Comment: Immigrants from eastern Europe that moved to the UK have given an injection of £5bn (5.64 billion euros) to the economy during 2004-09, according to the BBC citing a report by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR).
The NIESR report states that countries that imposed restrictions on eastern workers saw economic growth reduced.
The BBC writes:”During the same period Britain’s GDP grew by £98bn, or 7.7%, and the NIESR study says that a 5% share of the £98bn can be put down to the migrants. The NIESR says the UK probably benefited from the restrictions imposed by other member states. It says Germany will suffer a “permanent scar” on its level of output, with its GDP reduced by between 0.1 and 0.5%.”
Migration Watch UK, an anti-immigration lobby group, said bringing in so many labor migrants was a “poor deal” for the UK.
Why do you think Finland has attracted so few skilled workers to the country?
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Immigrants from eastern Europe have added almost £5bn (5.64 billion euros) to Britain’s economy since 2004, according to a report.
It’s simple, really: the way the residence permit regulation works, being entirely dependent upon positive labour market statements, the minute this country’s economy experiences even the slightest setback, foreign workers don’t get their residence permit renewals and are forced to leave. Who is left? Unqualified workers who often came here as refugees. Among them, those who later went to university in Finland, realizing that having a Finnish degree doesn’t solve inbred nationalism, leave this country as soon as they get Finnish citizenship. Thus, most of our qualified foreigners don’t stay.
Is that statics after the cost of health services, translators, the unemployment payments to unskilled British workers who have become unemployed due to the influx of cheap labour and also dealing with the large scale crime which has come with the removal of borders been deducted? If not how much would then they have put into economy after deductions.
Also most East European workers send most of their money home and live on very little money the local economy does not benefit
PS Politicians
Either this is measurable or it isn’t. Do you have a better way to measure it or more reliable data?
One very important aspect is time span. If we take the time since the retreat of the great glaciers and the formation of the English Channel, then the UK has benefited hugely from immigration, going from zero economic activity to its present condition. Now if you feel that the time span should be shorter, then how short and why? The last five minutes? The last 28 days?
The high crime rate of foreigners has in most cases nothing to do with immigrants itself. They are foreign criminals not living in the country.
Cheap labor…minimum salaries would be a solution. Tougher laws against companies which don’t pay those minimum salaries.
When I worked in Ireland I have sent all my money to Finland to support my Finnish girlfriend since she is a student.
I have 2 Polish friends who bought a house in Ireland.
PS Politicians
Substitute Swedish for British and Finnish for East European in what you wrote, and then shift the context to Sweden in 1975. Still true or not? If not, then why not?
En Finne igen
Why are you askingin? You have some kind of ideological blinders on? 1970’s Sweden had a very strong industrial base that needed workers in production of export goods. Where exactly are these kinds of jobs in Finland in 2011? Paper factories, shipbuilding, you name it? Yes, the argument is always Fazer and Finlayson, they *established* industries. Now there comes Stephen Elop and what heppens – the jobs go. So where exactly do these immigrants come to work then? Närpes cucumber plantations without proper wages or like the Vietnamese metal workers as gastarbeiters. Thats very much against the idea about the welfare state.
Allan
The popular perception of Finns in Sweden in the early 1970s was that they were an uncultured criminal element from the east that was not welcome in Sweden. They were similarly perceived as a drain on the economy due to “the cost of health services, translators, the unemployment payments to unskilled [Swedish] workers who have become unemployed due to the influx of cheap labour” and so on. En Finne Igen
I’m sure that you would like to argue that those Finnish workers were really fine upstanding fellows who did not deserve such bad publicity. Unfortunately, however, you are just another Finn assuring us of this, and we have to gauge your trustworthiness accordingly.
Shall we continue to explore this theme, or is the mechanism of prejudice clear to you now?
JusticeDemon, that description of how Finns were perceived in Post-War Sweden is one of the most hilarious, graphic and useful bit you’ve written in ages. Keep it up!
Yes, Martin-Éric, I agree. JusticeDemon has a way with words.
So you either promote racism and xenophobia against Finns or there is some truth behind the sterotypee? Come on now, you can not deny the facts either way!
Allan, I’m sorry but it seems that you entirely missed Justice Demon’s point. His point was that the exact same populist and unfounded arguments that were used against Finnish immigrants in the 1960’s Sweden are being used 50 years later against foreigners in Finland.
Martin-Éric
I don’t think Allan missed the point at all. I think the aim was specifically to evade the point by pretending not to understand it.
The point is you are xenophobic racists.
Allan
Well, you very nicely made my point with that remark.
Making the substitution that I suggested above, we get the following, typical sentiments expressed in the Swedish tabloid press in the early 1970s:
It’s interesting that you yell racist! at this, but not at the original remark by PS Politicians. Yet the only difference between these entirely parallel views is your own perception, as a Finn, that the negative stereotyping of En Finne Igen can’t be correct because it’s about people like you.
Shall we continue to explore this theme, or is the mechanism of prejudice clear to you now?
Oh please say you still don’t get it! 🙂
“The popular perception of Finns in Sweden in the early 1970s was that they were an uncultured criminal element from the east that was not welcome in Sweden. ”
Well according to study (google en finne igen) and my personal experience (relatives and friends) that wasnt just just myth or perception but truth, many of who migrated there werent actually nice people. Most probably were but they suffered from “understanding and tolerating” of perperators since nothing changes reality and if problem makers would have been kicked out swiftly then good people would have had better life.
I myself were too young to understand anything in time when we lived in sweden, i was 1y old when we moved in (-78) and 5y when we moved out but i can think that 1 single mother, with 2 childrens, working in factory didnt do positive contribution to society and according to lore 2 kids running naked in rain between “high rise apartment blocks” wasnt acceptable 😀 Well we wanted to 🙁
For example husband of my granmas sister should have been kicked out asap. If he would have been only one kicked out and my great aunt would stay then she would have had lot better life.
So lets conclude this, migration was blessing to finland and mostly needed by sweden (arrive with ferry and ask for job, job granted “can you start right away”, that did push salary down so thats why “mostly”) but it wasnt painless and swedes werent wrong by claiming finns to be knife vielding drunkards.
JD – where have I said the stereotypes were unfounded? They are based on facts. Nobody denies the fact you could go to any Nordic capital and you got directions from the winos as they spoke Finnish.
The fact is you can not admit that there is anything wrong with the immigrants, but its all the “racist Finns” fault. So evidently with your logic there was nothing wrong with the Finns but it was “racist Swedes” at fault.