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Posts by Mister H  

Joined: 4 Jan 2008 / Male ♂
Last Post: 2 Nov 2019
Threads: Total: 11 / In This Archive: 6
Posts: Total: 761 / In This Archive: 553
From: Hove, UK
Speaks Polish?: no

Displayed posts: 559 / page 1 of 19
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Mister H   
24 Dec 2009
UK, Ireland / Why Poles choose to die instead going home? [12]

It's a sad situation for sure, but from reading the BBC article it seems that these guys don't want to be helped.

What it is they actually do want or what they expect isn't clear at all.

They've been offered a ride home it seems, so they should cut their losses at take it.
Mister H   
5 Dec 2009
UK, Ireland / Why are we paying child benefit in Poland? [63]

Their greed or the Banks greed.?

Both. People know when they are living outside of what they can comfortably afford and, yes, of course the banks have the power and the responsibility not to lend, but at the same time people don't have to borrow.

I'm all for holding the banks to account for their actions, but the people taking out the loans and credit cards etc should take their part of the blame too.

It will take much more than some child benefit and working tax credits to pay back what many people (including many Polish people) have borrowed.
Mister H   
5 Dec 2009
UK, Ireland / Why are we paying child benefit in Poland? [63]

Very good post, Avalon. It is the fault of the government and not of claimants who are aware of their rights.

He also blamed the electorate, which is fair enough in some ways, but at the same time what were the alternative parties going to do ? Would they have been any different ?

Also, politicians are very good at keeping such stuff hidden. I like to think I keep myself informed as to what is going on, but I had no idea Poland and the others joining the EU would have such dire consequences for the British.

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have voted for Tony Blair.
Mister H   
5 Dec 2009
UK, Ireland / Why are we paying child benefit in Poland? [63]

The anger would be directed at the British people who allowed this to happen. All the lessons learnt from the last centuary ignored. Socialism, never works.

May I ask who you would have voted for had you been living here for the three general elections Labour won ?

As for the child benefit situation, what is interesting to me as someone that works in collections for a large bank is the fact many Polish people can't manage even with all the extra help they get. £80 a month child benefit does little to help when you owe about £10,000 in loans, credit cards and overdrafts.

Many live in the UK now because they are trapped in a spiral of debt. Debts caused by their greed, naivety and in some cases not understanding English properly. This is together with the idiotic banks lending money to people with little or no credit history.

The Polish maybe patting themselves on the back for a job well done in rinsing the UK's benefit system, but many are finding that they are not getting the last laugh as they flee back home in a bid to escape bankruptcy.
Mister H   
5 Dec 2009
UK, Ireland / Why are we paying child benefit in Poland? [63]

what we do?

No idea. I don't think that there is much that we can do, however, one day the money will run out then something will have to be done.

Things such as benefit entitlement illustrate perfectly why countries such as Poland and others should never have been allowed into the EU - not with the rules in place at the time anyway - as their economy simply wasn't up to it.
Mister H   
3 Dec 2009
UK, Ireland / English people attitude towards Poles? [761]

Because they don't hear it.

Oh you say it behind their back! So brave!

No I would respect what the real people of that country wanted and go home.

You have a very one-dimentional view of things.

Do you approve of ANY sort of immigration ?
Mister H   
3 Dec 2009
UK, Ireland / What is the british obsession with Polish workers [39]

People make a fuss about Polish workers because they are an easy target. They are caucasians just like us.

If you complain about Pakistani and Indian and African migrant workers you are called a racist.

I have no problem with Poles working in the UK.

It's nothing to do with easy targets, it's purely down to the fact that EU immigration has not been controlled in any way, shape or form. Britian has been swamped and that's what we object too.

We were never given any option or choice in this. We simply have to put up with it.
Mister H   
26 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / English people attitude towards Poles? [761]

Well you wouldn't Mister H because in my view you are ever so politically correct on these issues, as it was said before no hate was meant.

I am not "ever so politically correct", in fact I loathe political correctness, however, I don't see being wise and a bit sensitive to people's feelings as being politically correct.

Why use a word you know might upset someone just because you don't actually intend to upset them ?

If you had grown up in a country where you often saw "Brits go home" painted in 10 foot high letters around the place, wouldn't you feel a little bit sensitive about the use of the word "Brit" ?

Id say its quite offensive, since most corner shops are actually owned by Indians :D

That's the other issue. Half the time, people use it not even knowing where the person they are directing it at is actually from.
Mister H   
23 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / English people attitude towards Poles? [761]

If it wasn't for all the racial hatred that was directed towards pakistanis when they first came all those years ago then i doubt the word paki would be deemed racist or derogative.

