the political hot potato

[Moonman]

right, how many Polish nay Eastern European (for politcal corectness) live in your area? Does it bother you? does it worry you? does it anger you? what are you're feelings re this?

I think this is something we all have some sort of opinion on whether good or bad. And its something that, over the recent years has interested me more and more.

My own personal view is...i have had enough. I was walking thorough town centre today and i think i heard roughly about 1 in 10 people speaking english. I felt like a tourist in my own home town. Peterborogh for those that dont know has one of the biggest immigrant problems in the UK. Now, down a busy stretch of the Boro there are polish shops springing up everywhere. If they are coming to this country to live then they should integrate with the community in which city they have chosen to live, and not make miniature versions of Poland here. If they miss Poland so much might I suggest they go back there and stop putting a strain on our economy.

Secondly, the housing problem. The housing is of a big concern to me, what is the point of letting more immigrants into Peterborough or the country for that matter when there aren't enough houses to house those already on the waiting list?

Then there is the issue of jobs. I'd love to know some statistics in the peterborough area on how many workers have been made redundant or "laid off" in favour of employing eastern europeans for the minimum wage. Polish come over here because of a high unemployment rate in Poland, but surely if they keep flooding in at the rate they are, the the UK will have a big unemployment problem. Also people i have spoken to about this say "Polish are such hard workers" why? us brits work just as hard, we never had a problem before the "invasion".

Now i'm sure people are gonna say "well he's racist". Well i dont think i am or have been racist. In fact, my parents parents were polish. I know that Spain has a big English population and i'm sure they feel the same, and i can sympathise with them. I have not made any offensive remarks about polish people or the way they are or their culture. I'm just highlighting a problem that wasn't here 10 years ago, and i have seen the city i love turn into well, a slum really. People are afraid to go out at night because they are genuinely scared of "Eastern Europeans". Oh, and with all these immigrants, how many of these have a criminal record at home that we know nothing about? I have nothing against people from other countries living here, but when it uncontrolled then it becomes a problem., and please, speak our language, live by our cultures, respect them and everything will be good. I wouldn't dream of going to another country without trying top at least grasp the language. I live with a polish couple and i find them the most ignorant people that i have known for some time. - not saying they are all like it, i'm only speaking from my own experiences.

Oh well, just a few thoughts whilst passing through town today, and if i have offended anyone, sorry. And dont even go there with the "yeah but polish girls are hot" cos frankly i dont think they are. Way way too skinny for my liking and not enough personality.

[Briggsy]

I don't think you're racist at all - you're saying exactly what many of us think, but also what many people are too scared to speak out about.

Racism has reversed itself in this country now - if a foreigner is pulled over, he says "you've only pulled me over because of my colour" - actually mate, its because you were doing 30 miles per hour over the speed limit. Also, if a white person hits a black person, its a racist attack - but if a black person hits a white person, then its just assault. The fact that he called him a w***er, and he'd have got a slap regardless of whether he's white or black never gets a second thought - they just see a white person hitting a black person.

Anyway.... here in Coventry, we have a large population of asian people, polish people, and, more recently, eastern european people. The amount of Polish people has increased drastically over the last 12-18 months, since they were brought into the EU - and i'm fairly certain that when Albania join the EU next year, they'll also start coming over.

I'm not racist at all - I have a few asian friends, and they're genuinely good guys. In fact, they're better and more trustworthy than some of my English mates.

What I am against is the amount of foreigners that come over here because the Labour government say that they can come over, get a free house, free living allowance, free cars, free education, etc. That simply isn't on! Many of us have paid taxes into the system for years, yet as soon as we're a week late with our rent, we're threatened with court action. If we need medication on the NHS, we have to pay for it - despite paying taxes into the NHS for our working lives.

What also annoys me is the fact that they come over, claiming to know no English at all. They won't get a job because they "don't understand" their employers - but they can come over, and know enough English to start filling in benefit and free housing forms straight away.

The Aussies have the best system. To move into their country, you have to have a certain amount of savings in the bank (to fund your living expenses whil you find a job), and you HAVE to go over with a profession. If you're a qualified nurse with money in the bank - then you can leave tomorrow. if you haven't got a penny in savings, and haven't got a single qualification, then you can't go.

We need to adopt a similar theme. By all means, let foreigners in - they're welcome - BUT they must have money in the bank so that they can get a mortgage, not get a free house paid for by you and me. They MUST already know a satisfactory level of the English language, and they must come over with some kind of profession. Why should we pay our taxes to help fund some Albanian that doesn't speak a word of english, can't get a job until we've sent him to college for a year to learn something, and pay his housing rent aswell as ours. They also shouldn't have any NHS treatment until they've paid a sufficient amount into the NHS service. If they're unlucky enough to be seriously ill before they've paid enough into the system, then they should be charged for their treatment.

