News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

As a Brit living in Poland it's easy to see how Polish people are fooled into thinking that their Economy is an EU success story.

The rise in GDP being the biggest example of this. The problem with this is that Polands GDP is still woefully low compared to Western Europe which they are compared against. If i have 1 grosz and get 3 grosz i have a 300% rise!!! great!! If i have 1 zloty and have lost 2 grosz it's a 2% drop..bad you might say. I'd rather have 98gr then 3gr!!

Poland in the next three years will have to overcome huge problems that will inveriably decimate the so called polish 'tiger' economy'

- Rising unemployment in the west will contribute to rising unemployment in Poland (as the Polish government wont be able to farm off the unemployed to the UK, Spain and Ireland)

- Other poorer countries entering the EU will take cash away from the free EU handouts that the Polish economy is built upon.
- Rising costs to foreign companies in Poland (wages etc) will make Poland an unattractive place to do business (Poland is already woefully low on the 'place to do business' scale already!) In fact British companies are already bringing back work from both Poland and China.

- New members being added to the EU will result in lower end goods being made cheaper elsewhere within the EU.
- Problems within the EU will have a knock-on effect to Poland...Poland is like a docile lap-dog to the german ran EU. Once the Germans have had their use of Poland they will do what they are doing to the Greeks. (The EU is created to create a market place for German goods and new Polish infrastructure is only being built to enable quicker movement of German goods to new markets - Poland is a bridge to the East)

Poland had to ask its Politicians how it is still lingering behind the Czechs and the Estonians and how it can save itself from the above.

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

hague1cmaeronThreads: 20

gdyniaguy: As a Brit living in Poland it's easy to see how Polish people are fooled into thinking that their Economy is an EU success story.

It's amazing how one person can be so wrong on so many issues in one thread. Economically illiterate doesn't even begin to cover it.

********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** ****************************

'Economically illiterate doesn't even begin to cover it?'............... I have added a few points that you are free to argue against......otherwise as the Irish would say Feck Off!

1) Polish GDP? looking at small figures doesnt really equate major success...in fact estonia, czech, slovakia and slovenia have better gdps...only albania, hungary, latvia and lithuania have worse..

2) Rising unemployment in the UK, Spain, France etc wont lead to rising unemployment in poland? Add to this the simple fact that less Poles are employed in Poland then 10 years ago (maybe the drop in birthrate may slow the unemployment rate down a little.

3) There have been numerous reports on companies relocating to the UK due to rising costs. Not only wages but fuel prices and the need for lower lead times.

4) So German companies wont switch production from Poland to Turkey/Macedonia etc if and when they eventually join the EU?

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]

I pay 246zl a month health insurance and my provider is rubbish. The doctors seem to have a communist mentality and customer service and patient care is more then useless.

If i was seriously ill i'd crawl over broken glass to get back to the UK. The NHS is the greatest public health institution in the world.

News / Will EURO 2012 be a proud moment for Poland and its people or set back Poland 20 years? [86]

Merged: What will Euro 2012 bring to Poland?

Hi Guys

as an Englishman living in Gdynia i'm amazed at the amount of stuff that i read regarding the 100's of thousands of people who will come to Poland for Euro 2012. Having lived in the UK during Euro 1996 i know that this wont be the case. A study by Liverpool University, conducted to assess the economic impact on the region when it acted as a city host for Euro 1996, found that the 30,000 visitors to Liverpool during Euro 1996 created just 30 jobs, all of which were temporary....

What are your thought's on how Poland will benefit (or not benefit) and how it will effect Poland's future?

for me? the benefits could be..

worldwide press coverage of Poland leading to a future increase in tourism
2012 football pitches created (although ive seen none...polish kids tend to play netball ..sorry basketball)
the general need to try to improve infrastucture with help from hand outs from the EU (roads!!!!, airports, railways etc)

the downside could be...

Racism and football violence... seriously it's like stepping back into 1970's England on match days!
Rip off merchants...hotels, restaurants and taxis... ticket touts!!!

Lets hope for a good and safe 2012!

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Hague cameron....

