What's So Great About The UK?

That's one way of putting it. Another way would be" UK took the most out of..."

Still, let's see those less important European contributions that today's UK could have done without:

- English language
- original population that actually built the country (English and Normans)
- religion
- urban development
- technology (not everything was invented in UK, can you believe that?)
- science
- alphabet
- literature
- political systems

should be enough for now.

Now take all the above out and what do we have left? Curry powder in place of Oxford University?

erm,derived from middle english,in England,granted,a combination of Friesan and old German with bits of french thrown in...


hhmm,yes,because we all live in Norman castles dont we.....



magna carta,england,the basis for all modern democracy.


Face it,there is a streak in many Poles that just cant get over the fact that Brown people dont swing from trees and make monkey noises....shamefull.

And,not that this was my origional point but,seeing as you seem to want to force the issiue,the Sub Continent has given the UK about 99.9% more than Poland has,and most,if not all those Indians,Pakistanis and kashmiries came here with the intention of staying for good,not to act like parasites and take what they can while the going is good then scarper.

Of course that was your point. Nothing wrong with that. And as for intention to stay... well apparently it's bad when Poles want to permanently settle in the UK as it affects the true identity of GB, and it's even worse when they are guest-workers as that way they are being parasites. Interesting. You lot just can’t be pleased, can you? lol :)

You are a bigot and a racist hiding under a rainbow banner. Nothing new really.

a bastard language?


like the British Empire? Oh, sorry, forgot, the white man's burden...wasn't it Kipling who wrote that, not sure?


LOFL! Margaret Thatcher (Baroness Thatcher, how very 21st century) tried peddling this idea in France, lest the French got the insolent idea that the French revolution might have had any historical importance..she was rightly laughed at!!! Who honestly (even in Britain) can find anything to say about the magna carta........wishful thinking on your part I'm afraid)..example for you! I am writing from Dublin, Ireland..a city which under British rule could elect 2 MPs to the house of commons in London...1 x MP elected by the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Catholic/Nationalists and another elected by trinity college..an exclusively (at that time) protestant university...result = 1 x nationalist MP & 1 x unionist MP...democracy indeed, and not so long ago.....


for which it's worth bearing in mind, they were widely seen as traitors with a short memory in their respesctive homelands...ie countries where Britain acted as a parasite, taking what she could while the going was good & then scarpered.

I write as someone with a Polish mother/Irish father/3 siblings born in England so no axe to grind here, we can all bash rhetoric around i'm sure...alas, you are espousing the very sentiment, i assure you, the very precursor, if you will, of modern US foreign policy...please think about the deaths/greed/rape/subjugation/gerrymandering/ethnic cleansing that was required so that I as someone born in Ireland, can respond to you in English...bypassing a much older/indiginous gaelic language in so doing?

oh,so your a fekkin mind reader are you????


Have I ever said anything like that,fekkin prove it or shut it!


No,someone who expresses an open wish to come here just long enough to get what they can is acting parasiticaly,do they have any intentions of giving anything long term to this country?No,just to take what they can while the goings good.I dont blame them but that doesnt mean its not being like a wave of locusts.


what the fek do you mean "you lot" I speak for myself,no one else,though many have far stronger opinions than me.


hhhmmm,I suppose everyone woke up one day in the bogs of ireland all speaking Gaelic did they?


Since when have 2 wrongs made a right,unless your a frikkin provo or orangeman....and you want to be a little carefull,a good deal of the empires most "enthusiastic" perpetrators were Irish.

Oh,BTW,proffesional Micks are really a larf,get over the frikkin potatoe famine,I did.and the highland clearences.


Bite me G'just because half the forums now rumbled you for a dirty little Alf Garnet/archie bunker type dont try and cover it up throwing wild accusations at me, It isnt Poles I dont like,its You and your gay dog.

- Do the recent Polish arrivals also have the right to 'be there,' or not? E.g. those who, according to you, 'have already infiltrated Birmingham, they are driving the buses and everything [SIC] and there is even a Polish food shop in my small home town now'?


- According to you, is it just 'Polish immigration' that has such consequences, or any immigration, e.g. the massive African and Asian one?


- You mean all the Poles think so? Do you suggest we all are, ahem, racist? How about you? You have a problem with Polish 'immgration' to UK but not with 'brown' immigration to UK, don't you? Very unracist indeed. How skillful nowadays the racist has become in blaming others for racism.


- Where did you take the '1.5 m' figure, pal? Do you suggest that those 'Brits' who 'lost out financally,' lost just because of the Poles? Prove it.


- According to you, the Poles are to be blamed for this?


- Of course, the Poles are to be blamed for all this as well?


- Do you mean the Poles are those 'foreigners' who tell them so?

What a bigot you are, pal, in spite of your Polish wife and support for 'brown immigration.'

In the post -WW II Brtain, Polonophobia became the equivalent of Judophobia (Orwell writes about it), but in today Britain Polonophobia seems to be the equivalent of all the racist phobias.