Labour constantly tell us that they've put more money into the NHS than ever before. Yes, thats true - but its in a worse state than ever before. Why? Because foreigners are draining our resources. We have more people in employment than ever before. Yes, but a lot of those are foreigners that are taking our jobs because they're cheap. A skilled worker that used to earn £30,000 per year, has now had his job taken by a foreigner working for half of that - so that skilled worker that was on a good salary, is now struggling to make ends meet as a delivery driver on £12,000 per year. SO yeah, more people in jobs - but earning far less than before. Children are leaving school with poor exam marks. Why? Because teacher are struggling to get their point across to foreign children that can't speka English very well - so they're spending more time on those pupils, and less on the others.

Did you know that each school HAS to reserve a certain amount of spaces for foreign children. You could apply to have your child put into your nearest secondary school - but you could have a letter saying that the school is full, and your child will have to go to the next nearest school - but if a Polish child comes over, they WILL find a place for him because they're forced to.

My dad worked from the age of 18, up to 55, before he had to retire due to injury at work. From the age of 55 to 65, he had more money going out of the house on bills than he had coming in from the governments invalidity benefit. If it wasn't for me helping with the bills, he'd have struggled - yet he's paid into the system for years. he got very little support back from the government. Meanwhile, foreigners are coming over, paying bugger all into the system, and coming out with more money than my dad. Where is the fairness in that?

So yeah, foreigners are welcome - but they need to prove that they can offer us something. if they're here to abuse Labour's soft policies on foreigners, then they should be sent back. I don't pay my taxes to help feed an albanian family of 6. I pay my taxes in the hope that if I need hospital treatment, i'll get it immediately.

[Briggsy]

Just one more thing to add....

If foreigners come over, they should accept our ways of living. We're not allowed to fly union jacks now because its deemed as "offensive" - even though its our national flag. We can't call Christmas lights by their name because its also offensive - they now have to be called "festival lights". They expect time off work when its their religious holidays, but also expect to have the time off when its our religious holidays too. Fine, they can have Diwali off work - but they've got to work over Christmas. We can't have Diwali and Christmas off, so why should they. Its not racist - its called being fair. If they're asked to remove certain items of clothing for security reasons, then they should remove it. If a person walks into a bank with a motorcycle helmet on, then he's asked to remove it for security reasons - so that people can see his face - but if an asian walks in with his facial robe on, everyone is scared to ask him to remove it - and if someone does dare to ask, then they're branded as racist. No mate, its called security!

If I went to live in Albania, Turkey, Poland or wherever, I wouldn't expect them to change their lifestyles to suit me. I'd happily learn their lingo, and fit in with their way of living - so it should be the same here. Its not though, because everyone is too scared to speak out incase we're branded as racist.

We're not racist - we're patriotic, proud of our country, and want to keep our British traditions alive.

Unfortunately, Great Britain is no longer great - it's slipping away from our control because we're too scared to speak out. Why can't they come over, fit in with the rest of us, and let us all get on as one big happy family. No, thats too simple - we've got to keep up the "them vs us" system because its far easier for everyone.

[bigsteve]

I don't want to go deep about this, but how come Eastern Europeans are selling the Big Issue? Shouldn't the priority be given to UK-born homeless people? Or have we now successfully housed all UK citizens?

PS Sorry if 'homeless' isn't politically correct - I'm unsure of what the term for this is these days

On a side note, I've just finished reading http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wasting-Police-Tim...3515&sr=8-1 which is written by a policeman. I don't agree with all his views, but it was quite an eye-opener to where our taxes go, and some bits very funny!

[Ducky]

Bugger i just wrote a big reply to this only to realise i wasnt logged in so i lost it arrgghh!!!!

Anyway i totally agree, i also am from Coventry Briggsy and totally agree with everything you say.

To give you an idea Coventry City Council are one of the Country's worst councils for giving these Foreigners hand outs, they give them the best houses, paid for and an endless supply of money.

To give you an example of what a joke this Council are, the end of last year they paid for a load of these Foreigners to learn to drive until they passed and then gave them £3000 each to buy cars, with the brainwave behind it that they will be able to provide their own transport therefor they can get jobs.

This Country needs to sort itself out before its too late and take a leaf out of Australia/France's book!

[JasonB]

Trowbridge (a town 10 mins away by car)seems to be polish central nowm, over the past year its become over run with them.

I agree with everything in thread totally, its so bad round here now Job wise thanks to foreigners.

[Chrissie Brown]

I'm not racist either and agree with all the comments that have been made on this subject. We have the same problems down here in West Cornwall. Most of the locals, who have worked on the land for years are now out of work due to gangs of (mainly) Polish men being given their jobs.

When the work comes to an end as it is mainly seasonal work, they stay in the area and some get up to no good.

