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An Englishman's View on Polish flocking to the UK


barmario  
13 Nov 2007 /  #1
I am English and have I have lived in London my whole life, The fact that nearly all English people I know are pissed off about the amount of polish people now here is not because they are Polish specifically because if it were some other races who had flocked here in such huge numbers the reaction would have been much worse. Its just how quickly it has happened and London is losing all its identity, it is now just a place for people to make money and send it home. It wouldn't be so bad if such a large percentage of Eastern European immigrants actually speak badly about this country and its people.Whether anyone likes it or not England is a country with a culture and tradition too and have heard "this country is crap!" "English are lazy!" when it cannot be denied what this is a GREAT land with a rich history, whether its the sports we have invented (football) or the minds we have created (Darwin,Newton) it deserves to be respected.

We dont grumble about the Polish because their race, we grumble because right now as an Englishman i feel like a foreigner in my own country and the most spoken language is Polish. If a million people poured into Poland to exploit your economy in the space of a few years you would moan too.
_Sofi_  
13 Nov 2007 /  #2
I seem to remember this post already being made.
sledz  23 | 2247  
13 Nov 2007 /  #3
several times
krysia  23 | 3058  
13 Nov 2007 /  #4
If a million people poured into Poland to exploit your economy in the space of a few years you would moan too.

So what you gonna do about it?
lennyd  
14 Nov 2007 /  #5
i feel like a foreigner in my own country

i agree with you mate 100% these pollocks moan winge say were lazy we can't do jobs , well i say if this is the case why is poland such a mess ? if were useless why is our country far greater than the red curtain of poland , poland is a joke they pay people 50p an hour so when they get 5quid here they just send it back and take the p1ss out of us, i'm in construction and half these poles don't know the right health and safety procedures , and there not qualified to our standards , some of them have been killed because they don't know what there doing , it's getting worse there just taking out work and putting 300,000 brits out of work , we need to get out of the dam EU it's just one big joke on us brits
sapphire  22 | 1241  
14 Nov 2007 /  #6
same old stuff.. this topic has been done to death already. For those who dont like it they can always emigrate themselves.
tornado2007  11 | 2270  
14 Nov 2007 /  #7
always emigrate themselves

wow almost being pushed out of their own country!!!!! it isn't good if the British are leaving Britain just because of a few thousand immigrants. If its a choice between the Immigrants and British it should be the British every time :)
Grzegorz_  51 | 6138  
14 Nov 2007 /  #8
300,000 brits out of work

Woo hoo !!!
BubbaWoo  33 | 3502  
14 Nov 2007 /  #9
not because they are Polish specifically because if it were some other races who had flocked here in such huge numbers the reaction would have been much wors

fair point

Its just how quickly it has happened and London is losing all its identity

yup

We dont grumble about the Polish because their race, we grumble because right now as an Englishman i feel like a foreigner in my own country and the most spoken language is Polish. If

i can understand that

If a million people poured into Poland to exploit your economy in the space of a few years you would moan too.

yup
Grzegorz_  51 | 6138  
14 Nov 2007 /  #10
A million more will probably leave before 2010.
Kilkline  1 | 682  
14 Nov 2007 /  #11
We dont grumble about the Polish because their race, we grumble because right now as an Englishman i feel like a foreigner in my own country and the most spoken language is Polish. If a million people poured into Poland to exploit your economy in the space of a few years you would moan too.

I've met Poles who would agree with everything you've said and are themselves amazed at how Britain has allowed itself to get to this stage in such a short space of time. Others though(not just Poles) will start shouting 'racism' at you for daring to point out the obvious in the very reasonable way you have.

However, until the problems are obvious and actually effect people directly then some people are just happy to be able to pay a builder tax free or enjoy the comfort their Polish boyfriend/girlfriend provides for them.

For me the issue isnt numbers (as every European economy needs population growth), the problem is the abbreviated timescale in which this growth has occurred. Its too much, too soon.

A million more will probably leave before 2010.

Can you name one other occasion in which there has been mass emigration of a countries people to another country which is then followed by them returning en masse?

It would take a cataclysmic event for this to happen.
Grzegorz_  51 | 6138  
14 Nov 2007 /  #12
And we're going to start giving citizenship to Ukrainians and Belorussians.
BubbaWoo  33 | 3502  
14 Nov 2007 /  #13
I've met Poles who would agree with everything you've said and are themselves amazed at how Britain has allowed itself to get to this stage in such a short space of time

yup

Others though(not just Poles) will start shouting 'racism' at you for daring to point out the obvious in the very reasonable way you have.

yup

However, until the problems are obvious and actually effect people directly then some people are just happy to be able to pay a builder tax free or enjoy the comfort their Polish boyfriend/girlfriend provides for them

yup

For me the issue isnt numbers (as every European economy needs population growth), the problem is the abbreviated timescale in which this growth has occurred. Its too much, too soon.

yup
Grzegorz_  51 | 6138  
14 Nov 2007 /  #14
But It's going to sink anyway, so why care ?
Kilkline  1 | 682  
14 Nov 2007 /  #15
Remember when you were a little boy and daddy stopped your pocket money because you were a bad boy? It would be like that for Poland.
BubbaWoo  33 | 3502  
14 Nov 2007 /  #17
did you get pocket money as a kid G...?

genuine question
Kilkline  1 | 682  
14 Nov 2007 /  #18
What... ?

