Summary
HERE is a good news story. In the two years since the European Union was enlarged, more than 600,000 people have come to work in the UK from the accession countries. There have been no race riots, no demonstrations and no significant social frictions. Thousands of low-paid jobs that Britons did not want to do have been filled, creating a spurt of economic growth that has benefited everyone. In Scotland, 32,000 young Poles have arrived, reversing the population decline and giving a boost to both the hospitality industry and agriculture.
It is true that the number of registered unemployed among UK citizens has risen in recent months. But the fact that the new east European economic immigrants are taking jobs in marginal professions suggests that they are not the cause of this jump in local unemployment. Besides, the total number of jobs in the UK is the greatest it has ever been, and is still climbing. The rise in statistical jobless probably has more to do with the return to the labour market of large numbers of the over-50s.See the full content of this document
Extract
Leader: Keeping Tabs On Immigration
Despite the positive contribution of this wave of young Poles and other east Europeans, the government is having second thoughts about having an open-doors policy towards similar young Romanians and Bulgar...
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