Mary Wakefield Mary Wakefield

Misery of the Polish newcomers

Everybody loves the Poles but Andrzej Tutkaj is sceptical about the benefits of the march from East to West

issue 28 January 2006

Everybody loves the Poles. Everybody loves reliable plumbers and natural-born nannies. Only Andrzej Tutkaj, of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, is sceptical about the benefits of the march from East to West.

I spoke to Mr Tutkaj on the telephone this week and asked him how all the new Poles were faring in London. There was silence, then a sigh. ‘I personally,’ said Mr Tutkaj, ‘don’t like to over-glorify the Polish people. They are far from ideal.

‘Since Poland joined the EU, it has been very hard work for the people in the firing line having to deal with desperate Poles with no money and nowhere to live. A lot of mistakes have been made.’ What do you mean? ‘Well, last year, the government said that there were 500,000 unfilled jobs in Britain.

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