UK, Ireland / "Polish ambassador warns - think twice about coming to Britain for work " [126]


What utter cr@p !

There are very few minorities that don't get it in the neck from the tabloids at some stage.

Hopefully after the general election, the next government will shake up the immigration situation and the benefits they are entitled too to such a degree, that there won't be any point in the freeloaders staying. Being left with the hardworking, self sufficient immigrants is fair enough, it's the scroats that we want rid off.

UK, Ireland / Polish driver dies as car shears in half... [38]

It's hard to have much sympathy for this guy and I'm just glad that the only dead body around was his, rather than some innocent person that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If he'd have ran someone over and killed them and barely got a scratch himself, we all know what kind of 'punishment' he would have received. A few months in jail, if that.

Paying tribute to Mr Grabowski shortly after the crash, friend and colleague Beata Adamcyzk, 26, described him as a 'great guy'.

She said: 'He was a really friendly guy and was always willing to help. He was a very caring person and I thought he was a great guy.

A great guy ? Great guys do not behave like this.

At least there is one less drunken idiot on the roads.

UK, Ireland / British news: The Poles might be leaving but the prejudice remains [52]

Mark Steel, the guy that wrote the article, really doesn't get the point at all.

It reads as a pretty typical "you're a racist if you even dare to criticise open-door immigration".

It's just lazy journalism at the end of the day. I don't know how people like this Mark Steel character get these jobs. He's not done anything to try and find out WHY people feel the way that they do about immigration, he's just dismissing them as being the ones with the problem and not bothering to find out any more.

I fully agree that the right-wing press "oh no, the immigrants are coming!" type headlines are damaging, but people like Mark Steel hold the debate up too, they don't advance it.

UK, Ireland / England, Dirty, Expensive and a dangerous place to live? [205]


Fair point, but it is still enough to put some off going out, or certainly put them off going to certain places.

I'm in my mid-thirties now, so my nights out clubbing are few and far between, however, rewind ten years when I was out most weekends, I don't recall seeing such a heavy police presence in the exact same Brighton street.

Of course Friday and Saturday nights were busy nights for the police I am sure, but they were not on the scale that they are now.

UK, Ireland / England, Dirty, Expensive and a dangerous place to live? [205]


The rise of violent crime is due to combination of factors. The fact that you can drink your own body weight in cheap booze for less than a tenner doesn't help for a start. That and the fact that there are little or no consequences for behaving badly, which just encourages people to push the boundaries as far as they can.

With so many tanked up people around on Friday and Saturday nights, trouble is never too faraway.

I happened to be out last night and the Police van and general atmosphere in Brighton's rather notorious West Street was enough to make me and those I was with go and find somewhere quieter.

I joked to one of the people I was with that there was probably a camera crew around somewhere making a film about binge drinking culture. Turns out that they had already been there and done that when making something called "Brighton Beach Patrol" for Channel 5 !

I felt safer walking home along the seafront than braving the hell on earth that would have been the night bus.

I often feel that, as a nation, we're held to ransom by a bunch of daft, drunk and often dangerous individuals that are basically no more than kids that need pulling back into line !

UK, Ireland / England, Dirty, Expensive and a dangerous place to live? [205]


Generally I would say worse, although in many ways it hasn't affected me that much personally.

I don't claim benefits and I don't live in council....oh sorry we have to call it social housing now don't we, but if I did then I might notice the affects more.

However, it's hard not to notice the fact that we had far too many people living here in the first place and allowing so many more in without capping the numbers was total maddness.

UK, Ireland / Exploiting Polish Workers by the UK businesses [90]


Oh good lawd !

Looks who's back !

UK, Ireland / Exploiting Polish Workers by the UK businesses [90]


Apart from what happened to your friends, do you have any real information to back up what you are saying ?

Did your friends read what they were signing when they signed their employment contracts ?

Often people get ripped off because they have left themselves vulnerable to being ripped off. I'm not saying it is right, but you have to be wise before event rather than whinge about it afterwards.

There will always be someone ready and waiting to rip you off if you let them, whether you're Polish, British or anything else. You have to be able to see them coming.

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]

If only removing things you don't like about life was as simple as that.

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]


You can't seem to be able to spell Parliament correctly which, considering your screen ID, is rather embarrasing don't you think ?