No Britain = no pocket money for Poland.
Polanglik  11 | 303  
14 Nov 2007 /  #19
i say if this is the case why is poland such a mess ?

try and imagine what it would have been like if England had been under communist rule for as long as Poland was ?

Since it broke free from communism, Poland has been making huge strides in the right direction, but it will take time to adjust to this new freedom.

we grumble because right now as an Englishman i feel like a foreigner in my own country

i don't disagree with you on this, but you have to ask the British government about their immigration policies ..... they only have themselves to blame for the mess they are in !

most spoken language is Polish

i know there's a lot of Poles ..... but the most spoken language in Britain being Polish ? Are you sure ? What about Pakistanis, Indians, etc ....
postie  7 | 112  
14 Nov 2007 /  #20
i know there's a lot of Poles ..... but the most spoken language in Britain being Polish ?

I kind of agree with this point, and I live in a town without a huge amount of Polish. Many other towns have far more Polish as a percentage of the population than where I live.

Although it all depends on what you do or work at, or where you live. Speaking about only my small perspective, and that perspective is most certainly PRO-Polish, when I get on the bus in the morning, the most common language I hear is Polish. I have worked on shifts where I was the only native English speaker and spoke more Polish during that shift than I did English.

If I go for a cigarette break, most people there are Polish.

If I go for a beer in a certain pub after work, I can buy a Zyweic and sit and natter with the Poles. If I went around the corner from this pub, the street is mostly Polish.

The common factor in all of these points? I'm an agency worker and so are many Poles. I smoke, and it seems (though maybe wrongly) that more Poles smoke than English, I don't have a car now and get the bus to work, as do many Poles. The pub I drink in is a WetherSpoons and is very cheap...which is great if your a low paid worker, as are many of the Poles who also work on the agency. The street around the corner from the pub is mainly B+B's and are cheap to rent.

Like any other influx of people into this country, initially they'll group together in low paid jobs and low cost housing. Like the Asians did in the 1960's. As time goes on, they'll become settled, make friends who are natives, get better jobs and integrate and disperse amongst the wider society.

But yeah, to return to the point, even in this town, Polish can be the predominant language... AT TIMES. (but that's great for me as I'm learning the language!)
sapphire  22 | 1241  
14 Nov 2007 /  #21
The pub I drink in is a WetherSpoons and is very cheap...

and that my friend is the answer to many more threads.. such as where can I meet a Polish man? check out your local Wetherspoons and you wont be disappointed.

Living in London, there are very many Poles, as well as a mixed bag of other nationalities so I think its not as noticable as it might be in smaller towns. I can imagine that the sudden influx of so many immigrants in a place where it hasnt happened much before, could be threatening to many. I was only joking about Brits emigrating...but there must be plenty of space for us in Poland now :)
Polanglik  11 | 303  
14 Nov 2007 /  #22
but there must be plenty of space for us in Poland now :)

so when are you moving to Poland Sapphire ?? :o)
sapphire  22 | 1241  
14 Nov 2007 /  #24
so when are you moving to Poland Sapphire ??

I would like to believe me, but my partner doesnt want to go back at the moment and it would be impossible for me to find a job in my line of work there, which means rethinking my career options. never say never though.
telefonitika  
14 Nov 2007 /  #25
check out your local Wetherspoons and you wont be disappointed.

dont often go in any of ours ... though the one in town is next door to Moods and Walkabout

so when are you moving to Poland

im going when my daughter has finished primary school education
truebrit  3 | 196  
14 Nov 2007 /  #26
We should not waste time responding to trolls like barmario.
Oscypek  - | 107  
14 Nov 2007 /  #27
why is poland such a mess ?

Because Poland didn't get to benefit from Billions of US dollars in the form of the US Marshall plan like the UK did after WWII.
BubbaWoo  33 | 3502  
14 Nov 2007 /  #28
We should not waste time responding to trolls like barmario

his points are fair and his post is non-abusive
Lukasz  49 | 1746  
14 Nov 2007 /  #29
Honestly send them back home :) we need them here ... :P

his points are fair and his post is non-abusive

agree

but I dont understand why he posts this here on PF, we dont vote in your elections
sapphire  22 | 1241  
14 Nov 2007 /  #30
dont often go in any of ours

you should if you like Polish guys.. cant speak for your area, but they are often to be found in the cheapest boozers.

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