UK, Ireland / Polish community in Leeds? [25]

You've dodged the question, with respect, as I didn't ask why celebrities with tonnes of cash move around the world. The answer to that is obvious, it's all for tax reasons.

My question was why ordinary people from places like Poland move countries and then go on about being proud to be Polish.

Are the Polish that remain in Poland the ones to be proud and the rest have just sold-out ?

UK, Ireland / Polish community in Leeds? [25]



I'm glad you're proud to be Polish, but why are you living here then ?

I do fail to understand sometimes why people think that a certain place is so great and yet they no longer live there.


As a Southerner, I wouldn't be keen on living in Leeds either, but that's the North/South divide for you ;-)

UK, Ireland / UK In Recession - It's Official [26]


You're right, it is very serious.

I recently changed jobs (I work in banking) and where I used to work, they're making people redundant. I was very lucky to move when I did.

I now work in debt management and have to deal with people that are way over their overdraft limits, can't pay their loans, mortgages and credit cards. It's not nice as you can imagine.

The sad thing is that most of the people that are struggling with credit cards etc never had the means in the first place to maintain payments. Banks have been throwing money at people for years and the debt on their books is mainly of their own making.

What staggers me on a daily basis is the number of people from countries like Poland that owe so much money and are in way over their heads. The bank I work for have even had to hire people for their foreign language skills - that's how serious the problem is.

I'd also be interested to know how the British recession is being covered in the Polish media and also what is the attitude of the Polish to debt ?

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]


If someone was deaf and giving them a job would potentially put them and others in danger, then, yes I would discriminate. However, I think it is more of a case of being logical than wanting to discriminate.

I would imagine that each group of workers has someone that can interpret for them, but for my way of thinking, this is too risky.


Exactly, which opens you up to the risk of being ripped off.

I work in financial services and I've lost count of the numbers of accounts I've seen where the Polish and other nationalities have been sold financial products that they neither need nor understand. It's a scandal, but managers turn a blind eye as it helps people meet their targets. I've even heard staff refer to foreigners that speak little English as an "easy sale". Personally I wouldn't sleep at night if I thought I had conned someone in such a blatant way, which is why I've had to be happy with lower sales figures than many others.


She's applying logic which if we tried similar would probably be called discrimination.

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]


Your wife's cousin is a dangerous person to have about in a factory. What if there was a fire and she had to call 999 ?

I think it's wrong to put people in such situations. It should be illegal for the employer to do this.

I also object to all this transalation business. Not because I'm trying to be awkward, but resources are too stretched as it is.

Having large numbers of people that don't speak English, but are living here, creates an under-class.


Nice. They say you can choose your friends, but not your family.

I'm sure if she gets herself knocked up, she'll get all the benefits she seeks. She'll climb the council housing list pretty fast too.

Some people seem to find it hard to fathom why so many British people are upset by mass immigration. Try standing in a supermarket queue behind a heavily pregnant foreigner that's gibber jabbering away in another language and then consider who is having to pay for all her NHS care and child benefit. If you're British, it's hard not to feel rather upset and annoyed as you know it's your tax £s that are being used.

Benefits and access to things like the NHS should be linked to the length of time the claimant has been paying into the system. A couple of years of packing boxes should mean that her getting pregnant is her own concern.


It shouldn't be for anyone in the UK to pay for the English lessons of foreigners. They should either learn before they get here or pay for a course themselves.

Should I expect free Polish lessons if I went to Poland ?

UK, Ireland / Have you moved from Poland to Britain? [9]


Polish people who have moved to Britain you mean ?

I've been on here just over a year and I've got no idea who is Polish and who isn't really - apart from noimmigration, I think we all know what he is ;-)


Hi Alinka

I'd be interested in hearing your story. Do you see the bits you're not totally happy with changing any time soon ?

UK, Ireland / Polish factory starts production in UK [7]


Stop living like a student and buy some proper food ;-)

I've got mixed feelings on this factory opening. It's great of course that something is being opened rather than closed down, but I can almost hear the locals getting ready to say: "Nah, you have to speak Polish if you wanna work there mate!"