Also, your grammar, for someone that is British and has been through the British education system, is pretty dire too.

I don't think I am being ignorant over the BNP at all. They've been going for years and is two MEPs and a handful of councillors in shite parts of the UK really the most that they can manage ?


Fair enough, I jumped to a conclusion and I apologise.

According to the South Africans I know (the ones that do hold British passports and spent years sitting around their swimming pools getting stewed everyday and not giving the UK a second thought) seem to think SA is fu**ed. That's the only reason they are here at all.

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]

Very true.


I've not read up on UKIP all that much, but I did vote for them in the Euros as they're not in favour of uncontrolled immigration and they don't have a hate-filled agenda against pretty much everyone and anyone.

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]


They're just a small bunch of nutters that managed to get two (yes, that's TWO) MEPs into the European Parliament.

Yes, immigration is in a mess but the BNP are not the answer.


Don't tell me, let me guess, your mate arrived here with a British passport that he has always carried due to colonial links between Britain and SA and that the only reason he came here in the first place is because SA is f**ked ?

UK, Ireland / Maternity and benefits in Scotland [16]

Well she never came back for any of the advice she sought in her first post, which always makes me think of someone registering purely so that they can stir the pot with a made up situation.

Have you noticed that everyone that seems to make their first post a "please help me!" type post is either pregnant and/or about to get married for immigration related reasons ?

Most of the advise that comes back is often found via google anyway, so maybe people should do that first instead.

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]


It maybe the Landlord's property, but he/she has to play fair and it isn't fair to discriminate against entire nations, regardless of any past, bad experiences. They're probably renting rat-holes that only poor migrant workers would live in anyway, so they should be grateful anyone wants to pay rent.

By all means do some thorough reference checking and then reject their applications if they're not great, but everyone deserves a chance.

I heard this item on Radio 4 the other morning with the letting agency woman saying "yeah, that's fine, no problem" to the undercover reporter who didn't want any foreigners renting his properties.

Therefore IT IS the BBC's business as they were being pretty blatant about it all.

The letting agents were really out of order.

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]

There must have been a time when it wasn't though.

As I've said before, these situations don't happen overnight, it's a slow drip-drip-drip and if no one takes any action, you do get swamped.

That's what has happened in schools like the one your niece/nephew went too. When it was 9% rather than 90% Asian, parents should have duge their heels in when it came to there being too much stuff in Urdu or whatever and said "I'm not putting up with this!". Easier said than done maybe, but it's no surprise that we are where we are.

Your sentence could just as easily be saying "Nothing changes in a school which is 90% Polish." in a decade or so if some common sense isn't applied now when there is a still a chance too.

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]


Fair comment. I wish though that in such situations the parents kicked up a stink to the school before taking them out and sending them somewhere else.

Maybe your sister did complain, obviously I don't know what happened, but nothing changes if parents simply take their child to another school.

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]


These situations don't drop out of a clear blue sky though. Those that can and do make these big decisions must have had a "worst case scenario" discussion.



You're right I did. People will only take so much and sooner or later people react. Remember the race riots in Bradford ? That wasn't that long ago and that was in many ways British vs British accept some were white and some were asian.

Similar could happen just as easily with economic migrants (or whatever the PC term is) being the target. It could take something as small as Little Johnny coming home speaking a few Polish words to tip someone over the edge.


And you think that the reasons behind these Polish lessons are not similar to a school that has a lot of children speaking Urdu ?

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]


He has a view and as he lives there, I think hearing him out is reasonable.

I'm sure he could fine plenty of websites where he could "preach to the choir", however, he posts here where at least he will be given a good run for his money.


Thanks I hadn't realised that. That makes a bit more sense, however, the article doesn't mention how this has gone down with the parents of Irish children.

Thanks for the link.


I hear what you're saying, but I hope people see sense and but the breaks on as that way lies the ghetto of the future.

Thanks for the link also.

UK, Ireland / Irish Primary schools to teach Polish [223]


I think it would depend what has been shelved or had lesson time reduced to fit in the Polish lessons.

It's not as though they can increase the number of hours they can teach, so Polish lessons must be replacing something. What will they be doing less of ? Grammar ? Reading ? Maths ? History ? Shorter lunches ?