That is a very big "if" thought isn't it ?

The P word was used in a nasty and racist way back in the day, so now it is seen as an offensive word with racial connotations.

We reap what we sow, the damage has been done.

Therefore I don't see why anyone would still want to be using it, let alone call the corner shop "The Paki Shop".
Mister H   
23 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / I'm turning nationalistic. Want to change my views. [14]

Well james maybe you should take some time to think about why you have come to this point,

This James guy won't be coming back (or I very much doubt it).

Let's not waste any more time discussing his fictional situation.
Mister H   
22 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / I'm turning nationalistic. Want to change my views. [14]

BMW driving

I've yet to see a Polish registered car that is not either a BMW, a Merc or a chunky 4x4 so I'll give you the fact that they like swanky motors.

unfaithful

I think this is the reason why you are feeling the way you are. You've been cheated on.

The job i onced loved is now crawling with scum.

What is your job can I ask ?

James, something tells me you'll not be back to see the replies on this thread...

I think you're right on that one.

Just a suggestion, but maybe new members to the forum should have to have their first dozen or so posts approved by a moderator before they can be read by the rest of us ?

It's the same old conclusion. Some are like that and some aren't.

Exactly and it is the same in every walk of life.

There are plenty of idle foreigners I can think of that I would happily see deported tomorrow given half a chance but that is because they're objectionable gits that take up valuable space. There are also just as many British people that I would like to see shipped off somewhere faraway too.

I've work with people from all over the place and some I get on with and some I don't. It has little to do with where they are from, what colour their skin is, gay or straight and so on.

You can't like everyone.
Mister H   
8 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

They could join a party and stand as a candidate rather than start a riot. They could do a lot worse than writing to and generally being a thorn in the side of their local MP.

I wouldn't advocate voting BNP, definitely not, but UKIP seems a pretty sensible alternative to mainstream parties. It's who I voted for at the Euros and am even looking into joining them.

Add the working class to that as well.

Politicians have abandoned pretty much everyone. These days you have to be able to afford to look after yourself and your own.
Mister H   
8 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

The British and Irish youth have been abandoned by their respective political establishments during the elites quest for multiculturalism. Treason of the highest order.

In some ways I agree with you, however, people can't just sit around blaming others and waiting to be rescued.
Mister H   
8 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Its the government that allows them, if you asked the majority of people what they want then iam sure they would be more than happy to have the lot of them kicked out.

The British would want probably ALL foreigners kicked out if they were totally honest. It does depend on your definition of foreign though. I would never class a British born Asian for example as foreign and many them have better family values than quite a few English people I know. I'd certainly rather keep them and sling out the chavs from the estates.

We've already done it with the Bulgarians, we "imposed" restrictions, so as for "free" movement to all, its simply a matter of adjusting things and considering another goodness how many jobs are going at General Motors are going in the UK and Threshers and the rest who are going to the wall on a daily basis, its only a matter of time the government HAVE to do something with regards to immigration, not just from the new member states but all who want to come to my Island...When times are lean, you have to look after your own, its nothing personal, but I dont suppose foreigners understand this.

The foreigners I know would understand where you are coming from totally.

You're right about the UK needing to look after its own and that is something that we never seem to do anymore. It wouldn't matter so much if the those that benefit from our help were in any way grateful. Some most definitely are not grateful and I think it just gets taken for granted now.
Mister H   
5 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Yes I do. I've got only 1 year to wait until finally i reach 5 years of living here. I'll become English citizen and I"ll be Polish citizen either and you will be able to do nothing with me and my family :)

So you intend to hold dual nationality and carry two passports ?

I don't want to see anything "done" to you or your family now or in the future :-)

So if you ask me, yes, UK is very lenient - and way too leninet and easy. That's why Polish people (and not only) come here.

That's where we came in as it were. The UK is a cash-cow for all and sundry and those in power seem oblivious to the strain that resources are being put under.

Strange logic I know, but it's no wonder British people emmigrate ;-)
Mister H   
5 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

If you don't give me a chance to become your citizen with full rights to live, exist and improve why should i stay?

But you don't want to become a British citizen do you ?

All EU citizens have the right to stay and work in the UK - end of story.

The "EU" is not a country, it is a collection of countries, therefore "EU citizen" is a meaningless expression. You may just as well have said "world citizen" - should we all have total freedom of movement across the entire globe ?

Don't like it? Form a political party to amend Eu rules or take us out of the EU.

It has been formed and it's called UKIP, are you a member ?

Im not against immigration, far from it, but I think opening the floodgates and allowing so called free movement isnt the way forward. Why is so bad for people to apply for a permit to come and work in a country?

