It took recent visits to London and Leicester to convince myself I wasn’t becoming racist in any degree. Since my last blog there had been this gnawing seed of thought in my mind that perhaps I may have started having racist feelings. I’ve always liked London and I found Leicester to have a lovely multicultural vibe to it. At one point in Leicester I bumped accidentally into an Asian guy whilst leaving a shop, on apologising I was greeted with a warm smile and even a forgiving quick hug. It is instances like that that truly reaffirm my pro multicultural feelings.
But I don’t want to come across as all ‘welcome everybody into Britain’ because that’s not the case. My current bones of contention are the government and how it’s handled immigration and with East European immigrants, mainly the Polish and also the Polish attitude.
The Government
Not long after my last blog on immigration the press began to cover it extensively, especially since the UK population now tops 60 million. Back in 2004 the government estimated that by 2006 they expected around 26,000 to have entered the UK but the real figures of immigrants that came here was around a million, a large contingent of these being east european. Obviously the government choose to mask the real figures and my guess is they don’t really even know the exact amount, now we have government ministers making alarming noises about what is really happening.
Recently former home office member John Denham wrote a memo to Tony Blair with grave concerns about immigration warning that workers in Southampton were starting to get paid 50% less than average. Everyday there are new Polish arrivals making a 30 odd hour bus journey from Warsaw to Southampton. The city council now estimates the Polish population to be 20,000, in a city of 200,000 that is one in ten.
Communities minister Ruth Kelly has called for ‘honest debate’ and practical solutions to solve the growing racial tensions. Kelly openly admits that Britons do not feel comfortable with the change as they see things like shops and restaurants in towns and cities changing. She added that a sense of resentment and grievance develops and that multiculturalism may be causing divisions in many towns. Lastly this sentence from Ruth Kelly strikes a chord with me she said ‘In our attempt to avoid imposing a single British identity and culture we have ended up with some communities living in isolation of each other with no common bonds’. Well, in my view Ms Kelly is just stating a few obvious facts that many people already know, with so many diverse cultures and widely contrasting religions it’s not hard to see why some cities are becoming insular inside.
Work place tensions
I read an interesting example of how inner city tensions are beginning to rise on a new site recently where a Muslim was talking about job pressures he said "A white Polish person has a better chance than a dark-skinned Muslim at landing a job," he added "The Eastern Europeans are 100 percent threatening for Muslims. Being Muslim means it's harder to get work. If your name is Mohammad and you speak English, or Richard and you don't, employers will pick Richard."
The main problem is that immigrant workers are jostling for the ‘bottom rung on the ladder jobs’ and this is where the friction is beginning in our cities, even Muslims that are born here are feeling threatened by the new influx of East European immigrants.
British tradesmen are also feeling the effect too, I was reading the other day about a group of bricklayers who have been laid off in favour of cheaper Polish workers. One man and his son had felt the double effect as the father had lost his job and his son the apprenticeship he’d long wanted.
Polish people are also starting their own business’s and employing Polish only workers, this can only add to further discontent for our workers, whilst there’s no denying Polish work hard there seems to be a trend of them looking out for themselves.
So whilst employers are rubbing their hands, landlords are rejoicing at a new wave of tenants they can over charge and the government is turning a blind eye it’s the good old British workforce who are starting to feel aggrieved.
The over riding fact why Polish people are coming here is money, not to integrate but to earn money and send it back home in a lot of cases. A polish worker that had originally came here illegally years ago told a BBC reporter that the reason why he was here "The reason why? I am sure why all Polish people come to England. They are looking for a better life, for work ... and money. First thing, I think, is the money."
I can empathise with them to a degree, unemployment being high back home and the average wage being 4k but I’m sure they’d feel pissed off if we all went over there and started taking their jobs if the roles were reversed. Britain is already a country with a lot of racial tensions in many parts and we don’t need to add to it.
In my opinion its mass exploitation that is starting to rip the heart out of the British working class. Employers are exploiting cheap East European labour and they in turn are taking advantage our system and benefit infrastructure.
Some people are claiming that in fact our East European visitors are heralding a boom era but with unemployment on the rise how can this be so?
Robert Rowthorn, professor of economics at Cambridge, wrote recently that "the Government's claim about the economic benefits of immigration is false... all the research suggests that the benefits for the existing population as a whole are either close to zero, or negative".