Whether that's true or not, the owners will face an up-hill battle convincing some people otherwise.

Why wasn't it opened in Poland ?

UK, Ireland / No Irish Need Apply - Polish Builders get their own back [42]


Was this in Poland ?


We reap what we sow.

UK, Ireland / Can i get housing benefit in th UK? [20]


Well, he/she hasn't come back for the advise ;-)

UK, Ireland / Can i get housing benefit in th UK? [20]


I did it to draw attention to the part of the post I was referring too. As it appears to upset you, I'll refrain from this in future. My apologies.


I wasn't saying that it's not there for anyone and everyone to use, I was just asking the question that how many consider making a donation once they have had the free (and presumably) useful information.


I don't think that foreign nationals should be entitled to council housing at such an early stage of their time in the UK. This person (that says on their profile that they are a non-Polish speaking man from Bristol) says they've lived here only three years, are not married, pregnant and not British.

Not our responsibility, sorry !

Now that you have each had your say, can we now stick to the topic.

Thank you

UK, Ireland / Can i get housing benefit in th UK? [20]

What did I alter ? I only made some of the text bold to point out the part I was referring to and didn't alter the wording.

I was just saying, for anyone that wasn't aware, that the CAB is a charity and most of the staff people see give their time voluntary.

Therefore, maybe those who use it to find out what a country they weren't born into is going to hand them on a plate might want to remember that when they're cashing their giros and having their rent paid for by the local council.

UK, Ireland / No Irish Need Apply - Polish Builders get their own back [42]

You can see the logic in a country trying to look after their own first, something the UK never seem to do.

I would never condone the "no (insert unwanted foreigners here) need apply" approach, but I can understand it if that makes sense.

UK, Ireland / Can i get housing benefit in th UK? [20]

I wonder how many people that use the CAB for such information appreciate the fact that they are a charity and that the majority of the staff are unpaid volunteers.

Do they send the CAB a grateful donation out of their first giro ?

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]

I can see it, but have no idea why the Government can't, other than assuming that people avoid things that are just too big to deal with.

The UK has been sliding into this situation for years and the electorate have let them.

UK, Ireland / Can i get housing benefit in th UK? [20]


Where is your boyfriend from ? Maybe you should be trying to get his home country to be paying for your housing situation ? Why can't you stay living where you are or, if it's not big enough, maybe it's time to go back to Poland ?

How long have you been with him and maybe you should have been more careful in the bedroom ?

Three years contributions is naff all as far as now wanting a council house in return.

I hoping that this is a wind-up and that you're just trying to give the pot a good stir (with your first post). If not, and this is a genuine question, your attitude sums up everything that is wrong with "the system".

You're giving the many decent Polish people living and working here a bad name.

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]


I agree that it's not the fault of the person employed as such and that the employer should have a duty to only employ people that can speak English fluently.

It's a bit of a 50/50 spilt I guess. People shouldn't apply for jobs that they won't be able to do, but if they do then they shouldn't get them. However, it someone doesn't ask for much in the way of money, they often get taken on regardless.

There should be rules in place to protect such people from such employers. It's them I blame more than the workers themselves in most cases.

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]


That bugs me too, as well as the fact that people with such a poor command of the language end up with jobs in the first place.

There aren't any jobs where being able to speak the language of the country that you are working in is optional.

UK, Ireland / 10,000 Poles in UK for free abortions [58]


For me, it's about it being free.

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]


And what happens if they don't ?

That's the problem as no one is doing anything "wrong" if they stare blankly at you and not have a damn clue what you're trying to say. You could be saying "Dial 999, I'm dieing!!" and they still wouldn't budge.

To me, this is real danger as what we've got now (through years and years of the problem escalating. This hasn't dropped out of a clear blue sky) is whole communities of people that have pretty much closed the door on the rest of society and just plod along as best they can.

There is an under-class of people that can't even ring their bank to get a balance without an interpreter, so what would they do if they were trapped in a burning building ? Ring 999 and ask for someone that speaks their language ?

I don't know what the answer is as such, but it isn't printing leaflets in several languages and pretending that will make everything ok.