Good question, why are people so against having any form of regulation or rules when it comes to immigration ?
Mister H   
5 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

well if it becomes true, you will lose more than you think, we will just take back all our money saved here,

That would sum up the main reason why many were here in the first place then wouldn't it ?

It obviously has sod all to do with wanting to make a new life in the UK.

and you will have 30% less in your pocket than now you have

I'd take the risk.

The Government should reduce first benefits for 10 millions or more people from deep east who really supports you in your war against them. Leave real alliances in peace. Take advantage on real mess makers.

I take your point but it could be argued that those that were born and raised here, but have origins from elsewhere shall we say, are more entitled then you are ?
Mister H   
5 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

What's about UK residents with rights they've got now? Take them all these rights back.

Yes.

Really good solution to make masters and slaves class.

Life is all about swings and roundabouts and winners and losers.

Sooner or later (ideally sooner) the Government will have to reduce the benefits bill and the only way that they can do that is say to some that are entitled to something or other, "sorry but you are no longer entitled to it."

The Government can only solve the current mess with radical action.

About your Polish friend. She doesn't have to apply for anything since 2004 because she is from EU now.

If you had read what I had written you would have seen that I wasn't asking a question about her immigration status. I was merely stating what someone that moved here before 2004 had to go through and her views on those that were just let in the front door.
Mister H   
5 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Doesn't make any sense to apply for polish super benefits while you're working and living in the UK and face prosecution ?

As it said in the article, people do it thinking that the system is such a shambles that they won't be found out. Some are probably right to think that.

Ignorance is not the solution! I understand that some people need more time to change their nationalistic behavior but there's no place for nationalists in nowadays world.

It's not a case of being nationalistic, if I was being nationalistic I would want anyone that wasn't white kicked out of the country too.

Are you not in anyway proud of your Polish heritage and do you not want to see certain things preserved ?

They had their word in 1939.

That is not a very nice comparison.

HHhhmmm... interesting proposal, can you expand upon this.
So a foreginer in England should get a National Insurance number, otherwise you are on emergency tax (the highest tax bracket) and then they find out what tax bracket you ought to be in and give you the appropriate National Insurance number.
So it could be done at that point and does not necessarily have to be about British citizenship.

It's my understanding that non-EU citizens here on work visas and so on have a stamp in their passport saying that they cannot use the "public purse".

Assuming that benefits offices check such things then they cannot claim benefits, use the NHS and maybe not even be allowed to send their kids to a state school.

I think that this should be extended to all foreign nationals as there just isn't the money to pay for everything to everyone.

I'm not trying to be harsh or cruel, but the money will one day run out and then some really tough choices will need to be made.
Mister H   
5 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

I'm not foreigner I'm EU citizen that's the difference. Please better take care about your brothers from Syria and about employement agencies making mess on your job market :)

You're not British and you weren't born here so you're a foreigner.

The EU is not a country with one people and the term "EU citizen" means nothing to most British people.

I'm not trying to offend you, but that's the way it is.
Mister H   
5 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

What difference would becoming a British citizen make?
I don't follow your train of thought there.

I just think it would stop the UK being seen as a cash-cow.

If you needed a British passport before you were entitled to anything, it would make people think twice about coming here unless they had the means to support themselves.

One of my neighbours is Polish, although she's lived here for years and years. She had to do things the old way in terms of a visa and after she married a British guy she had be interviewed by the home office and so on. She says that Polish people come here for one thing and one thing only: money. Other than that they wouldn't come and she said that most don't really want to be here.

It's that sort of mentality that I think needs to be stopped somehow, whether it is through only giving benefits to British citizens, limiting work permits or whatever it is we need to do SOMETHING to stop the rot.

Loved the youtube vid by the way ;-)
Mister H   
5 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Mister H might know about this as it's not the first time I've heard it, torny. I think there is some substance to it but hearsay is a discretional thing.

There are quite a few articles I found through a google search about this, although I've read about it before and claiming child benefits for Polish children whether they live in the UK or not is quite common.

This was the article that concerned me the most however:

Some Polish workers in Britain are illegally claiming child benefit in both the UK and their home country, a BBC investigation has found.
Officials in a number of Polish regions told Five Live Report up to half the applications they see are fraudulent.
They added checks on claims were under strain because of the numbers involved.
EU rules allow migrant workers to claim benefit for children who are in a different country, but they cannot do so in two countries at once.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7007163.stm

The article is a couple of years old now, but I doubt much has changed. What's ironic is that Frank Field MP is quoted as saying that it was time for a serious reassessment of migrant workers' access to benefits.

