The Rugarians Aren’t Coming
YOU’VE seen the pictures of the thick-set Bulgarian and Romanian men and women looking forward to a new and wonderful life in Britain.
You’ve heard the conflicting views. “There’s not enough room for all of them,” says the voice on the right. “There is,” counters the voice on the left. “There’s a sink estate in Glasgow that can house the lot of them, and their children too if they sleep nine to a bed.”
As the Independent reports, John Reid, the Home Secretary, says that once welcomed into the bosom of the European Union on January 1 2007, as is likely, Romanians and Bulgarians will only get work permits if they are highly qualified or can fill skills shortages.
We can sleep easy in the knowledge that our dentist or surgeon may be from Sophia, but our gardener and home help will remain a trusty Pole.
Is this fair? In an open letter to The Independent, 45 senior executives in organisations such as Goldman Sachs and KPMG say: “We applaud the vigorous debate that is taking place in the UK on migration but are concerned at the implication that migration from Bulgaria and Romania needs to be managed more than any other group of immigrants.”
There are differing voices. But all agree on one point – these people from Romania and Bulgaria (which for reasons of expediency we will from now call Rugaria) are desperate to leave their homelands and wake to a rosy-fingered dawn in one of the less salubrious parts of Leeds.
Great Britain in name and deed. You can look. You can visit. But you cannot work here for too long lest you pollute our way of life.
And then we read in the Guardian that not all these foreigners think Britain is a land flowing in milk and honey.
In “Britain unlikely to face flood of Balkan migrants”, the Guardian says Migrants from Rugaria are more likely to go to Italy, Spain and Greece. Many prefer Israel, which is a land flowing in milk and honey, and one with a vibrant Rugarian community.
And then the paper reports on the results of a new BBSS Gallup International poll for the Ministry of Labour in Bulgaria. It shows that only 46,000 people seriously intend to work abroad.
Of course, these foreigners may well be lying. They’re like that. It might all be a plot to unsettle us. In which case we should man the barricades, slam shut the hatches and like Paul Revere cry: “The Rugarians are coming!”
Picture: bbdo
Posted: 25th, September 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