Indeed..... as you live in Austrailia (a very long way away!!) and I live in POLAND and have done for 3 years. I also employ POLISH people in POLAND and now all about the lies that the POLISH government spew out daily. Honestly look at Polands rise in GDP over the last 10 years and the decrease in Employment, Tell the man on the street in a towns in the mining heartlands of Poland that the economy of Poland is doing great and he'll tell you to do one. If you've ever watched Polish news you'll see that in the old Communist tradition 99.9% of it is good news and the other 0.1% is a continuation of the stroy of the aircrash that killed the last president. Telling me that a 2% rise in GDP in Poland means more then a 2% rise in the UK is just bullshit and has got nothing to do with diminishing return. (doh!!!)

How much indeed do you know about the Poles who are working for 1,500zl a month and living 3-4 familes to a house....nothing!!!!! China, Poland, Brasil are all doing 'well' beacause as i said before 1 to 3gr is 300% rise.... a big rise from nothing to nothing... If indeed you are an economist you know that GDP includes wages and as soon as wage levels are high enough then the Polish Economy will hit the brakes big time (people are here for cheap labour).

I saw a program on the BBC recently about a cushion factory boss who moved production to China because wages were cheap (20p per hour)...in the last 3 years those wages have increased to 1gbp per hour and transportation costs have risen. Added on top of that for him was the work rate (believe me polish in general are the same...slow and they have a education system that gives so of the lowest pass marks in Europe...everybodys got a degree but poland doesnt have 1 of the worlds top 100 universities...an old socialist trick i think!! make the people think that they are well educated)

Place to invest? Warsaw has 150 international conpanies (how many does paris, london or frankfurt have!!! bit of a pointless arguement even a city like liverpool probably has a good fair number)..in fact most of the companies in warsaw are their because they need a polish speaking office to sell foreign goods to poland ...secondly, Have you tried to start a company in Poland? the red tape, the ludicrous employment laws, the total lack of anybody speaking anything but polish (then PROBABLY NOT) and you quote a report that is 7 years old! (FGS) for more recent rankings (2011) take a look at doing business dot org ...poland is 62nd in the world and behind ESTONIA!!!!!, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary in the EU rankings.

To say that the Czech's didn't suffer in the second world war makes a mockery of the suffering that they did have.... but living in AUSTRAILIA what would you know? Polish people tend to be in a perpetual state of self pity and tend to pass blame for anything negative that happens to them to the most convenient person. In fact i was once berated for the Yalta conference and i wasnt born until decades after. It seems to me that Poland even has always had a hisitorical knack of getting into bed with the wrong bedfellows and then blaming those that they didn't sleep with when it all goes wrong.

Finally as an Aussi you will be well aware of what happens when Kraft FK about with chocolate.... Kraft (known for their fantastic cheese products) moved for 1 reason only (wages!!!) and this won't last for long. Consumers in the UK are having a backlash against Kraft people remember and as soon as it starts taking like WEDDEL chocolate it will return . (P.S. Cadbury isnt a British Company) anymore!!

As a businessman who has invested in Poland all i can say to you is.....'If you are an Economist good on you.. most Economists are idiots and most Statisticians are 99.9% wrong!'

News / Will EURO 2012 be a proud moment for Poland and its people or set back Poland 20 years? [86]

Hi Hipis

Hi Hips

Regarding rip off merchants look at the ticket forum on here.... the Poles seem to be taking it to a whole new level.

Hi Peter

Great to see you painting a Polish Government view of Euro 2012. 1.5 million tickets sold to probably 200,000 foreigners at most (most will have 3 tickets at least) and 1 millions without tickets (so an extra 200,000 in the tricity area are their that many extra beds??????? Yeh really!!!) Sometimes the general naivety of the Poles and people on here is immense.

The 'Barcelona' effect only happened in Barcelona and it was the Olympics (a worldwide event on a global scale)....take a look at the effect on Athens or Montreal! Even cities and countries holding the world cup didn't benefit as much as the rubbish the Polish press and government are spouting out. FGS they arn't even holding the final here.