UK, Ireland / 10,000 Poles in UK for free abortions [58]


I agree that immigration is a different topic but it is connected to this one, in that it is being said that some Polish women are travelling here for abortions ie. they had got themselves knocked-up before they even bought their plane ticket.

Therefore, if access to the NHS wasn't so easy for foreign nationals (be they from the EU or anywhere), then we wouldn't even be having this discussion.


I agree. I'm glad I'm not the only person who can have both a right and left wing perspective on things !

As for the pro-life / right to chose debate, I find them very hard to take part in online. They can be difficult enough when you're face to face with someone.


Yes, but sadly as with many things in life, people that don't want to face their responsibilites don't have too. Welcome to life under Labour !

UK, Ireland / 10,000 Poles in UK for free abortions [58]

Having an NI number and a few months worth of work under your belt shouldn't mean you can access public services to such an extent.

The "come one, come all" approach to immigration was always going to create problems like this.

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]


And that's where the problem lies.

Budgets are too tight for councils etc to be publishing leaflets in several other languages - they had a total of nine options on the last council form I saw. All that happens as a result is people don't bother learning, they don't see the point, and several years and a few kids later, they're passing the phone over to their children and getting them to translate for them.

Apart from the obvious limitations, not learning English just leaves people wide open to being ripped off. In my day job, I've spoken to so many Polish (and other nationalities) people that have ended up with credit cards and loans etc and they didn't really understand crucial points, like the repayment terms, as they didn't understand the what they were getting into.

Britain is a country totally without any logical or commonsense at the moment.

UK, Ireland / Is is very hard to get a job as live in tutor for summer only in the UK? [9]

Do you know which part of the UK you would like to go for ?

When you know, maybe try contacting their local paper and see if they would print an appeal or something for you. Everyday is a slow news day for many local papers, so it's worth a go.

Most local papers have a free edition and are delivered to every home in the area. Not all are read of course, but you might get lucky. You could also do the same with any websites specific to that town. By this I mean websites put together by local people, rather than something like gumtree.

Gumtree is full of people doing similar things to you, so try and be unique.

Contact the local schools in the town you want to stay and maybe see if they have any suggestions ? You're in the same line of work, so they should have a desire to help or at least point you in the right direction.

Just a few thoughts I had on your situation. Apologies if they're no good.

Good luck !

UK, Ireland / Working as an au-pair in UK and leaving the host family. Is it legal? [60]


Made me laugh too. I don't think Wyspianska will have any problems ;-)

UK, Ireland / Working as an au-pair in UK and leaving the host family. Is it legal? [60]


I appreciate that it's not a career move and I'm glad that it worked for you. I just believe in a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.


This is my concern and I would rather that the au pair's were employed, weren't little more than children themselves, paid decent money, paid tax and everyone knew where they stood.

UK, Ireland / Working as an au-pair in UK and leaving the host family. Is it legal? [60]

Mmmmmmmm, it sounds ideal for any employer who wants to try a little exploitation.

UK, Ireland / What exactly is the process to get into the UK? [44]


I hope today is better for you.


Not at all. You're considering moving to a totally different country and not everyone could do that. I'm not sure if I could.

I've not lived in London, so can't be much help there, but if you head south out of London down to the coast, you will find Brighton. It's expensive to live here, but it's fairly chilled out and what with the universities and so on, there is a large mix of people. All human life is here AND it's by the sea. You might want to look it up :-)

UK, Ireland / What exactly is the process to get into the UK? [44]


You don't sound all that happy mate, are you ok ?

UK, Ireland / What exactly is the process to get into the UK? [44]

Is the grass always greener on the other side ?

UK, Ireland / Working as an au-pair in UK and leaving the host family. Is it legal? [60]


All I was trying to say was that an au pair should be receiving enough of a wage to make it liable for tax (from a perspective of them not being ripped off, rather than providing tax revenue) and if they're not, then maybe they should consider something else.

And as far as the cost of an au pair vs the cost of private nurseries, maybe parents should think more about the real cost of having children before actually having them.