At the risk of coming over all Daily Mail, it is alarming to read that the populations of Bulgaria and Romania are now just 13 months away from being able to treat the EU as though it were their own country. They could move to Lisbon, Livorno, Limoges or even Llandrindod Wells, if they wanted to. But it's a fair bet that their destination of choice will be London.
Why? Do I need to spell it out? B E N E F I T S. In their position, I'd do exactly the same. Even by the standards of our hit-and-miss NHS, it's a more attractive place to give birth than Bucharest, and the child is Born British, which may not be 'winning the lottery of life' as it once was, but has got to be a better bet than the outskirts of Plovdiv or Timisoara.
We don't have the jobs and we don't have the room. The politicians know this but are too achingly right-on and timid and poofterish to say so. The populist position, of course, is to say NO, but their fear of Auntie BBC, the Grauniad, their dinner guests in MetroLondon, will force them to remain compliant with EU ideology.
No good will come of this. Keep them out.
10 comments:
... and get the hell out of the EU.
1) as you will already know most of the nuisance Romanians are already here
2) saying no would require the treaty to be changed - desirable but hardly feasible in 13 months, can't see the EU kicking out its newest members can you?
Britain was at the front of push to expand the EU so it didn't become a French-run club.
3) It's welfare that's the problem, not open borders. We've got enough British born people living in comfort at the expense of the middle-income taxpayer thank you very much. Another few thousand won't change much.
I doubt it will just be a few thousand, something has to give at some time and the consequences will be ugly.
I used to visit Romania frequently for work. I thought the real Romanians were lovely people; hard working, generous, fun. Reminded me a lot of Italians. But then there are the Roma. Hmm. It isn't right-on to say so but I thought they thoroughly deserved their local reputation as a pestilence. Thieving feckless indolent scumbags who bring a crime wave with them wherever there go, like a comet trailing a tail. They're the ones we need to keep out.
SW, you are right. I meant the Roma but was unspecific. It should go without saying that if you have a job and a home in South East Europe, you should give thanks and stay put.
B E, I take your point, but disagree. Welfare reform will be horribly slow and the arguments put up have to be dealt with one by one in order to change the culture of idleness (and its supporters on the Left).
Completely changing our attitude to immigration is a first and easy step.
Unfortunately the Roma are already here. Prior to 2007 the UK required Romanian nationals to have a visa. Furthermore the French and other countries required them to have a Schengen visa. This meant that the numbers of Romanians entering the country was relatively low.
However on the 1st of January 2007 the requirement was dropped. I worked for UK immigration back then and I was in Calais on New Years Day when the first bus loads of Roma started coming in. It was like watching extras from Deliverance. As Blue Eyes points out most of the riff raff are already here. They have doubtless claimed to be destitute so they can take advantage of social housing.
If you recall it was a bunch of Roma that upset the good people of Northern Ireland. That was in 2009 so its not a new phenomenon. As far back as 2002 I had to deal with Romanians who had obtained entry visas based on the EU Accession. These clowns would present a "business case" and the poor slobs in the British Embassy were effectively barred from refusing to grant them a visa as they would breach EU law.
My view is this. Firstly we need to leave the EU. Then we need to restore the visa requirement for Romanians, Bulgarians, Slovaks and any others that are abusing our welfare. Thirdly we need to change the law so that EU nationals are not entitled to welfare.
Not politically correct I fear, but we are broke and the sooner we recognise the fact the sooner we can do something about it.
So long as we keep dismissing majority opinion as a bit 'Daily Mail' then were are in trouble.
5 million buyers. God knows how many readers.
If it really was as bigotted as is made out then the BNP would be romping home. As it is Ukip have only just started to register.
Blue says '... a few thousand won't change much.' Well. Aside the the gross underestimation this is correct.
This is because the horse has well and truly bolted and this country is already wrecked.
In fact another million influx would be delicious under a Tory administration.
They will never hold office again.
EK: "the horse has well and truly bolted"
Which was my main point. Whether you like it or not, London is stuffed full of Roma. Opening the border will make no difference: they are already here.
Shutting the borders just shuts out the people who are willing to go the legal route: the skilled and the civilised. Until we implement a policy where people who are here against the law are sent away with a stamp saying "do not re-admit" tattooed on their forehead, until we stop giving people who have turned up illegally a free house, free healthcare and free schooling for their children, changing the immigration rules will make zero difference.
You're right, BE.
However, I don't think we need more civilised people here either - unless they bring their own wealth or skills that are particularly in short supply and sought after.
Those competing with workers already in abundance only to drive down wages are no good for us.
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