EMERGING from the makeshift bomb shelter in her luxury Dubai villa, Lisa Drury is furious at the way she and other British expats have been vilified back home.
The mum-of-two told me: “I’ve heard things on social media like, ‘They deserve to burn, they haven’t paid a penny in tax, they deserve it’.
“And I’m sitting here thinking, ‘I’m a British passport holder, it’s my mother nation, one day we will go back there, why all this hate?’”
Every time her phone bleeps with a security alert of an imminent Iranian missile strike, Lisa, 58, and husband Matthew, 56, dash to the cupboard under their stairs to sit out the attack.
This gleaming city on the shores of the Persian Gulf has been targeted with over 1,700 deadly Shahed drones and ballistic and cruise missiles, leaving four dead and dozens injured.
PR consultant Lisa is astonished that while she and fellow expats here shelter from life-threatening bombing raids, some back home seem to be relishing their misfortune.
Lisa said she had “smoke coming out of my ears” when Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey slammed “washed-up old footballers” and “tax exiles” in Dubai seeking UK protection.
The mum added: “When you’re in a desperate situation and your own country’s political leaders are having a chip at you, that’s really poor, isn’t it? Distasteful.
“Susanna Reid was on about it on breakfast TV, asking ‘Should we bring them home if they don’t pay tax?’
“But I had my own PR business in Leeds for 15 years, paying a lot of tax.
“I employed nine people at one stage, so I paid a lot of National Insurance and Corporation Tax.
“My husband also had his own business. We’ve paid a lot into the British system.”
Lisa had just emerged from her broom cupboard bomb shelter as the all-clear was given when we arrived at her immaculate villa, which boasts its own swimming pool.
Showing us around the rudimentary bunker, she said: “When the alarm sounded last night my husband rushed in with his cheese and wine.
“I’ve got some water bottles stowed, little snack boxes, a little emergency pack, a wind-up radio and a laptop and plugpoint.
“I’ve also got a hammer in here in case, God forbid, the house fell down around us.”
Brought up in Leeds, she and husband Matthew – who works in sales – have now been in Dubai for 14 years and “made a great life”.
The PR added: “It wasn’t about not paying tax but the chance to bring up our family with great schools, 365 days-of-the-year sun and a lovely lifestyle.
I’ve heard things on social media like, ‘They deserve to burn, they haven’t paid a penny in tax, they deserve it’
Lisa Drury
“We always knew Iran was only 25 miles away across the sea at the narrowest point. But my daughter’s grown up with Iranian friends so we never really considered it the enemy.
“However, everything that’s happened since the war began has obviously been pretty alarming.
“We were just sitting having brunch with some friends at a beachside restaurant and heard a huge bang.
“We looked up into the sky and I had no idea what an intercepted missile looks like but one of the friends we were with said, ‘I think we need to leave here.’
“So we immediately got taxis and came home. Then there was one of the government alerts on our phones and we took shelter.”
Now, with her adopted home facing an ongoing missile onslaught, Lisa said of her new reality in a city long known for its lack of crime and violence: “It’s very daunting.
“Obviously we’re in the unknown right now. Mental health can suffer but it reminds me of Covid where people pulled together.”
Lisa says she’s been impressed with the leadership in her adopted land but says the British government has been woeful.
She added: “Why is our own government not being more supportive? There is literally no communication to the expat community.
“I feel that as a British passport holder and a British citizen, that there is a certain duty that the Government should be taking to protect and look after its own.
“The attitude from some members of the British public that we shouldn’t be eligible for repatriation because we haven’t paid taxes is ridiculous.
“The vitriol and jealousy aimed at people who live here has left me staggered.”
Influencer hub
And what of this desert city’s army of influencers who have helped sell the Dubai dream?
Its year-round sunshine, beachside backdrops, low crime and tax-free living has long attracted legions of content creators as well as 240,000 other Brit workers.
After coming under sustained assault from Irainian drone and ballistic missile barrages, are the infuencers flocking back to grey and rainy Britain?
At his office in a gleaming Dubai tower block, influencer agency boss Danny Agg assures me: “I don’t know anyone who’s left.”
Danny, 48, who has viral social media star Big John and various Love Islanders on his books, is angered by the criticism levelled at expats from back home.
Originally from Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, the boss of Zodiac Global added: “It annoys me that people like Ed Davey have come out and said, ‘If you want us to help defend you then you should come back and pay tax’.
“But it’s not all billionaires and millionaires that live here. There’s tens of thousands of British teachers, nurses and cabin crew that earn very modest wages.
“So it’s not a case of everyone here is purely trying to avoid paying their fair share. It’s that they came here to make a life and very likely they’ll end up back in the UK at some point.
“The streets here aren’t paved with gold. Not everyone here is extremely wealthy and dodging taxes.”
Danny, who represents around 50 influencers, denies suggestions that content creators are putting a positive spin on the attacks at the behest of the United Arab Emirates government.
The agency boss said: “The government here isn’t paying people to post positive things about Dubai. Definitely not.
“But what they will do is if you post things that are incorrect and are spreading misinformation, then you’re at risk of fines and prosecution.”
The streets here aren’t paved with gold. Not everyone here is extremely wealthy and dodging taxes
Danny Agg
Expecting a baby in May with girlfriend Lily, 30, Danny says he has no plans to give up his place in the sun.
“We could see or hear missiles or drones in the air from my balcony,” he said of the outbreak of war.
“Some people have been very worried and sleeping in basements or looking at driving to Oman to get a flight out,
“It seems to be those who haven’t been here very long that are finding it quite scary.
“I’ve been here for the most part of 11 years and this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything that would remotely make you feel unsettled.
“It was definitely spooky. But quite quickly I was settled and I’m now coming back to the office.
“Life seems to be fairly normal, restaurants and beach clubs are open.”
As for the Dubai dream, he insisted: “It’s going to set us back a few steps in terms of the global perception of this city.”
“But I think it will recover quite quickly, provided nothing gets drastically worse.”
Life as normal
In 27C sunshine, I met expat travel consultant Max Wyatt, 27, close to his apartment overlooking the superyachts moored in Dubai Marina.
Max, who left Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, for a new life in Dubai seven years ago, says of the disapproval faced by expats: “People hate to see others winning.
“Dubai is just so visually beautiful and there’s so much fun stuff going on here that when it’s shared on social media it makes people want to hate on it.
“It’s understandable when it’s cold and raining where they are and everyone’s negative. “
Despite this balmy Gulf city of dreams becoming a missile-drenched war zone, Max has no plans to return home to Staffordshire
“I’ve set my life here now,” he added. “Dubai’s a great place. I believe it’s the future.