Coming from a country that regularly hold massive international events (olympics, world cup, euro cup etc) i know that Krakow, Gdansk, Warsaw and Poznan are never going to benefit from the after effects in tourism like Barcelona. Not in a million years. if you've ever been to Barcelona and to Poland you'll know why.... Newcastle, Birmingham and Manchester didn't become an international tourist hub after Euro 86. So what makes Poland any different? (great roads? fantastic infrastructure? worldwide airlinks?, fantasic food?)

Hi Expat

There is a fine line between making some money and ripping of tourists. Alot of the Poles seem to think that Euro 2012 will leave a residual long-term boost for tourism. This all could be outdone by excessive greed.

Tell me you've never been charged more then a Pole because you arn't Polish!

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

well said milky...

I'm just giving a constructive arguement to the original posting.

Expat.... im doing ok over here. I have a good sized apartment and a polish fiance (trying to up the gene pool) who fears for her country. I earn well over the national average and we are saving for a second apartment to rent (we also own a house in Mazury for the summer)..and I have been here three years. My business is growing and we are taking on more international clients. To say that poor Poles are all alcoholics and miners 'get what they deserve' is crass and idiotic.

I agree that most english people are monolingual (i speak a little polish..enough to get buy, but understand alot more) but then again when the internet, international finance,international transportation and international business is done in English then do we need to bother as much?

as for being 'stuck' i have a job where I am in demand and can comfortably up sticks and live where i like.... in the polish winters the thought has crossed my mind.

You seem to be very anti english... problems in the past?

Hi Expat

As an international company I spend time out of the company. I have had the odd lesson im not fluent but can hold a conversation and understand as i said before, more then i can say. Living in a city it's hard sometimes to find Poles who don't want to speak english to you.

I have been with 'her indoors' for a year and she isn't at all interested in Politics. Whereas, i am. I don't hold with this EU rubbish and have been quite active in trying to get the Poles to allow us expats to vote in elections here.

I pay my taxes (as you well know is a massive amount) so believe that i have as much say as the next man. I don't support either side but do know the consequences (as seen elsewhere in Europe) of the 'eyes closed shut' 'brown nosed' policies of the present lot.

I hope i've answered your concerns.

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Hi Peter

Take 1.66% off that GDP amount and poland's real GDP is a (massaged) 0.9 percent! get your figures right!

the Poles are pro europe for one reason.... let me spell it out! the 1.66% of their GDP (over 6billion) that is given free of charge to them by the EU. Take this away from the so called 'success story' and their artificial GDP and poland would be a different place. You can't argue with that. Poland has less people working them 5 years ago, have an artificially high GDP, are slammed by the EU regarding keeping company taxes low and disregard any eu demands for a cut in coal consumption. And people on here think the economy is in a wonderful shape.

Poland has an aging polulation and has an exodus of younger tax payers (not all return money to poland and some are evening staying away) so I cant see how they could ever reduce the public finance longterm without a serious 'massaging of the figures' or an increase in either personal or company tax.

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]

Amathyst

Both my parents and my niece have had treatment for cancer over the last 5 years and all i can say is that the treatment was worldclass. Postcode lottery or not the NHS is one on the wonders of the world. I pay more tax in Poland then in the UK and a higher national insurance contribution and still pay private health insurance...so your cost arguement is 'out of the water.'

News / Will EURO 2012 be a proud moment for Poland and its people or set back Poland 20 years? [86]

Peterweg

Great the old 'he has a valid, if not different point of view from me and isn't singing Komorowski's 'successful Polish' hymnsheet so he must be a TROLL' argument!!! Very original!!!

If you want you can add to this the Commonwealth games, World athletic indoor championships, gran prix's as well as the 380 premierleague matches that bring in overseas visitors and I think you'll be hard pushed to knock the UK's credentials when it comes to holding major international and national sporting events over the past 60 years.

Hipis

tickets are going on sale here for 15x face value!!

Football supporters on the whole wont travel outside of about 3km from the stadiums (a fact), most of them will either fly in for the game, watch the game, hotel and then fly straight back or will travel enmass between the cities only stopping for the games and to get drunk in city centres. Football fans on a whole dont visit museums, nature reserves or go on day trips to historic castles whilst at a tournament.

