Migrants Day 2023: One NHS, many nationalities

 

What on earth will happen to our NHS (nevermind our care services, food production, retail, etc) if  we did not have migrant Labour in this country. 

Hat tip https://twitter.com/unisontheunion/status/1736716695438319848

We are all migrants

Yesterday the first official refugees from Syria arrived in the UK at Glasgow airport. Some random thoughts.

Firstly, I am reminded of this fascinating research about the generic make up of many Brits. The Romans, Vikings and Normans had apparently little influence on our DNA, it was the Anglo-Saxons invasion in 400-500 AD which substantially altered the generic make up. 30% of most English White DNA is German and 40% is French

Interesting that only the Welsh appear to have DNA similar to the original inhabitants of Britain after the last Ice Age. Of course, even they were "migrants" at some stage as well.

However, the "Celts" in  Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Cornwall have surprisingly no central gene source and are genetically the most different in the UK.

I remember once encountering a blond blue eyed idiot who was spouting racist rubbish that "all these foreigners should go home" by saying that surely this means he will have to go back to the German Forests that his family came from?

In Italian the word "foreigner" means someone from the next city or village.

I used to work in Brick Lane in the East End of London which has a Muslim mosque that used to be a Jewish synagogue and before that was a Protestant French Huguenot Church. 

British born members of my family regularly work abroad and send home their income.

I was forced to leave my family in Wales to seek work since at the time local male unemployment was 33%.

Nearly the whole of the UK was once totally uninhabited during the last Ice Age. This was only around 11,000 years ago.

I am proud that Newham Council is welcoming and supporting 10 Syrian Refugees families. 

So in one way or the other, we are all foreigners, we are all migrants.

Hat tip picture Edinburgh, Scotland

"If she drowns she's a refugee, if she floats she's an economic migrant".

This is the "Katie Hopkins" immigration test that the Tories are thinking of introducing to appease The Sun and Daily Mail readers.

Hat tip Becky Tye.

Truth, Lies and Migrants: Jan 1 2014

First post from 2014. From today according to the Daily Mail et al the UK is about to be overrun with migrants from Romania and Bulgaria. 

Least we forget about the estimated 1 million Brits in Spain! Hat tip SWTUC. 

"Modern Day Slavery" UK 2010

I am amazed that this completely illegal and despicable behaviour by a British company towards migrant workers has not been more widely reported. Or perhaps not - since reporting about employers, who ignore the minimum wage, discriminate against foreign workers and want to get rid of employment rights could be seen as unfairly promoting Conservative Party economic policies?

Check out the EHRC press release here

"Polish students awarded £25,000 in discrimination and unfair dismissal case 06.04.10

Two Polish workers have been awarded a total of £25,000 in an employment tribunal case against a Perthshire fruit picking company. The tribunal found against David Leslie Fruits on the grounds of race discrimination, dismissal for asserting a statutory right and unlawful deductions from wages. Central Scotland Racial Equality Council (CSREC) were able to provide the successful claimants with legal representation using legal grant funding from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Commission fund CSREC to provide advice and representation relating to discrimination.

Polish students Michal Obieglo and Tomasz Kowal lived on-site at David Leslie's Scones Lethendy farm last summer. During the hearing, the Tribunal heard evidence about the horrendous conditions the students were housed in during their time at the farm, sleeping in a converted metal container with no running water, and sharing twelve showers between almost 200 people. Additionally, there were discrepancies relating to rates of pay, underpayment of wages, incorrect payslips and incorrect deduction of tax.

When Mr Obieglo and Mr Kowal approached David Leslie on behalf of their colleagues with their concerns, they were threatened with dismissal and given a written warning. Mr Obieglo and Mr Kowal contacted the Citizen's Advice Bureau in Perth and continued to raise their concerns with their co- workers. They presented a petition to David Leslie with 145 signatories on it and were dismissed that day, allegedly for stealing fruit.

This accusation was without foundation and prompted a general strike. David Leslie then gave a personal pledge that the concerns of his employees would be addressed, and Mr Obieglo and Mr Kowal were re-instated. However, the next day, both men were asked to report to David Leslie's office, where they were met by police officers and escorted from the premises. Their belongings were withheld until they had bought a bus ticket to Edinburgh.

In the written judgement, Employment Judge Hosie said: 'There is no doubt that the discrimination in this case was serious. It caused the claimants' considerable distress, leaving them at one point in the situation where they feared they would be left stranded and homeless in a foreign country with no money to get home, or even imprisoned for an offence which had been fabricated. Their hopes of spending a pleasant summer picking fruit in Scotland and earning some money to assist with their University educations turned into a nightmare. They were treated appallingly, without any common decency or respect, and left frightened and humiliated.'

CSREC caseworker Richard Pitts described his clients' treatment as 'modern day slavery'. He added:
'Mr Leslie would not have dared treat Scottish people the way he treated my clients. He thought he could get away with it because they were Polish and didn't know their rights. That was the reason the Tribunal found his actions to constitute race discrimination'

Ros Micklem, Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland Director said: 'This case highlights the clear mistreatment and exploitation that migrant workers can face. Too often workers from overseas are treated badly, on the assumption that they will simply put up with substandard conditions and illegal pay. We hope that it sends out an important message to employers in Scotland. Discriminating against people because of their race or nationality is not only wrong it can also lead to tough financial consequences.'

Mr Obieglo said 'The reason I want people to hear about my experiences is so that other foreign workers know their rights and know how to assert them - I want to be an example for people to follow.'

Picture “Brothers of the Sun” by Luana Boutilier which is about fellow exploited fruit pickers. 

Hat-tip thingy Col. Roi.

At last some truth about Immigration and Social Housing

Back from a birthday celebration break in deepest, darkest Devon to read a welcome account in “Inside Housing” about research by the “Equality & Human Rights Commission” into the British housing allocations system.

Unlike the nonsense and “Big lies” pedalled by the BNP, the commission reported categorically that there was “no evidence in the research of any abuse of the system including “queue jumping” to the significant detriment of any group including white families”.

The reality is that “new migrants made up less than 2 per cent of the total number of people in social housing throughout the UK. Around 90 per cent of those living in social housing are born in the UK”.

There is still of course the problem that the perception of “queue jumping” and unfairness still exists. This report will help tackle this mis-perception, although I doubt it has been widely covered in “The Sun” or the “Daily Mail”?

For decades we have also had a corrosive policy of allowing Council homes to be sold under the “right to buy” without these rented homes being replaced. This has led to not only rapidly changing communities but scarcity and perceived competition between communities for homes and shelter.

Thankfully we are now planning to build new homes in London (Ken willing).