and when I came back post divorce and the effects of a crash on a start-up in the US, and before setting up, I couldn't get a penny in terms of support as I had been out of the UK for 10 years, despite having paid buckets of tax when I was here and worked with UK registered companies overseas bringing (taxable) dividends back into the UK - and whilst I was out, even paying some small tax on UK sourced income....... Makes me vomit.
There were only two benefits (i) the NHS and (ii) one counsellor managed to find me 13x£50 for starting a new company and coming off the list - though I still had to pay NI out of that.