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700 are arriving every day from Eastern Europe into Britain


peterweg 37 | 2,311  
28 Feb 2007 /  #1
(From the newspaper that was friends with Hitler)

The number of Eastern Europeans flooding into Britain has soared to 700 a day.

Official figures show there are 579,000 Poles and other residents of the former Soviet Bloc registered to work here.

thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23387097-details/700+are+ar riving+every+day+from+Eastern+Europe/article.do

28.02.07
Matyjasz 2 | 1,544  
28 Feb 2007 /  #2
There already has been a similar topic discussed on the board: https://polishforums.com/archives/2005-2009/uk-ireland/poles-claiming-state-benefit-cost-3814/

I think that ukpolska's answer was the most interesting:

But hang on a moment - these 510,000 registered immigrants are all legal, and captured in the tax system. Let's assume they all earn the minimum wage only, work for 40 hours a week, and earn GBP 214. Working 45 weeks per year, total income is GBP 9630, and total income tax and national insurance payable GBP 1257. This means the UK govt. gets some GBP 641 million in tax receipts from immigrants - 10 times the amount paid out - and guess what - the balance is spent on services for the rest of us.(OK - the govt. may waste it on silly foreign adventures, but that's another problem).

Personally I say, "shut the doors and send the Poles back home". At least this topic will stop hunting us. :)
OP peterweg 37 | 2,311  
28 Feb 2007 /  #3
Good point, I posted it as a comment. However, I've noticed websites won't publish comments that make them look like dumb idiots.
szarlotka 8 | 2,208  
28 Feb 2007 /  #4
I don't think peterweg is supporting the article, but pointing it out as another piece of scaremongering by sections of the British Press (note the Evening Standrd is I believe part of the group that also publishes the Daily Mail)
espana  
28 Feb 2007 /  #5
what wrong in shut the doors????

you always can open this again!!!!!!!! if you are a good lad

you sound like a jews.....hunting us
Matyjasz 2 | 1,544  
28 Feb 2007 /  #6
I don't think peterweg is supporting the article, but pointing it out as another piece of scaremongering by sections of the British Press

I wasn't trying to imply that peterweg supported this article. I saw his other comments on this board so it didn't even crossed my mind to think so. It's just that this topic was repeated so many times here that I'm seriously thinking of going to uk myself and dragging my country men back home by force. Maybe that will put a stop to this whole situation. :)
szarlotka 8 | 2,208  
28 Feb 2007 /  #7
I'm seriously thinking of going to uk myself and dragging my country men back home by force.

Don't do it Matyjasz. I would lose my golfing partner and who would I drink with ? :)

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that we all believe what is written in our media !
espana  
28 Feb 2007 /  #8
no now is to late you will be fine living with africans asians south american european too
OP peterweg 37 | 2,311  
28 Feb 2007 /  #9
As I expected my comment has not been added. Anybody else want to try?

Matyjasz, don't worry about it. I hear far more positive comments about the Poles in the UK. In fact I've never heard anyone complain about it in person. The UK government should come up with the economic benefit argument pretty soon.
Matyjasz 2 | 1,544  
28 Feb 2007 /  #10
It's all good peter. I'm not worrying at all. I understand that Britons are worried about the huge influx of east Europeans. Frankly, if suddenly there was a similar influx of Brits too Poland the situation would be the same. Our government would be constantly criticized, immigrants demonized, etc… Instead of thinking how to resolve new occurring problems, the papers would only come up with more and more accusations and apocalyptical visions of near future.

Still, Britons did more than enough to ensure that the new arrivals feel comfortable in their new home. Sometimes even they overdone it a little bit... :)
sapphire 22 | 1,241  
28 Feb 2007 /  #11
I'm seriously thinking of going to uk myself and dragging my country men back home by force

Please dont take my boyfriend :)

no now is to late you will be fine living with africans asians south american european too

You are still an idiot.

Maybe us Brits should all move to Poland?. I hear theres plenty of job vacancies these days
Lee_England  
28 Feb 2007 /  #12
Personally I say, "shut the doors and send the Poles back home". At least this topic will stop hunting us.

