I ditched the UK and moved my family to Dubai because it’s not safe – the police don’t do anything and you can get stabbed for no reason
A millionaire YouTube star has revealed he moved his family out of the UK and to Dubai this year over safety fears – saying he can now drive his Mercedes and wear his luxury watches ‘without being stabbed’.
Dan Cheung, a verified Forex trader who vlogs about his life and moneymaking tips on social media, shared a video after a number of his fans asked why he recently uprooted his family from their home in Milton Keynes.
Dan said his Porsche car was ‘broken into’ and his other luxury car had been ‘keyed’, blaming a lack of ‘real repercussions’ for criminals in the UK.
The husband and father-of-two was born and raised in Milton Keynes, and later moved to London for work, before moving back to his hometown to build his family.
However, he and his wife later made the difficult decision to the UK after becoming increasingly concerned about the ‘dire’ standard of safety in the country.
He added that ‘certain experiences’ have made him ‘lose faith in the system and become fearful’ of continuing life in the UK, saying that the police ‘don’t do anything’ and that you can get stabbed ‘for no reason’.
Comparing Dubai to the UK, Dan said that ‘the safety [Dubai] offers is insane’ because he could ‘wear all your luxury items’, such as his numerous luxury watches, and drive his luxury car ‘without worrying about things happening’ to it.
When he lived in the UK, by contrast, his Mercedes-AMG – a range of luxury, high performance models that can cost up to £2.5 million – had been keyed.
Dan Cheung, a verified Forex trader, explained he moved from the UK to Dubai with his family because he did not feel there were any ‘real repercussions’ for criminals in the UK
He also cited fears around rising phone theft and said that walking around ‘with your phone out in London is a no-no’ because of ‘bike gangs and people in balaclavas stealing your phone right, left and centre’.
And he said he was unable to wear his luxury watches while living in the UK because ‘there’s a risk of just getting stabbed for no reason just to try and take the watch, which is your hard-earned money’.
‘People are snatching phones, crime is happening with no repercussions, just absolutely nothing,’ Dan said, adding that his luxury Mercedes-AGM ‘getting keyed and sideswiped’ had ‘put me off getting a Ferrari’.
He added: ‘What happens if they key the Ferrari or key any of those cars or anything like that? Then… the Porsche actually got broken into. They broke into that while I was sleeping.
‘That’s f***ing… That’s the family car at home, there’s no safety at all in the UK, the UK is done for.’
‘It is what it is, there’s pros and cons to everything. I love the UK, I was born and bred here but at the end of the day but it just changed.
‘My mate was saying that the way it’s changed is not normal, it’s not normal to be stealing like it is now, it’s not normal to have violence like it is now.’
He also criticised the UK police force, adding: ‘It’s not normal for police not have any… people just don’t respect them enough anymore because the police just aren’t people you really want to turn to because they just don’t do anything either.
Dan’s fans asked him to vlog about why he decided to move to Dubai – despite having become a millionaire while working in the UK
He claimed that in Dubai he was free to wear luxury watches without fear, while in the UK he said there was a ‘risk of getting stabbed’
‘There is no real punishment for crimes that are committed [in the UK],’ Dan added. ‘That’s probably one of the worst things that there is.’
According to official statistics published by the Home Office, in the 12 months to March 2025, around 4.5 million victim-based offences were recorded by the police, a decrease of 2 per cent from the year before.
Theft in the UK is punishable depending on the value of the goods stolen, with a maximum sentence of seven years of imprisonment for more serious offences. Punishments can also include community sentences or fines.
Theft in Dubai is punishable by up to three years in prison, hefty fines of up to AED 30,000 (approximately £6,050) or both, or even deportation. Attempted theft is also considered a crime and carries legal consequences like imprisonment or fines.
In terms of his work, Dan pointed to statistics published by the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 earlier this year that suggested the UAE would attract a record 9,800 millionaires this year, with many moving there from the UK.
He also said that many of his peers already live in Dubai so it was better for networking in his line of work.
This means that being there can help him grow his business, as well as himself because he is around ‘like-minded people’.
Dan shared that he believed ‘the way you dress and you are has a real element to the way you are able to act upon your results’.
Dan also said he chose to move to Dubai because his Mercedes-AMG luxury car (pictured) had been keyed while his Porsche family car had been broken into
Dan cited increased phone theft figures in London as one of the reasons he felt there was ‘no safety’ in the UK compared to the UAE. Stock image of a phone theft in London
He claimed that a person who does not ‘shave, take a haircut every week and let your hair grow really long, you don’t shower for three, four days’ end up feeling and looking ‘slumpish’ and will not achieve success.
‘Even if you are absolutely poor, the situation is dire, it doesn’t look like there’s a way out – and then you look like that, there is no chance you are going to succeed or even just better your life,’ he declared.
Other reasons Dan cited for leaving the UK included being able to meet people from all over the world working in similar lines of work in Dubai, as well as the city being the ‘perfect middle point’ for family and friends living in either the UK or Hong Kong to visit him.
Estimated figures suggest over 240,000 Britons live in Dubai currently, and more are expected to move over this year amid an increase in enquiries about relocating and UAE being named the top expat destination for Britons in 2025.
Moving from the UK to the United Arab Emirates has become a well-trodden path for Britons in recent years looking for a glitzy relocation and a better quality of life.
Aside from feeling safer, Britons are also attracted by a range of factors such as the warm climate, tax-free income and high-end restaurants, property and shops.
More than 240,000 British expats are now estimated to live in Dubai, with many attracted to the city by the 5,000 British companies now operating in the UAE.
There has been a 420 per cent rise in the five years to 2024 in enquiries from UK nationals wanting to relocate to the country, according to John Mason International Movers – with a 45 per cent surge in the 12 months to March last year alone.
Dubai is among the top destination cities for millionaires leaving the UK, along with Paris, Amsterdam, Monaco, Geneva, Sydney, and Singapore. Florida, the Algarve, Malta, and the Italian Riviera are also attractive as retirement hotspots.