What's next on the list ? A spot of Urdu perhaps ?

At the moment, I'm not too sure of their reasons for doing this, when they could have just as easily added French or German instead.

I don't see anything "wrong" in this as such, however, I don't think that it should be done just to appease the local Polish population.

Also, while I don't want to sound like the link-police, RN, if you want to give the pot a good stir, it's a good idea to provide the link to the article you're getting your information from :-)

UK, Ireland / Recruitment agencies advertise for Polish only workers [162]


I fear a backlash against immigrants in general.


How does one boycott foreigners ?


I would never blame an immigrant for the current situation, it's the politicians that have a total disregard for everyone that are the real culprits.


I agree and it's even the same in places like Zimbabwe if you can earn in pounds or dollars.

UK, Ireland / 13,000 Polish births this year, in the UK [180]

I'm sure what you're saying is correct in your experience, however, I do find it ironic that a post about the importance of grammar lacks so many apostrophes.

UK, Ireland / 13,000 Polish births this year, in the UK [180]


Votes probably. If the welfare state is drastically changed in the way it needs to be, that party will probably loose votes from the people they're taking the money away from.

Too many rely on benefits now.


True, but in theory those people have been paying in tax and NI for longer, so it could be argued that they are more entitled.

The NHS is too easy to screw over and will eventually become the health service for the very poor and those fresh off the boat. The rest of us will have to find the money to go private.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


Given that the mother in this case lives here as well, I'm finding it hard to understand the fact that her poor English seems to be seen as something that is ok to continue.


Even in front of their friends ?


I'm sure they will, but how far will they really get if they struggle in the one langauge they actually need if they want to live in the UK ?

UK, Ireland / Recruitment agencies advertise for Polish only workers [162]


Not from real life then ?

TV documentaries always have an agenda and tend to come out with the same tired old nonsense.

I'm sure that there are plenty of British people that could have done a brilliant job for this guy had they been able to manage on the wages.

How far above minimum wage is bar work ? Not very much I would have thought.

If you want decent staff, then you have to be prepared to pay them enough to live on and I would suspect that his rate attracted those at the bottom of the British barrell.

This "oh the Polish work so hard and the British are so lazy" stuff is such a crock of shite.

This bar manager guy is part of the problem as he's essentially just employing cheap foreign labour and using the "lazy British" as an excuse for his p!ss poor wages.


Exactly.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


Then why doesn't she ?

Her children don't want to be one of those kids (of which there are many from various backgrounds) that end up having to act as a translator for their parents in later life.


Why would she ? Surely she doesn't want to miss out on things her children enjoy doing because she can't understand English enough to keep up with the conversations they must have with their mates ?


This is the sort of person people mean when they talk about people not integrating when they move to another country.

UK, Ireland / Car Shipment from Poland to the UK [19]


If someone is planning on sticking around for a bit, this would be the best course of action.

It would also mean that you wouldn't have to register with the DVLA after six months.

UK, Ireland / The paradox of Polish drivers getting car insurance in the UK [14]

I passed my test at 17 in 1991 in the days of the hot-hatchback and joy-riding and my 950cc Fiat Panda that cost less than £100 to buy was almost £500 to insure.

I had to suffer because of a few daft tw@ts that stole cars and just happened to be about my age. I just had deal with it to get some no claims bonuses. Unfortunately, sometimes in life you just have to get on with it.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


Then why mention racism ? What's being discussed has nothing to do with racism. Whatever this teacher's reasoning behind what she has said, no one seems to be suggesting she is a racist.


They do indeed and excellent written and spoken English will put this little chap streets ahead of many in a day and age where it's starting to be regarded as less important

Being able to speak another language will only put him further ahead, but at the end of the day it will be his English that will get him good exam grades and job interviews.

The same goes for his parents in terms of making their prospects the best that they can be.


I agree.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


That's the real crux of the matter.


In a situation like this, the parents should be looking to improve their English and learn with the child.


Racism is racism whichever way it goes or do you find you get more attention if you play the victim ?


That will hardly help his parents integrate though will it.

UK, Ireland / The paradox of Polish drivers getting car insurance in the UK [14]


That makes no sense unless they're condoning someone driving uninsured.