The bigots in this forum, such as Kilkline, attack the Poles for their alleged taking away jobs from the British, but don't say a word about the thousand and one other nations working in UK, especially the numerous Africans and Asians - who, by the way, unlike the Poles, aren't Europeans, and so EU members....

It seems that the bigots' real unstated message is: 'It's bad when Poles work in Britain, but it's good if all the others, especially the 'brown' ones, work here. We don't like the Poles, but we like and feel close to all the others, especially the 'brown' ones.'

Why don't you say it openly? :)

... The Poles are the most convenient and safest scapegoat, eh, racist cowards?

Yup, those were the languages of Europe, not India.


Correct. Normans came from Europe, not from India.
Now, do you all live in little replicas of Taj Mahal?

Let's look for some examples of the "ovewhelming" influence of Indian architecture on London:
greatbuildings.com/places/london.html


Other than the statement being a bit of an exaggeration, all modern democracy (including that of UK) had other examples to take from. Greece and Rome are certainly not on the Indian subcontinent either.


A vile and useless comment.


The subcontinent gave UK nothing. UK took what it wanted and what it could get away with. However "little" Poles gave Britain, they GAVE it to Britain without Britain having to invade Poland first.

duh, everyone knows that england is the greatest nation on earth just like everyone knows saggitarius is the greatest star sign and national lampoons animal house is the greatest movie, duh

I understand the complaints of the Britons even though I myself am Polish. I know its not racism it just seems to you that British culture might disappear. However living in America I can honestly that the children of these Immigrants will intergrate if not the immigrants themselves. Be patient. However these arguments concerning immigrants taking jobs is complete B.S. If your the right candidate for the job you have nothing to worry about. Also the reasons that your government does not stop immigration because their is a shortage of labor in some industries, your population rates are falling in addition to the aging population. Its comes down to living with different cultures or face and economic decline. I gaurantee you the economic situation would be much more dire then your complaints about poles stealing your jobs(jobs britons are unwilling to do or don't have the skills for)

to my polish compatriots imagine leaving your house in krakow warsawa nowy targ poznan or wherever you might live and everybody around you is speaking arabic(arabic just an example so no offence however I do have problem with the extremists but that's a different topic) would you not be pissed. this is fear that your culture is disappearing. its might seem racist but it is logical. its normal. britons you have nothing to fear each culture has its positives and negatives and those positives will live forever. u need to take an objective look at both sides and both sides are right. poles are your friends not your enemy. in the end we are all europeans. the world is not black and white

- I prefer Ladykillers - the 1955 Brit original with Guinness and Sellers, not the lame Hollywood ripoff with Hanks.
:)

Yes we colonised and yes we became rich through trading and yes I am fully aware that Indians fort for Britian.

I am also aware that most drugs that come in to the UK are brought in by Indians and Pakistanis, thus causing many problems.

We had many other colonies too, also what my point has been has been lost, a man came on here bleeting on about Britian losing its Britishness and he then turns round and says he is married to an asian, I ask you, what is so British about that?

As for the colour of someones skin I dont have issues with that, we have had a multi-cultural society for many years - but were not dictated to and did not have the threat of terrorism from British born Jamacans or British born Vietnamese.

So when will you be gracing Poland with your full time presence then?? I think we both no very well most Poles in the UK and Ireland have absolutely no intention of returning to Poland for ever. Why oh why would they want to come back to this?

agree WB 100%

wroclaw I think your wrong I lived in America for 15 years since I was six. My brother went back my cousins my dad in a couple years and me in 5 years. Im polish to the core and wish we never came to America in the first place.

I do have to ask the Poles on this forum, why temporary? Many foreigners come to Poland for a year to teach and then head for other shores. That's the nature of the situation though. Is it the case that u operate on short term contracts with no renewal options in the UK?

I couldn't live in America my self for much longer than two weeks so congratulations for your staying power there. I would like to access figures on Poles who marry foreigners in their own country and actually return to Poland I would estimate that less than 5% actually move back to poland.

well in my opinion they do, yes - but clearly I am biased since I am shacked up with one of em. The above comment about infiltration etc. was meant to be taken in a humourous kind of way.. sorry if that didnt come across.

go home

Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way home, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV. And the most British thing of all? Suspicion of all things foreign! Only in Britain can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance. Only in Britain do supermarkets make sick people walk all the way to the back of the shop to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front. Only in Britain do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke. Only in Britain do banks leave both doors open and chain the pens to the counters. Only in Britain do we leave cars worth thousands of pounds on the drive and lock our junk and cheap lawn mower in the garage. Only in Britain do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place. Only in Britain are there disabled parking places in front of a skating rink. NOT TO MENTION.. 3 Brits die each year testing if a 9v battery works on their tongue. 142 Brits were injured in 1999 by not removing all pins from new shirts. 58 Brits are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers. 31 Brits have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in. 19 Brits have died in the last 3 years believing that Christmas decorations were chocolate. British Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after Xmas cracker-pulling accidents. 18 Brits had serious burns in 2000 trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth. A massive 543 Brits were admitted to A & E in the last two years after trying to open bottles of beer with their teeth. 5 Brits were injured last year in accidents involving out-of-control Scalextric cars. and finally... In 2000 eight Brits were admitted to hospital with fractured skulls incurred whilst throwing up into the toilet.

