Swamped by immigrant workers

Excellent post Eleothan. to the writer!

We have a huge number of East European immigrants in this rural area, some for the fruit picking, some permanent residents.

Traditionally this area housed Polish soldiers and their families who found themselves displaced after the war; and now there is a new large influx in the last couple of years. In fact I am told that the local maternity unit delivers more babies to E European mothers than to local mums.

I have no problem with it - they are gradually integrating. I think the word "swamped" is a bit emotive.

Good post Eloethan - sadly, many people just don't seem to grasp that angle of immigration and just assume everyone who is concerned must be a racist.

Well said, Eloethan. "Divide & rule" and so many people fail to see it.

I live near the school featured in Educating East London. It is a very cosmopolitan area and over the last six years or so a growing number of Eastern European people have moved here.

I have found that people who come from other countries are generally no better or worse than those that already live here and, from what I can see, the majority are employed. They often work as carers, cleaners and other low paid and demanding jobs that (perhaps understandably) others are less keen to do. Those working as builders, plumbers, etc., we have found to be highly skilled and hardworking.

Having a pool of people to do the most demanding jobs for the least amount of money, may in the short term appear to benefit everybody in that it keeps the cost of services and goods down. In the long term, it accelerates the "race to the bottom" where wages for all but the highest paid are held down. That is not the fault of immigrant workers but of a government which is in the main bankrolled by big business which benefit from people from other countries who are willing to work for very low pay. I think it's also the fault of previous government who thought that by encouraging public/private ventures and using a "softly softly" regulatory approach the economy would thrive and everybody would benefit.

Businesses are dependent on the social and logistical infrastructure of a country. But - despite the growing pressures on housing, healthcare, education, transport, etc. - they are very unwilling to pay their taxes towards it. I think that is the root of the problem, and the issue of immigration is being used to divert attention from it.

You are right, Ariadne. The NHS is certainly a cosmopolitan institution. All my orthopaedic registrars were Sikhs and incredibly good looking. My trapeziectomy was done by a wonderful Egyptian hand surgeon; the anaesthetist was Spanish and recently I saw an Indian audiologist. Never mind the immigrant footballers - our best ever distance runner was born in Somalia and is never referred to as anything but British.

DH wonders what UKIP's policy is on all the immigrant footballers in the Barclays Premier League?

Where I live, a Polish family has rented a house. I dread to think where everbody sleeps because at least 10 people, of varying ages, live there. Grandma stays at home to pick up and take the 2 delightful children to school and everybody else of working age is out trying to earn a living. The children are now at school so their English has improved 100%. They are helpful, pleasant and polite. I would feel sorry if that family moved away as I think that they are an asset to our community.

This year, so far, I have had three operations, with a fourth to come, and my care has been superb:

My GP is Egyptian
My orthopaedic surgeon is Indian
My first cataract surgeon was Iranian
My second (last Friday) was Pakistani
The anaesthetist was, I think, Latvian

DH was seen at the optician last week, by a Canadian trainee and a South African ophthalmologist (who first diagnosed my cataracts)

Some at least must have been immigrants, or come from immigrant families?

We have a Polish plumber who works his socks off !

We too have quite a few Polish people who obviously come to work on the farms in the spring/summer. They are polite and speak our language well, which is something we should insist on, if people are coming here to work.

We have a few Polish immigrant families here. They have come to stay, work integrate and become British. No problem. We have many of Italian and Polish extraction who's grandparents settled here after the last war after fighting wih us in the airforce so there is a history of these nationalities coming to Norfolk. Oh, and there's the Chinese family who run the takeaway - but they're British - and quite a few Americans for some reason.

(Also in rural areas the majority of primary schools are CofE. This may have some influence)

I think there's much more of a problem aound Peterborough and Wisbech where the incomers don't integrate.

Pompa that was exactly the same situation in the village where I used to live, only it was a vegetabl growing area.

I've no objections at all to seasonal workers as the tend not to bring families with them and return to their countries at the end of each season. This doesn't place such a strain on services.

As far as immigrant workers who come and settle here with their families. If they are working then they are paying into our ecomony and have the same entitlement to education, health care and other services as we have. And if these exist in sufficient numbers to put a strain on local services then local services need to be improved and extended.

What I would strongly object to is anyone coming to this country purely to claim benefits and who gave no intention of working. I don't know if such people exist in reality or if only in the 'popular press' and I'd like to see some statistics to show this one way or another.

Our local fruit farm (Wilkins - Tiptree jam) could not cope without it's seasonal influx of immigrant workers, they try to recruit locally, but no one wants the backbreaking job of fruit picking (done it, got the tee shirt and the aching back)

They have a summer camp for caravaners that want to pick, but even they are dwindling in numbers.

The immigrant workers are very friendly and never cause any problems in the village.

Enhanced would be a better word.