Nice to see that two years on we're still having the exact same conversation.

because my kid is with me and if you are under 25k/ year per person everybody can get help like this, of course living in England

I don't really care if your missis gave birth outside the benefits office, as a foreigner you shouldn't be claiming child benefits. If you want British benefits that badly then apply to be a British citizen.

I also don't think that 4x4 driving yummy-mummys from Surrey that put the money into Julian and Tabatha's gap-year fund should be getting it either.
Mister H   
4 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

sorry smart arse but this is not the answer
what about people working legally for over 4-5 years? are they entitled or not?

What about them ? You could apply for British citizenship if you want to be entitled to the same as a British person.

stick your ideas up your arse and let deal with it somebody more mature and responsible.

What a charming and mature response.
Mister H   
4 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

What's about people who has worked here for over couple years? Like me 4 years now. Do you think I still shouldn't have access to your benefits if i need them, schools and health care? It's said now that if you're longer than 12mths you will get basics ( health care, benefith, housing and edu) like british people, but before that time you won't. So, what's wrong with it?

Sorry but I don't think a year is long enough. It isn't exactly fair on those that have paid in for all of their lives is it ?

Lets face it, the idea that Poles are going to make there millions and return to Poland is not happening, so the majority of these people are there for the rest of their lives.

Then they should apply for British citizenship if they plan to stay here forever. It's what many non-EU immigrants end up doing.
Mister H   
4 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

That is a diabolical plan ShelleyS and Mister H.

Why is it so diabolical ?

Why should someone that has had a job few weeks be able to have access to the same services as someone that has been paying in for many years ?
Mister H   
4 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

[quote=Slawek076][/quote]

Could you edit your last post so that I'm not included as it's not my post that you are replying too. Thanks :-)
Mister H   
4 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

with this statement you're showing complete lack of knowledge in the subject and simply burning off any of your credentials

I said "I think", I did not say anything for definite.

You can't work in bank and be such stupid even when you're a simple clerk

You can think me stupid if you like, but I do work in a bank and have worked for various different ones.

I don't think Polish people do debts in your country.

I'm afraid that they do and much of the blame has to go to the banks for offering high credit limits and overdrafts and so on to people with little/no credit history.

Polish rather do not take a large loans in your banks, do not cheat your mortgage system for terrible huge money that Polish couldn't even dream about.

They may not have a mortgage, but many have a lot of unsecured debt. Enough for banks to hire Polish speakers in their collection departments anyway.

It was your choice not ours. So please do not blame others for it.

I don't blame anyone other than the Governments. We did not ask for this situation either.

How come there are no statistics?

Purely from the point of view that I am speaking from the day-to-day experiences of my job. No official statistics exist as far as I know, but I can tell you that I'm not making this up for effect.

Please treat Polish as friends not as enemy so they will treat you the same way.

I do treat them as friends and I don't see them or anyone else as "the enemy", I'm just giving you the facts as I see them.

Credit has been far too easy to obtain and I fully accept that the banks are at fault, however, the person running up the debt is also in the wrong if they do a moonlight flit and just disappear.

Anyway the above is my solution to stop people whining...

Good solution ! Bit too logical for the powers that be to take any notice of however.
Mister H   
4 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

My jobs is not linked to benefits, I work for a bank and deal with people in debt. Therefore I have to go through people's income and expenditure to work out what they can afford to repay towards their debt with the bank.

That's how I can tell if someone is on benefits or not.

Is it is big "Polish" problem? I don't have any statistics, but comparing the percentage of the UK population that is Polish and the percentage of our bad debt book that is from Polish people, I would say it is a big problem yes.

Around a third of our bad debt book comes from foreign nationals. Are a third of the UK population foreign nationals ? No. Draw your own conclusions ;-)

I've also in the fairly recent past worked in credit card fraud and it was a very similar story there too.

It won't suit New Labour's rosey view of immigration, but some people do come here to rip us off.
Mister H   
4 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Have you recently changed your law, as I know many Irish and Polish people in England, living and working and none of them collect any benifits.
Wasn't there a thing where you had to work and pay taxes for two years or something?

I think things like child benefit and tax credits and anything linked to children can be claimed straight away (whether fresh of the boat or not). I think that you can go on the council housing list straight away too.

JSA and so on is only available if the person claiming has had 12 months continuous NI and tax payments.

I've dealt with a lot of Eastern Europeans through my job and some can barely speak English, but many are on benefits and are raking it in. Most of the benefits seem to be child related ones.
Mister H   
4 Nov 2009
UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

So what are the new breed and what are their reasons?

The ones that turn up with at least two children and a pregnant wife that come for the welfare benefits.

There, I've said it !