I'd rather the poles came here than the Muslims. Why should we close the doors on our own brothers?
Przystojniak  
28 Feb 2007 /  #13
Actually according to latest figures migrants have contributed 2BN UK pounds in tax.

I work as an interpreter and meet many Poles - I have yet to meet one who is living in council housing (or wishes to live in council housing).

One more correction - tax credit is not a handout, it is just that - a tax credit for people on low incomes, that is, if the joint household income is below a certain limit (60k I believe but it could be lower) they are eligible for tax credit, which means they get some of the tax they paid back.

I wish newspapers would stop printing these stories, all they are doing is scaring old age pensioners whose only contact with the outside world is the media.
Przystojniak  
28 Feb 2007 /  #14
Quote from said article:

There have been 533 successful applications for Income Support (£57.45 a week), 1,221 for Job Seeker's Allowance (also worth £57.45 a week) and 41 for State Pension Credit (which gives a guaranteed income of £114.05 a week.)

My point precisely. OUt of 70,000 people only 533 claim Income Support and 1,221 Job Seeker's Allowance (which is stopped as soon as you get a job).

I rest my case.
Annia  
28 Feb 2007 /  #15
tax credit is not a handout, it is just that - a tax credit for people on low incomes, that is, if the joint household income is below a certain limit (60k I believe but it could be lower) they are eligible for tax credit, which means they get some of the tax they paid back.

Tax credits are as follow:-
Gross Annual Joint Income

(&pound:)
Child Tax Credit (&pound:)

One Child
Two Children
Three Children

5,000
2,240
3,930
5,625

10,000
2,240
3,930
5,625

15,000
1,835
3,530
5,225

20,000
545
1,680
3,375

25,000
545
545
1,525

30,000
545
545
545

40,000
545
545
545

50,000
545
545
545

The figures are based on joint income the largest being the household income.

As to the comments on pension, we are constantly being told to save for our future because a pension will not be enough, most people put 15% in to a private pension but its okay for some immigrant to come over and claim??
Przystojniak  
1 Mar 2007 /  #16
Tax Credit is actually Working Tax Credit and is payable to families whose joint household income is below 15,550. It is paid to working families, not families on benefits.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnia, sorry to hear you are worried about your pension :)

I can assure you that there are regulations regarding who is entitled to claim and who isn't. For a start to be able to claim, a migrant worker must first have been in full time employment for 12 months prior. Every case is assessed on its own merits.
Matyjasz 2 | 1,544  
1 Mar 2007 /  #17
As to the comments on pension, we are constantly being told to save for our future because a pension will not be enough,

The same here in Poland, with the exception that 2 million of potential future tax payers in their best reproductive age emigrated outside our country. Who is going to work for my pension if they and their children decide not to come back? Hard question. I guess everybody has their problems. :)
UKGUY 3 | 87  
8 May 2007 /  #18
Please dont take my boyfriend

Why don't you and your boyfriend go and live in Poland one wonders?
OP peterweg 37 | 2,311  
29 May 2007 /  #19
Merged: More migrants come to Britain from Eastern Europe

A growing number of migrants coming to Britain from Eastern Europe may be intending to stay, a survey suggests.
More than one-third of women and a quarter of men said they wanted to stay, many of whom had changed their minds since arriving in the UK.

Story from BBC NEWS: news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/6699363.stm
justynabristol 4 | 10  
29 May 2007 /  #20
the truth is in the middle, who wants to integrate - will, who likes being in their own circle won't. But lets face it: Poles do not live and do not create ghettos,

after a while we move out to seperate accommodation, how long can you live sharing? who wants just to earn and go - will not integrate as this is not a priority, who wants to live here - will
sapphire 22 | 1,241  
29 May 2007 /  #21
well said Justyna.. I dont think its true that British people wont let foreigners into their social circles.. its more a case of many immigrants not wanting to integrate.. for whatever reason, be it language, culture etc. etc.. Those who make the effort to meet locals and break away from the ex-pat scene should have no problems.
OP peterweg 37 | 2,311  
29 May 2007 /  #22
Migrants' road to UK integration

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6700345.stm
VasMan - | 11  
1 Jun 2007 /  #23
Having read these articles I can't honestly say any of the quoted figures surprise me. From my own personal experience, living in a city with many new arrivals it's difficult to draw many conclusions. I have enjoyed some good nights out in the Polish bar here exchanging views and banter and have not felt any animosity whatsoever but on the whole would say that any degree of integration still appears some way off the mark. In fairness, my wife moved to the UK 6 years ago from Estonia and until recently regularly remarked about not "fitting in" because of her background despite working with predominantly British colleagues, having fluency in English etc, etc.

