Is moving to UK now a good idea? - antipolish prejudice of the Brits

I may have some job offers waiting for me in the UK but I started to wonder whether moving there is such a good idea. I mean, I'm proud of being Polish and wouldn't accept being treated as a second class citizen. I also wouldn't like hearing that I should go back to where I came from.

I came across The Sun's article about the Polish woman who was saved from London riots:
thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3750432/Polish-mum-Monika-Konczyk-tells -of-riot-blaze-hell.html?allComments=true#mySunComments
Just look at the comments. Most people write negative things about Poles and want them gone.







I could probably fill a book full of antipolish comments coming from British people. So, I reckon, I should just mark Britain as "antipolish and racist" on my map and ignore any offers that come from there?

Geez, once again?? There are many threads on this. Some Brits are prejudiced, many aren't. We are used to foreigners, Poland isn't. We'd see just how Poles would react when faced with millions of outsiders. Please merge this with another relevant thread, Mods. Many thanks!

And I could fill a website with whinging moaning anti British comments from Poles. so friggin what?!?

You make of the place what you can, she moved to a sh!ty area of a sh!ty city and worked in a sh!ty job,like many deluded dreamers she expects a 21st century metropolis to be like some friggin ealing comedy from the 1950s..............................

Right on, isthatu2. You have to take people as you find them and as we both know, such people attack black Brits too. Even white folk get beaten up for wearing the wrong colour or looking at others in the wrong way. I think some Poles expect a lovely red carpet to be rolled out for them but that just isn't going to happen.

Besides, the Sun's readers are hardly renowned for their fairness or intellect.

Legit concern on his part, don’t you think?
Sean, perhaps a bit more positive comments about England on your part as to why his impression is wrong in your opinion. Why tuck it away somewhere and not give it a chance for some input from those that live there. I personally would like to hear Poles take on daily life in Britain, what it's like for them.

My ex,bless her heart expected England to be like "keeping up appearances"....and you know what, some of what I showed her was but,of course, not the entire country.

But again,why on earth do people move to a huge city and expect a bed of roses? Would a country bumpkin from Poland expect an easy life in Warsaw?

Of course getting burnt out of the flat she rented was terrible,and my heart goes out for her,but see all those arms reaching up to catch her as she jumped, is someone seriously going to tell me they were all Poles?

I know, SHT. It's just been done before. I have no objection to his aim. In fact, I positively welcome the sharing of experiences as that's what we were born for, IMHO. I just don't like blanket generalisations.

Yeah,my mum.
erm,the Sun is a rag read by people who frankly need lots and lots of pictures in a paper to follow a story..............
If you take on board what they say and take it to heart maybe,with kindness meant,you aint cut out for work in England. What you should do is ignore this pond life,be proud of who you are and rise above it.

the problem is though,many Poles came here not expecting to be classed as "second class" ,infact,they came here expecting to be classed as superior to some of our own people. The creepiest comments in this line tend to be from Poles whinging that "Blacks and asians get better XYZ then we white europeans".....................

Fair point, ist2. There is a mainstream perception that they are 'above' those groups but they fail to accept or take on board that those groups have been mainstays in British culture for a long time. They have worked their way up various ladders and they can't be knocked for that.

It is sad , I do wish I could meet all Poles off the plane or ferry and take them round the majority good parts of England,the places that are still like a cozy 1980s middle class sit com. The villages and towns I know where you can still leave your doors unlocked to let a neighbour in to feed your fish over a weekend ,all the normal places where reading the local papers crime reports are hilarious; Local boys told off for playing football on village green.Amnesty on overdue library books etc etc

Unfortunatly Poles have tended either to arrive here and head straight for major cities and ended up in the cheapest,roughest areas, or, arrived en masse in small villages and themselves been responsable for the change in culture suddenly foisted on small communities. Like seanus said, it would do well for Poles to consider what their reaction would be if in the space of a few weeks several hundred ,I dont know, Albanians turned up in a village of 900 souls.

Hardly as there would’ve been not enough jobs for the original 900 souls yet for all those Albanians. Kidding aside are you telling me that all that hatred bottled up inside your society across the board and of all social status that manifests itself either through the action of the Youth as in recent events or the nasty comments under some article by those that prefer to be anonymous and blaming everything on newcomers for their society was perfect in every way before that? Somehow it’s hard for me to swallow that the 180 turn that Britain took from the Britain shown on those 80’s sitcoms is the fault of the Poles themselves? Yap Keeping Up Appearances once again.

2 million Poles emigrating to the UK in a few years can have that effect. Theres 30,000 now in Southampton, the population of Southampton is only around 230,000, so more than 10% are Polish and all here since 2004.

My brother in law has been here for two months, he doesnt have any issues nor has he been the victim of any racism.


With all due respect if the UK is that what the hell is Poland with regard to blacks?