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

'the EU money isn't added as growth, it adds to growth which is calculated on the whole of the GDP ---- fail!!!!!'

If you lived in Poland Peter you'd know for sure that not all Poles are happy about giving up everything for a quick buck! Poland has a problem because it doesnt know how to fend for itself for an awful long time being ran and looked after by the eu, the Russians (unwittingly), the germans and the jews! This whole independant poland rubbish doesnt wash. the Germans are now the masters of Poland and have done it without spilling one drop of German blood!

Hi Cameron (it that the correct spelling?)

If the only way to win an arguement is to insult the other person then you indeed are the 'Moron.' or a 'TROLL' ;)

Milky is definately right about you two. The way forums work is that somebody (ie. me) gives an arguement regarding a topic that they have knowledge about... be it right or wrong. The next person, to whom we shall call the responder then has a simple but enjoyable tax of giving a counter-argument to rubbish the said claims and so on....

The way you two do it is.... i reply...you call me a 'troll' (whatever it is!!! i thought it was a supernatural norse legend!) throw the odd insult and then congratulate each other...

Please lads grow up!

News / Will EURO 2012 be a proud moment for Poland and its people or set back Poland 20 years? [86]

Hi Peter

I for one will be travelling to Gdansk to see if i can get tickets just before kick off 9at face value or just above) because i live here i can afford to do it.

I can't deny the atmosphere outside of the stadium can be just as good as inside. There is however two problems with this tournament. Firstly, the hooligans in Eastern Europe are a different breed you might get hardcore supporters making the treck or few expats but it will put a fare majority of non-ticket fans off coming. I know how the Polish fans behave and frankly worse then england in the 1970's and 80's and you like me can probably remember that.

And Secondly.. France and Germany have much bigger expat communities of foreign nationals then Poland and so fans could turn up easily without tickets. I can go to Gdansk and drink with the Irish and sit in the centre of the fan zone and have a pint. I can then take the SKM back home.. but trust me expats around here are like hens teeth. I remember Euro 96 and Newcastle wasn't awash with French, Bulgarians or Romanians... it's the expats and how easy it is to travel last minute that allows fan zones to florish.

Poland isnt like Spain (re barcelona) the cities and coast don't compare from a tourist point of view (trust me ive travelled the whole of Poland and Spain)... in the West of Europe what is a 2 hour train journey is a 12 hour nightmare in Poland and the fans will have had enough travelling to be bothered taking a 2 hour train journey to look at a salt mine or an unpside down house.

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]

telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8877412/NHS-among-best-health-care-systems-in-the-world.html

gponline.com/News/article/1095310/Competency-checks-EU-doctors-backed-top-GPs/

a couple of articles, one stating that the NHS is the best in the world... with low error rates and the second saying foreign doctors in the NHS need competency checks. I'd love to know how the training of a Polish and an English GP compares.

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]

Hi Wizard

every time i speak to a polish doctor I question their competence. In the UK I feel alot more safer then in the Polish health system. GP's in the NHS do at least 10 years of training and education before being let anywhere near a person. They train in some of the best universities in the world. There was a study not long ago that said that Eastern European doctors working in the UK made twice the mistakes as Indian doctors. I worry.

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]

This isn't true at all....You'd be surprised for example that...Leeds has one of the best Kids hospitals in the world, Newcastle freeman hospital is one of the world leading Heart hospitals, Pinderfields near Leeds burn care. The NHS has centres of excellence throughout the UK and Northern Ireland which countries like Poland could only dream of. The UK has some of the world best teaching hospitals having worked in a couple i know the standard and thus the reason why I query Polish medical care.

But, never mind cos Peterwegs and his mate Cameron will probably go along with Tusk and say that the Polish healthcare is the Best in Europe and that it is improving 1 million percent year on year.

But then again what do us trolls know? ;)

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Hague

An anti-semite really? What anti-semitic statements have i made?