Whether right or wrong I imagine that integration is not a priority for those here short term wherever they come from and that if any degree of integration is to be achieved anywhere it is a two-way process and people must be made to feel welcome.
Puzzler2  
2 Jun 2007 /  #24
re: More migrants come to Britain from Eastern Europe

- I hope all of them will be coming back, and very soon, to their native countries.

I am sick and tired of the whining and enraged complaining about these hardworking decent people's presence in UK.

I am very angry about the insults against and beatings of the Poles in the UK, and the culprits being let go unpunished by the courts.

And the silence on the real immigration problem there: the countless scores of Thirld World bums, masses of them sitting on welfare. (Reportedly, there are ca milion of illegals from there in the UK.)

Practically, all the Polish people working in the UK I've spoken to say they will be coming back.

By the way, shouldn't the title posting appear on an 'East European' forum, rather than on a 'Polish' one?

Is 'Eastern Europe' a synonym of the word 'Poland' for peterweg?

If yes, why?
:)
shopgirl 6 | 928  
2 Jun 2007 /  #25
I hope all of them will be coming back, and very soon, to their native countries.

I think they will. Why? Because in the eighties when Ireland's economy tanked, people left in droves.

Then the government cooperated with businesses to enact policy changes that encouraged economic development. (I think many countries could take a leaf from that book, even mine). Now with Ireland's economy turn-around, people who left years ago are returning home. It won't be the same as when they left, but now there is a reason to work and live there.

I think Poland is very much poised to do the same. I think the country has to go through a "shake up" to get where it needs to be (you have to tear down an old house to build a new one in the same spot, so to speak). I have some concerns about the government's role in this process, because the current leaders are conservative, and a lot of change needs to happen in order to make room for a new nation. It is happening, but I think it needs some speed to keep people happy.

So don't worry, they will come back home.
daffy 23 | 1,500  
2 Jun 2007 /  #26
Because in the eighties when Ireland's economy tanked, people left in droves.

point of information, Ireland's economy was tanked for centuries and people left Ireland in drives over the centuries as it was. it was not until the late 1980's that emigration decreased and immigration started.

As to people moving for work. I personally hope they live where they want to.
Michal - | 1,865  
2 Jun 2007 /  #27
All very strange. I remember in the 1980's the Polish I met had no time for England or the English and now...I suppose it is something in human nature what you can not have you want even more. All the influx of Eastern European people to the U.K. is bad as well as good. Working class jobs are now in short supply as these jobs do not require a good education or a good ability with the English Language and an influx of workers helps to keep wage rates low so expanded EU membership benefits the rich capatalists.
shopgirl 6 | 928  
2 Jun 2007 /  #28
Thanks for the correction Daffy. I was attempting to say that the turn-around came then. :)
daffy 23 | 1,500  
2 Jun 2007 /  #29
sorry my bad then :) Migrant workers throughout history have been nothing but BENEFICIAL for strong economies from roman times to every major industrialized nation since.

The key is to have good unions, good lobbiest, laws protecting the workforce (not just uk or US or Polish but WORKERS)
Michal - | 1,865  
2 Jun 2007 /  #30
The key is to have good unions,

Yes, but the whole point of flodding an economy like ours in the U.K. is that you do not need unions because you can hire and fire people very quickly. If someone is doing an unskilled job then they can be trained up very quickly. I have heard it is even true of the TESOL world in Poland now. If your lessons are boring the students complain and the teacher is changed-end of story, the students are paying money for lessons and they are king.

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