Well, I don't care about detailed sociological explanation of British hostility towards Poles - I just want to know what I could expect living an ordinary life there. UK is not my only choice so I don't see a point in going there if I can get a better treatment somewhere else. Will British kids throw stones at me and will I be questioned by the police once a local swan goes missing or are we talking more subtle forms of resentment here?

you will be fine- just stay out of the Polish ghettos.

You need to get out more, sorry.

You will be treated as the same as anybody else. All this talk about anti-Polish racism is bull****.

You have to remember, people whom post in the Sun are a) Thick as **** b) too cowardly to every say what they think to someone's face. Racisms is far worse in countries that don't have a very mixed population, its worse in America a supposedly tolerant society.

Do not forget that online comments are written by a certain type of idiots who have nothing better to do.
Please don't let them put you off.
Most of us are quite normal.
ha ha I just realised the irony of posting that on a forum of online comments.....
Don't worry! Come on over!

Stone the Pole, LOL.


Try checking out a football Forum after England get beat in a major tournament - the Scotts are all over it. Its the old story of a few bad apples rotting the cart.

Prejudice does exist in the UK against Poles but i don't see it at all and neither will you.

Two golden rules for interneting: never diagnose yourself on the internet, dont take public opinion on the internet as fact.

Walter Scott's relatives again, WB? ;) ;)

The rest of what you said was sound :)

one thing "my mom", you did neglect to mention that the woman in question has just appeared on the front of "the SUn" newspaper with HER quote as the headline saying "ENGLAND IS SICK"

So your concerns and quotes were slightly out of context. Really, what kind of comments did she/you expect?

Isthatu2,

You have a good point about "You make of the place what you can". This is true about anybody living in any country.

It would be ridiculous for a Polish person or any person to judge British people by some bad apples in Britain. Just like it would be ridiculous for people to judge Polish people by some bad Polish people.

I am a strong believer of "When in Rome do as the Romans".

Poles or people of any ethnic background should put a strong emphasis on ASSIMILATING and INTEGRATING into the country they CHOOSE to live in. People of Polish ancestry or any ancestry, should first of all put an emphasis on BEING BRITISH and not on their ethnic origin when living in Britain. Although its human nature for people to be proud of their ancestry, they should ALWAYS be loyal first to the country they live in and respect its culture, ie learn the language and fit into it as best as possible. They should be more loyal to the country they live in than their ancestry. If they don't like living in the country, they should simply LEAVE.

In my opinion, the British have every right to kick out people they don't like in their country whether they are Poles or non-Poles. Just like Poland has the right to kick out anybody Poles don't like and we in the US have every right to not let in people we don't like.

The problems with countries like Britain and the US is that there is this big liberal culture of making people coming into the respective countries feel like they are "owed something". We see this all the time in the US. We have illegal immigrants abusing hospitals. They have a cold or a headache and they use the emergency rooms of hospitals (which hurts people with real emergencies) and then since they're broke, the hospital passes the costs onto other people who do have money. That's just one of many examples.

In my opinion, I think Britain over the years have been fair to Polish people in general. If Poles (and other non-Brits) in Britain, learn to speak good English and do everything to be the best British citizens they can, they will be just fine.

And do you think Americans and British assimilate when they move to Poland? Right- there is a British school and American school here. Not to mention all the clubs and groups for expats. And do they learn the language? I think not.

Only those who live here for long periods of time.
If she is just doing a term job then she doesn't need to assimilate, she just needs to fit in for the duration.
There is no need to worry about being attacked because she is Polish.

I think she did it to herself. She shouldn't have worded it like she did.
1% of English and non-english. Mostly black with no English grandparents caused everything. Just cos 1% do it doesn't mean she should say it's all of us. That is what has pissed everyone off.

If she worded it about the arseholes who rioted then she would have been fine. But she didn't.

If i got attacked by 10 people in Warsaw and said all the Polish are scum, you would then feel wronged like most of us English have felt.

Don't get me wrong. I think the people who damaged or stole anything should be blinded like the child from slum dog millionare.

Good point, Forfour. Stop blaming a nation for the actions of a few thugs.

I am inclined to think that The Sun worded it like this to stir up some more resentment.

Look who is behind The Sun. Rupert Murdoch wants tension to create chaos and that chaos serves as an excuse to control us more and more through policing and CCTV. Remember, most Brits castigate the BNP for their harsh stance on immigration. What does that tell you?

absolutely agree with you on that.....

For sure. I mean, what fun is there in harmony for those people? Politicians have even admitted to looking for chaos and the need for an enemy. It all justifies the need for broad-based, sweeping controls. Create a jungle of sorts and there is a need for intervention in the name of helping out.

If he ever be willing to to join the common people, even if it be in his afterlife, then he may put an inscription on his grave of the kind Thomas Gray put on his:

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

While I understand the need for policing to protect citizens and minorities, they will go beyond the call of duty. Mark my words.

It was Ben Franklin that said sth about a choice. Pursue security instead of individual rights and you will end up with neither.

It is up to the people to try and get on. Some will resist but others will try and strike a chord. That's just human nature.