The Poles

Walking down the road and in the shops, I am amazed at how many languages I hear. Spanish and French are common, German and Somali and Arabic occasional, but Polish and other Slavic languages are everywhere. They say that 600,000 Poles have arrived in Britain since Poland acceded to the EU, and I believe it.

It has become accepted that Polish migrants are honest, hard-working and competent. Some of them don't speak English too well, but they try. And why are they here? I guess it's because of the money, event though they tend to be on minimum salaries. That's not always the case. Cleaners in Bristol earn about £7 / hour, or €10-11, which is four or five times what they can get at home. A cleaner I used to know, who has returned to Torun to work as a University lecturer, earns much less over there. Their money is cash-in-hand, and I presume they don't volunteer to pay taxes. The supermarket check-out girl earns about £6 an hour, which is enough to make a living for a single person, even if it's not enough to raise a family.