We have reached a turning point. The public has finally seen through the Government's falsehoods about "managed migration" and its supposed benefits. People are deeply concerned that the numbers are out of control and are having a huge impact on our society.
The reason is that immigrants also create additional demand: to argue from vacancies is to argue for an endless cycle of immigration. Perhaps this is the real intention. I guess being a professor he must know what he’s on about. Reading associated articles I would add that there are obviously areas that don’t yet have immigrant workers (it won’t be long) and don’t need them.
Speaking to friends of mine who are now working alongside Polish workers its evident there are already mounting tensions. The first reason is the Polish don’t really want to interact and I could quote many examples of this. Secondly the Polish must feel that they are largely in the ‘underclass’ of workers as they take the seemingly worst jobs, this causes resentment, division and friction in the workplace especially as they rightly so see themselves as equal human beings which brings me onto my next topic nicely.
Integration
I notice that over in Newark that the local council and business have made a real effort to accommodate Polish people. Provisions have been made to teach them better English (if they are interested) and local pubs are now having Polish Karaoke nights and serving Polish spirits and beers. In my personal experiences and research it seems that the Polish though don’t really want to mix unless they have too.
Here’s what a Polish woman had to say about Britain on a recent forum site;
‘You basically eat Indian food and Yorkshire pudding – ONLY’, yet your houses are dumps, there are no good services like repairs easily accessible etc. I thought I was coming to developed country but I was wrong. The problem is you do not know it, cause you do not travel to much to compare anything to others. You very centred to yourself as well and do not try anything what's coming from other countries and what could actually be good for you too to make progress’
I’ve seen shop assistants being really friendly to Polish people, only to be given the cold shoulder, not a word of thanks. On a recent visit to London I was unsure of the next train on the underground (as there were 2 types) and on asking the first 3 people I spoke to were of European origin who didn’t want to give me the time of day. I was recently asked directions to a factory by a Polish guy and when I politely couldn’t help him I was scowled and grunted at. The simple reality is they are here in a mercenary capacity and very few have intentions of integrating unless situations demand it. I do accept there is a minority that do want to integrate but I will add firmly, they are in the minority.
When you look at British ex pats abroad you see that they take their British Identity with them but they also integrate into their new society, learn the language and adopt facets of that culture.
Impact
Well most of us are now waking up to the impact of it all, even when the government doesn’t seem to be, this of course is going to cost the government dearly when the next elections comes around. I’ve seen my dad change from being staunch labour to wanting to vote Tory or BNP but it doesn’t end there, its not just him – its thousands upon thousands that feel they are being ignored or repeatedly let down by the government.
I was chatting to a friend that works at East Midlands Airport and he said at least 3 plane loads of Polish arrive daily. Another article I read recently claimed that 2000 arrive daily at Victoria Bus Station in London. Above I mentioned bus loads arriving in Southampton but we have to ask ourselves in how many other cities and towns is this happening? It’s a scary thought.
As I mentioned in my last blog, what if the economy takes a sudden nose dive, what then? That’s when the real tensions will start.
The Polish are on a mission, they are even distributing flyers, setting up recruitment fairs and encouraging others over here to work, when their own embassy is advising against it unless they have jobs and support here. Rented and council housing is being snaffled up by them, schools are being overcrowded by them and there’s extra pressure on the NHS. As more come here it’s not going to get any better and why should British people jostle for housing or services they have paid into for years?
Whilst places like London have been used to dealing with immigrants for years many places around the country are struggling to cope with the sudden new influx. The situation is obviously going to get worse before it gets better, if indeed it will get any better. My argument isn’t really with the Polish people that have useful professions that want to integrate, it’s with the majority that remain arrogant and mercenary, that doesn’t really like us and don’t want to be here at all – apart from the money. That of course could be said for British or other nationalities working abroad but I believe that as a nation we are warm and accepting and this generally travels with us when we go abroad.
Oh and the bad news is the Bulgaria and Romania have been accepted into the European Union, so expect some of their guys here soon too, courtesy of the Labour government of course.
useful links and further reading.
This next Photo is a short distance into Manchester from Piccadilly station, I kept wandering further in and checking my watch and keeping my bearings, I didn't have lots of time and soon had to head back to the station, but exploring is fun!
