Why come to the UK?

There are around 911,000 Poles currently living in the UK. Almost all have arrived in the past 15 years.

So why come to the UK rather than other EU countries? Before the Brexit referendum the UK was booming with full employment, and our GDP second only to Germany's. Poles came knowing that if they worked hard they would earn a lot more than they would in Poland. So that is what they did, and Polish workmen have become a byword over the past decade.

Meanwhile, over the last ten years Polish GDP per person has increased by around 50%, while in the UK it has barely changed. Since the referendum the pound has depreciated against the Polish zloty by 20%. Together with the uncertainty of what will happen post-Brexit and the increase in hate crimes, this has meant that the UK is no longer a good place for Poles to work. This year the number of people coming to the UK from the EU8 (which includes Poland) was matched by the number leaving.

So it seems that at least that Brexit promise may be fulfilled. Admittedly it isn't because we have 'taken control' of our borders. It is because we have lost control of our economy.

Let's hope that this works out over the long run. Maybe once we have chucked out all the foreigners who are willing to work hard in low-paid jobs we can give those jobs to British people. By then British workers may even be glad to take the jobs, to learn how to work hard for little money, which may help to push up Britain's woeful productivity. As the continued freeze on benefits shows, the nation can't afford to keep subsidising people who aren't producing as we chuck out the people who are producing.