Blantoon,
Just a small point, you say that the UK doesn't have the GA route to airlines.
Well, it did until really quite recently. Then the whole thing changed in the blink of an eye.
What started as a trickle, soon became a stream, then a river, then an out of control torrent of individuals willing to accept the "easy" route (no pun intended) to the RHS of a Boeing/Airbus etc etc.
Just an observation, but GA was a way into the regionals until recently and from those regionals, those pilots could move up into the more mainstream, even occasionally, major airlines.
Not any more. That valid career path is dead. Forever.
And that is a shame.