Yes! I'm proud to be British!

Absolute nonsense.Drugs are brought in by Jamaicans,Columbians,Nigerians,Albanians,Turks,British as well as Indians and Pakistanis.


Like I said - parts of Asia and Britain are connected by history and culture.
Shelley if someone from Asia can never be British then should the millions of Brits in USA,Australia,Canada,Spain,New Zealand etc always be considered as unwelcome immigrants in those countries? How can a British person go to Australia and declare themselves Australian when the real Australians are the Aborigines? Your comments are as ignorant as the anti-Polish ones on this forum.

I got that email a few years ago, only it was about Americans. Internet myths and email have a lot to answer for.

one of the great things about britain is its wealth of cultural diversity - yes, britian has its own distinct culture and traditions but these have been influenced by overseas additions for years. the apparent prejudice is not against poles per se, its against a huge and sudden influx of a foreign culture - the nationality of this particular group of immigrants is a moot point - its the size and speed of the influx that is causing upset


the original ladykillers is a fantastic film, as are most of the ealing comedies :-)

The largest proportion is brought in by Pakistanis and Indians - its a problem, or maybe you havent heard!


I see nothing about there culture that resembles British culture as it used to be or as it is now!


Are you taking the ****, we colonised most of these places quite a long time ago! Now their culture is the same as ours! I wonder why? hmmmmm, I'll let you answer that one!

As for Spain, you will have to ask a Spanish person what he thinks of the brits and as far as I know English people who have kids in Spain consider their kids English and dont start calling them Spanish!

Same as my cousin who was born in Singapore doesnt consider himself Singaporian!

Cultural diversity? You mean that we have areas that contained mainly blacks / asians, we have a china town? we have high streets full of arab shops? Intigration is another thing! I would say there is a greater divide now than there ever was. Recent events have changed people and Political correctness, asylum seekers, people coming to study who dont actually study and dont bother to return to their own countries are just a few of the problems in England that are adding the kindling to the fire!

Im afraid the influx of Polish people just highlighted and possibly made people sit up and look at the state of England....

bravo!
that is where some people on this forum should stop blaming everything foreign (mainly poles in this case) for "britains decline", and instead address their own inabilities to the right institutions for a change...

There is a lot of language on here for describing a person's race that makes me a little uncomfortable.

Frogs ? You can accuse me of being PC if you like, but "frogs" just isn't very nice. Why can't just say "the French"?

I've also seen the words "brown people", which just leaves me shaking my head.

From what I have read, yes there are some British people who have issues with the Polish, but some of the the Polish seem to have an issue with almost everyone AND they're the ones wanting to be accepted without any aggro.

Who are the ones with the problem ?

Oh my. Someone needs to take few deep breaths here. If I knew that this topic will be so touchy for you than I would pass. It wasn’t my intention to **** you of. :)

As for what do I mean by saying you lot, well it’s exactly what you think I mean, brits.
Whatever the poles will do it will always be bad. Some will have problems with them staying too short, as their long term contribution will be unsatisfying in their opinion, thus calling them a wave of locust. Others will have heart palpitations just from the sheer thought that poles can buy houses in the UK, take medical care and send their children to English schools (that is in regards with staying long term of course) . It really does seem that you lot just can’t be pleased. :) Oh, and take it easy mate. It's all good. :)

good :),and I agree,some ignorent "brits" do take the attitude you highlight Matyjasz. Not myself Im afraid,so I take umbridge at being lumped into a homogenous mass of "the brits" that is as insulting as saying all Poles are rascist skinheads,some are,most probably not.

but,


yes,Im afraid I take the fact that britains schools and NHS were overstreched even before 2004 a little seriously,especially when Poles are just the latest,and by far the largest groups of imigrants to add even more presure to those sevices many of us have been paying for for a very long time with our taxes. Would you be happy if your childs primary school suddenly had say 10 non Polish speaking kids in each class and your child lost out due to all the resources being pumped into the non polish kids?

probably not. we had the same problem in berlin in areas with many turkish families. people on here should not forget that this is not the immigrants fault, but the governments.

so everyone on here is sending their complaints in the wrong direction...

the nhs was in a crisis even before the polish wave as you say yourself, but still there are people on here who paint a picture that the nhs would work fine if there were no poles in the uk...

how stupid is that??

Good point. The NHS has been in downfall for at least a decade (probably more) cancelled operations and waiting times (for example) have been a problem for a long time and nothing to do with Polish people. It's an old story.