I work in a supermarket and l can't go into details but many of them have been banned. It has nothing to do with them being foreign. If they commit a crime they should be sent back to their own country. We can't afford to keep them.

[Uberduck]

I live in Newark and although there aren't that many in this town specifically, there are loads in Lincoln et al. The fact that this area is pretty much covered in farmland means that there are loads of Polish & Lithuanian workers who are employed here for the fruit/vegetable picking.

Im totally open to these workers coming here as farm work is a pretty dull job and I doubt many people in this country would want to do it. The farmers also have to use these low paid workers as it increases their [already small] profit margins.

The problem I do have is the numbers they come here in. I saw some figures from the government that stated the expected influx and it was ridiculous (in the hundereds of thousands).

There's no way that number of people are required for this type of work. What on earth are the rest going to do?

The one thing that really annoys me is their crap driving. They have got to be the worst European drivers that exist! The cars they are driving in are absolute death traps and they drive at stupid speeds often doing some sickening overtaking manouvers. I get really mad with them driving right up my arse.

Bad drivers are one of my pet hates but I seem to get madder when the Eastern Europeans are to blame.

I think everyone is so scared of being called racist for hating the Europeans. If you look at the above posts people are paranoid about being called racist. Its clear that their reasons are not racist.

[Simcut]

I agree with the comments, but Polish girls are hot I should know

[Uberduck]

I agree with the comments, but Polish girls are hot I should know

Ooo yeah thats one good thing about them. The tiny blonde chick with her husband at the swimming pool. Couldnt help but look at her. Treat.

The only downside was that her husband looked like Vitali Klistchko. About 6 1/2 ft tall and built like a brick s***house. There's little 5'8" me stood next to him in the cue getting smiles off his wife. Sure fire way to get a [polish style] Glasgow kiss :blackeye: :wall: .

[Briggsy]

All the polish people i've seen look like Roy Walker

and thats only the women

[Neuro]

If foreigners come over, they should accept our ways of living. We're not allowed to fly union jacks now because its deemed as "offensive" - even though its our national flag. We can't call Christmas lights by their name because its also offensive - they now have to be called "festival lights". They expect time off work when its their religious holidays, but also expect to have the time off when its our religious holidays too. Fine, they can have Diwali off work - but they've got to work over Christmas. We can't have Diwali and Christmas off, so why should they. Its not racist - its called being fair. If they're asked to remove certain items of clothing for security reasons, then they should remove it. If a person walks into a bank with a motorcycle helmet on, then he's asked to remove it for security reasons - so that people can see his face - but if an asian walks in with his facial robe on, everyone is scared to ask him to remove it - and if someone does dare to ask, then they're branded as racist. No mate, its called security!

If I went to live in Albania, Turkey, Poland or wherever, I wouldn't expect them to change their lifestyles to suit me. I'd happily learn their lingo, and fit in with their way of living - so it should be the same here. Its not though, because everyone is too scared to speak out incase we're branded as racist.

We're not racist - we're patriotic, proud of our country, and want to keep our British traditions alive.

This is an excellent point. Only through travelling have I been made to realize what massive cultural differences exist when you move countries. Historically in Spain they've always been very wary of foreigners over here, much more than the Portuguese for instance, so there's only so far you can go, but I wince at the Costa del Sol with all the English setting up another England on Spanish soil.... the Spanish hate it! I've tried to fit in here in Spain, by not going to bars full of foreigners, trying to assimilate into the society as much as I can, even though I look English by the colour of my eyes and hair. Those giris who have been beaten up or had things stolen over here have had it coming by not trying hard enough!

[Justin Haze]

Im from Dover enough said..... :confused:

I have my own carpentry business and have seen the building trade go into radical decline over the last 3 years as the average day rate for a skilled tradesman is £130ish and many eastern europeans and under cutting everyones prices, getting the contracts and sending the money back home. I have no problem with someone wanting to earn money to support there families but under cutting companies and taking money out of the country does nothing for the economy.

Theres a road in dover nicknamed "Kosovo alley" where you can see gangs of guys sporting shell suits and hanging around modifying K reg mondeo`s etc and of an evening its like the fast and furious down there!

[Briggsy]

I completely agree mate. They're taking money out of the country when they earn it, but because a lot of it is cash in hand, they're not contributing towards the NHS system either - so when they come to use thats ervice, they're taking more money out from our country - so they're taking it twice!

Its OK Gordon Brown telling us the economy is stronger than ever - but thats only because they keep increasing taxes to make up for the money they're handing out to foreigners. The country's economy may be ricjer than ever - but we're poorer than ever. The cost of everything goes up, but salaries don't go up at the same rate.

No wonder more and more people are going bankrupt than ever before - whilst are foreign friends are leeching every penny they can get. They're richer than us now!