some of my tax contributions should have covered some of these services that should have been provided by the state?

Then my new life started in the UK. My wife is a British citizen and they and their family's certainly seem to get a helping hand from the English/British government.

My oldest son has been at school since the second week after we arrived and there are no school fees. The entire family has had at least one visit to the doctor and not once have we had to pay a bill. My wife receives a Child Benefit payment to assist with the costs of our kids and this was back dated to a week after we arrived. She's also just received a £250 voucher to set up a Child Trust Fund. This is a government sponsored scheme to help provide savings for your children which becomes theirs once they turn 18. Also our neighbourhood is exceptionally safe. We don't have to pay for third party security to protect our family and possessions and we don't even have a wall around our premises!

I know these are two entirely different countries with entirely different systems. Both have good and bad points, but one of them seems to have its priorities right, providing a helping hand and the feeling that one is getting a little value for the taxes one pays.

SECURITY AROUND HEATHROW

Before I started my new life in the UK, we often used to park the car at the southern end of Durban International Airport's runway and watch aeroplanes coming in to land. We found a spot really close to the end of the runway, just outside the perimeter fence and the planes were massive as they came in to land. It was always great fun and he would shout and scream with excitement as the planes soared in barely 50 meters or so above our heads.

When our new life in the UK started and we found ourselves living over an hours drive from the major airport, he was quite disappointed. We weren't going to be able to make our trips anymore. But yesterday we had a free day and the kids are on school holidays so I took a trip to the Heathrow Airport area with my son. Obviously we didn't know the area and had to try and find some good viewing spots.

The differences, obviously, between Heathrow and Durban International Airport are vast. Heading north on the clockwise way around the M25 it becomes very apparent that you are getting near Heathrow. The air traffic is unbelievable for the uninitiated. I'm not sure what the exact stats are, but a plane must take off at least every 2 minutes - it may even be less. If they're taking off in a westerly direction they fly straight over the M25 and they're still very low. My son was in his element, whooping with joy everytime a plane took off and we hadn't even found a place to park and watch yet.

But what has all this got to do with security at Heathrow, you may ask? Well I'll tell you that security may not be perfect but it does work. After a while of watching planes take off we headed for the eastern end of the runway to see if we could find a place to watch the planes coming in to land. We found a great spot outside the entrance to some hire car long term parking spot just outside the perimeter fence. Again there was much excitement as the planes came in to land only meters above our head. At one stage I thought the landing gear was going to break through the sun roof! I grabbed my camcorder and started to film a few of the planes as they came in over our heads. I knew this may be "dangerous" but there were no signs saying it was prohibited.

As we got ready to leave there was a knock on the window and a very well mannered police officer asked me if I had been filming. I'd obviously been seen on CCTV or perhaps they just noticed me as they were patrolling. He asked to see what I had been filming, which I showed him and there appeared to be no problem. He then checked all the vehicle registration details and my address with me and on the computer in his patrol vehicle. There were no further problems and off we went.

Well done to the security at Heathrow and the police! I wasn't doing anything illegal but I could have been. The fact that I was questioned doesn't bother me because I know that he was doing his job and doing it properly. If that makes our lives safer and and the lives of all of Heathrow Airport's users safer then I'm all for it.

I'll take my son back to our spot to watch the planes land again but I might leave the camcorder at home.