Half immigrants left UK ...

MarcoM · 30 Apr 2008 at 11:46

vonhelmet said:
Ah, got it - the A8 refers to former Eastern Bloc countries. So the reporter is half right.

Actually only seven out of eight countries that A8 refers to were parts of former Eastern Bloc.

Lord_Kokain said:
And partly because of their relatively small size. After all, leaving aside the fact that they are fairly more developed, how many Maltese(not to be mistaken with the "Maltesers") are to migrate to the UK?

Interestingly some A8 countries are not much larger than Cyprus or Malta and one even has GDP per capita and HDI higher than Cyprus or Malta. Not to mention the fact that the number of immigrants to the UK from at least one A8 country is negligible (circa 500 immigrants up to December 2007 - this is a number of WRS applications and includes people who have actually already left UK).

Cryogenic · 30 Apr 2008 at 11:47

willhub said:
So half of them have left? The other half need to get out now we dont want them!

On the contrary, it is a sad day indeed losing out on the social and economic benefits. No doubt further expansion of the EU will help to bolster our economy again

Welshy · 30 Apr 2008 at 12:25

Most immigrants don't intend to stay in this country indefinetly, they just want to earn a lot more than they would back home, for a couple of years.

Spektor · 30 Apr 2008 at 12:33

How to make BBC News:

1x copy of Heat Magazine
1x roll of large white stickers
1x pen

Apply as many large white sticks as necessary to cover the word "heat", using the pen write "news". Serving suggestions may include bright colours and hot milfs. Sit back and enjoy your endless hours of sensationalised drivel.

On the immigrants, good for them, I hope their lives go well for them and their families, they are working hard and are prepared to move about if necessary and are now having the chance to return home and help build their country into a 21st century economic success. Much respect from me.

Glaucus · 30 Apr 2008 at 12:48

I very much doubt this report. I certainly haven't seen a drop. I Expect it's it's just stat fiddling.

Energize · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:05

If everyone is leaving does this mean house prices will go down then? I hope so.

Vonhelmet · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:10

AJUK said:
I am looking forward to the article that reports that other half have left as well.

I am looking forward to the article that reports that the xenophobes have left.

Tefal · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:19

vonhelmet said:
I am looking forward to the article that reports that the xenophobes have left.

What happens if you move a xenophobe into a foreign country?

Does their head explode?

Vonhelmet · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:24

Tefal said:
What happens if you move a xenophobe into a foreign country?

Does their head explode?

I don't know, but I'd like to find out.

cleanbluesky · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:25

vonhelmet said:
I am looking forward to the article that reports that the xenophobes have left.

If they take the xenophiles with them, we could have a decent country again instead of heated reactionism on both sides.

Muffin` · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:29

BBC said:
About one million migrants from Eastern Europe have arrived in the UK since 2004 but half of them have already returned home, research suggests.

Research suggests?! So no one actually knows! :eek:

Vonhelmet · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:31

cleanbluesky said:
If they take the xenophiles with them, we could have a decent country again instead of heated reactionism on both sides.

Are you calling me a xenophile? Not sure that's wholly accurate, partly because I'm not, and partly because I'm part of the feared xeno group in the first place, regardless of how well I happen to blend in.

Tefal · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:37

cleanbluesky said:
If they take the xenophiles with them, we could have a decent country again instead of heated reactionism on both sides.

what we need are xenomorphs, would be much more entertaining.

Col_M · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:45

They also don't know their geography. If they are saying or implying that the Czech republic is in Eastern Europe they're off the mark, it's classed as a Central European country.

v0n · 30 Apr 2008 at 13:46

Research suggests?! So no one actually knows!

Of course no one actually knows. It's not like passports are scanned on all the borders to provide solid numbers. Oh.. wait...

The numbers tho - in 2007 Poland was missing 450,000 tax payers, around the same time Home Office counted 470,000 job applications from the new EU 10. Daily Mail calculators of course reached 1,000,000 back in 2006.

Col_M said:
They also don't know their geography. If they are saying or implying that the Czech republic is in Eastern Europe they're off the mark, it's classed as a Central European country.

So is Poland and Slovakia, Hungary and all ex-Yugoslavian states. It was Eastern Block, but not Eastern Europe. It's as central as it gets on the continent, you don't think of Greece as part of Eastern Europe, and technically it's more to the left

. I guess it's the same education which allows them to repeatedly refer to Finland as part of Scandinavia...

MarcoM · 30 Apr 2008 at 14:36

v0n said:
So is Poland and Slovakia, Hungary and all ex-Yugoslavian states. It was Eastern Block, but not Eastern Europe.

Former Yugoslavia was never a part of Eastern Bloc. It was neutral during the Cold War.

v0n · 30 Apr 2008 at 14:54

MarcoM said:
Former Yugoslavia was never a part of Eastern Bloc. It was neutral during the Cold War.

True.

Lord_Kokain · 30 Apr 2008 at 15:14

Btw its been known for a while that farmers are having tough times recruiting Czechs,Hungarians and Poles for their harvests because of the rising living standards in their countries. These however are simply being replaced by Romanians,Bulgarians and Ukrainians now.The former two nationalities may also start "dropping out" in the next 3-4 years so the farm owners may also go for Russians (or someone else with poor economy outside the EU). That brings me on back on the subject of this thread...the migration wave from the 2004 EU newcommer states may soon be gone but if our businesses need their labour(cheap or otherwise), they may attract it somehow from elsewhere.

a1ex2001 · 30 Apr 2008 at 16:02

There are two sides to this argument and they are very difficult to reconcile, while our contry desperatley needs cheap labour to do the jobs we now deem below us it certainly doesn't need the drain on public services and housing stock. Whats the solution......I have no idea i'm not a politician and if I was I wouldn't want anything to do with this issue it says election failure all over it.