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]

Hi Rozumiemnic

Having grown up and been born on the East Coast I can tell you that the hospitals are as good as London hospitals. In the UK there is a strict policy of regulation on all hospitals and health trusts and you'd be hard pressed to find a really 'bad one' in fact, and the truth is that as results have shown that medical staff from Eastern central Europe (over the old iron curtain) are woefully undertrained and make a higher proportion of mistakes, then you will probably be safer in an East coast hospital as the staff are more likely to be either British or Indian/Pakistani's (GP's with 10 years minimum training) and not get rich quick Polish/Latvian or Czech staff who have had poorer education and less international standard training .

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Well said Wroclaw boy... problem with people that don't live here is that they are talking using stats and figures that are put out by the Polish government or the failing EU. I live in Poland and pay Polish taxes and therefore see things slightly differents. The main street in gdynia is now mainly cash lenders there were none 3 years ago.

Life / Health system in Poland one of the worst in Europe: report [78]

Hi Peter

I use private care in Poland and all i can say is that it's definately worse then the most useless of NHS trusts you may get a fast scan but the doctors wont even look at the scans/results unless you constantly badger them. The standard of care in Poland has more to do with the standard of teaching of medical staff and not the glossy facilities the hospitals have.

My mother was a nurse in the frontline NHS from 1965 until she retired last year (continously training to keep up her Nursing registration) and therefore I know the dedication and work that every worker puts into it. So what if it only came 12th in europe (the other 11 are part private i assume) my experiences and those of my friends and family are positive. In fact when my dad was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer the nhs gave him 500% care.

I'd love to see how the US compares.

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Peterweg

what the hell are you going on about???? You've lost me....Earth calling Peter! come in!!!

Hi Wroclaw

there is nothing wrong with what you say and nothing wrong with being a patriot. Alot of posters (living outside of Poland) on here quote the 'official' stats and go on about the so called 'success' story that is Poland. The same people then tend to get personal when you give them a counter argument and tell them the 'truth' as to what is really happening here.

As i said before Polish GDP is rising (a lot slower and less then 5 years ago) but total employment is still going down. As you correctly pointed out some small town and villages are barren of anybody under the age of 30 years of working age these people have economically migrated from Poland to other "less successful" european countries that arn't as 'successful' as Poland. Seems funny that a country as fantastically successful as Poland should have a falling population and all of its youngsters emmigrating! In fact it'll not be long before successful Poland will just be a country full of pensioners!! How long before more Poles are born outside of Poland then inside!!!

My country (the UK) is in recession but is still a magnet for about 1 million other immigrants a year and why? Better communication, better housing, health care, benefit system, more jobs, better schooling.... better then Poland.....

But then again according to the original poster.... Poland's Economy Is Booming! (booming on the back of cheap labour!)

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Peterweg = TROLL!!!

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Hi Peterweg... the words Granny suck and eggs spring to mind.... I lived in an apartment on this street last year and none of these were there.

if you lived here you'd know!!!! no.1 money now!!! (near to the war memorial) ,no.2 open finance (opposite pizza hut), no.3 gold finance (opposite empik) and those three are off the top of my head there are more...

Ultra successfull Poland will soon be full of Kantors, Lombards and Money lenders....

**************

I came to Poland to help the polish economy...more then what Tusk and his band of idiots are doing and you!

News / Will EURO 2012 be a proud moment for Poland and its people or set back Poland 20 years? [86]

Peter

How far is Gdansk from Krakow.... what will the spanish, italians, czech and irish do to get between the two? A 2 hour flight??? a 7 hour drive??? Fail!!!

Hipis

25 years of following football around Europe and attending the various championships! .....

Stop comparing Poland to other European countries the imfrastructure is the pits! I've been to Germany, France, Austria and so on the believe me Poland has nothing to compare to them in terms of tourism.

Honour and Hooligans! really??? The English invented the football hooligan... granny, suck, eggs! If there isnt 1 bit of polish inspired trouble during euro 2012 ill eat my own arse.

