Funding for international students in the UK is very tight. I would suggest to search for an opportunity in continental Europe where the competition is not that high because of language barrier among other things.

I think this is over generalisation. All PhD graduates I know got their jobs without any support from supervisors. Only if they were offered a Postdoc at the same institution.
The importance of academic connections is exaggerated. Getting a job in academia after PhD graduation is more difficult than getting a funded PhD. The most important criteria in academia is publications. Outside academia other factors come into play such as how the PhD work is presented and how it is related to the job.

Just do your part and hope for the best. It should be possible.

As already said several times in the forum, chasing the fancy programmes in prestigious university does not look like a good research/study target. Having an MBA is already something and you might look overqualified in some jobs. Looking for another degree and paying such huge money just for the sake of prestige or a good looking CV does not seem right.

Having a huge loan to pay will kill all joy, motivation and excitement.

Hi. I do not agree with the way you look at it. Targeting a fancy university does not look right to me. Most UK universities are prestigious and have good reputation. Graduating from Imperial college or UCL is nice but not necessarily the only path for a postgraduate career in the field. Most important is you get accepted in a good university (not necessary the best). Also how will you perform is ways more important. Getting 2:1 (merit) or 1:1 (Distinction) in Master would make you look good in job market. With lower grades, you might have to explain and tell a story.
Your academic background does not play an important role. In AI/ML most student come from another background because the area is attractive and here is a potential job market.

I am really surprised by the attack to the idea of PhD students want some support for their thesis printing. You might agree with OP or think it is reasonable that students bear some costs. But this strange attack I do not understand. Either support posters, or say your counter opinion politely, or just ignore the post. I can only understand in very rare cases where someone posts complete nonsense a strong opinion against them. But in this case, it is really something normal that happens in many universities and the OP has not invented the idea of universities taking the printing costs.

I agree with rewt. Passing your PhD or downgrade or even fail is not relevant to funding. It only happens with some students funded by external governments and their funding contract includes this.
Now the important part. From the perspective of someone who spent sometime doing a PhD and did not complete, selling the story has to be clever. One option is to tell your real story which is already good enough. You might also indicate that it needed two more years to complete and without funding it is not possible. You might also want to say that your intention was MPhil from the beginning but I would not recommend this.
If you go outside academia, it should not be a problem but in academia PhD is mandatory. If you still interested in academia, look for RA role which does not require a PhD and as an employee you might be entitled to do a PhD tuition free at the same time. It is not common but it is not rare.

Hi. From my experience, the answers are as follows:
1. No. once you start, it is your problem to finish. Funding is limited and in particular to international students.
2. Tutoring jobs are available for all research students from first year. They pay around 10-15 pounds per hours. But you cannot count on them. If you even get an opportunity, you might have 5 hours per week and only during term time. Overall it will give you almost nothing after all.
3. Finding a part time job is not easy as you think. Everyone is searching for this. You might end up with occasional few hours every month if you are lucky.
Conclusion: An offer without a funding is not an offer. It is completely useless. This is how research in the UK is run. If you are self funded or funded by an external government, you are welcome, otherwise you have to be very good and very lucky to get funding (especially international students). Instead of wasting the money you saved for an "impossible mission", apply for taught Master or if you like research for Master by research.

I agree with abababa that being happily married has nothing to do with it. I think you are right not to talk with colleagues about it.

This is well said. It is more likely that he would stop at this point. If he finds troubles coming from his action, he would like to avoid to jeopardise his reputation. I would not assume a bad outcome and negative thoughts. Just try this strategy and let us hope this will end.

I would not recommend a weird solution like doing MRes and PhD at the same time or dropping a funded PhD for MRes unless you are not interested in the PhD topic. You have very little chance in academia without a PhD. In academia it is expected to switch fields very often. The Postdoc is some kind of "Joker" who is expected to work in several fields unlike the PhD student.

Things are not great in academia when it comes to funding. If a PI has fund, he/she is "more likely" to post a job ad. Some PIs have some "hidden" funds or they have money from department which is not assigned to a particular project. You might try though the chance is not particularly high.
One expected reply is that PI asks you for a proposal either his/her proposal and you want you to work on it or your own proposal. Many academics think now that the Postdoc and even PhD students should bring their money with them.
Another important option is to seek fund from funding bodies that are willing to fund early stage researchers. The PI can guide you which funding bodies you can contact or you might start googling it before contacting PIs.

I understand well how you feel. You want to prove it to yourself not to anyone else. Being biased against "managment", I would recommend the finance and accounting Master. It looks like you love the subjects more and the chance that you will do well is higher if you have the passion. Moreover managmement career is comlicated and depends on many things the least of them is education in management.
But are you going to leave your job or work parttime? Are you ready for this massive change? I am not scaring you as I did several massive changes and did not regret them but just be prepared for the big change.

I agree. As long as you have a doctorate, it does not matter where you have obtained it.

I think it is common in Postdoc. You work in a "closer" field where the fund is available. If you like the other field, it should be absolutely fine.