Letters to the Editor | 11 February 2006

Plight of the Poles

From Martin Oxley
Sir: Anthony Browne’s article suggests that demand from UK employers is driving mass migration of new EU nationals to Britain (‘Invasion of the New Europeans’, 28 January). The British Polish Chamber of Commerce can certainly confirm this view. Last year the Chamber organised two recruitment fairs for British companies and recruitment agencies, which attracted over 11,000 Poles interested in working in the UK. This year — because of growing demand from British employers — we shall be organising at least five recruitment fairs.

Yet the points made by Andrzej Tutkaj (‘The misery of the Polish newcomers’, 28 January) are also valid. Too many Poles get on a bus or plane (ten Polish cities now have low-cost air routes to Britain) without much thought as to what to do on arrival. These are the Poles who are most likely to end up in the grey economy, their lack of English being exploited by unscrupulous employers.