'So have I and I've seen a hell of a lot of crap in Spain. Spain was a bit of a hole before it joined the EU back in the 80s and they've done pretty well out of the EU funds which have helped restore many of their crumbling cities, building new motorways, airports etc. Poland is still recovering from 45 years of a Russian puppet government (thanks to your government of the day) and has only been in the EU 8 years. Kraków, Wrocław and Gdansk have beautifully restored old towns so even if people don't venture outside those cities there's more for them to see and do than the likes of Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool did back in 1996.'

so you knowledge of north english tourism as you say....Is this a fact according to you or a just rubbish attributed to a genuine study into the habits of tens of millions of tourists? the UK gets about 30 millions visitors a year and you'd be aive to thing that 100% of them stay in the south east...york, lincoln, newcastle, edinburgh, liverpool are all massive tourist hotspots Poland get a total of about 15million and has how many land neighbours?? fail

Really...Spain was never a hole. (epic fail!!!) and obviously you spent alot of time up north in 1996! I've lived in Poland for three years and probably seen everything worth seeing..really nothing special (zakopane (boring), salt mines!!, upside down house, rebuilt original german-built town squares and castles (covered in grafitti), foka's in hel....it's really is riveting) In fact the only thing that tourists come to see is the Holocaust in Poland....I've taken about 70 flights in the last 3 years to and from Poland and only ever met one tourist couple...says it all. By the way. I've struggled to scratch the surface of UK tourist hot spots.

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Peterweg....knowledgeable til the last...

Gdynia is one of the richest cities in Poland... epic fail!! go back to playing Dungeons and Dragons on your computer!!

News / Polish baby boom, but not in Poland [40]

All these Poles born in England. Another TUSk success story!!!

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

Spiderpig...

Be careful the Poles will use Euro2012 to try to make a quick buck from anybody. I live here and have been ripped of on more then on occassion... a few tips...

Phone cards... if you use pay as you go in a smart phone beware...it will cost you a fortune...you will fine no literature in english

Taxis.... learn the basic good day etc... and when you get in the taxi say good day and then the name of the street that the hotel is on... not the hotel... they will rip you off royally if they know your not local...they make london cabies look like saints.

bus tickets.... make sure you stamp them once on the bus/tram etc....or they'll fine you..

green man at traffic lights... only walk on green...red is an instant fine... you can only cross on green and beware the poles have a stupid systmen that drivers can cross the same time as you.. (no wonder the poles are the worst drivers in europe)

Never pay more then 7-10zl for a beer!! a take 7km (3 miles) about 30-35zl.

good luck

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Some coutries have alot more riding on Greece then others. The UK is okish... france wull be snookered as will germany. If the euro fails europe will be a better place. Look at Iceland!

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Peterweg

Iceland defaulted on its debts (like greece should do) and then started again with a level playing field. Sex with animals... really? grow up!

The Euro was always going to fail, so many goverments singing from different hymn sheets all using the same currency with no option to alter the value of their currency to stimulate trade and growth. The only country to really benefit from the Euro are the Germans. Only an idiot would still think that the single european currency is a good thing. There was a reason why currencies the likes of Spain, Italy and Ireland were shite before the Euro. The Irish Punt was always linked near enough to the Pound but the Irish economy was always like the poorest part of the UK. The PIGS nations were gerrymandered into the EURO in order that the Germans could shift German-goods easier. The pool people in these countries are now being stiffed by an ideal that would never work.

The UK may lose a little from this whole debarcle but as the UK has it's own currency which is unlinked to the farce of the EU then the GBP can be devalued to stimulte growth should it be needed. Poland on the other hand has it's own currency (which has dropped from 4.50 to the pound to 5.4 to the pound this year) so therefore doesn't have the flexibility to devalue to stimulate any more growth and inflation is on an upwards spiral. Added to that Poland is too linked into Europe (free cash!!) and the 'whole brotherhood of the USSR of Europe'. If Europe fails Poland fails.

Food / Where to buy British mature Cheddar Cheese and salted butter in Poland? [289]

Real sell English Chedder I can't stand the lumps of rubber that passes off as cheese in Poland I yearn for a decent Stilton.

Tesco sell english bread a bit like Asda's tiger bread. Bomi have a small selection on English beers.. and apart from the lack of a 'real' breakfast sausage the rest i can manage with Polish produce.

News / Polish baby boom, but not in Poland [40]

People should have to live and work in a country for a minimum 5 years in order to qualify for any state handouts...end of!