Britain will not face a flood of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria when border controls lapse in the New Year, the immigration minister insisted last night. Mark Harper played down fears of a mass influx from the Eastern European countries and ruled out extending the restrictions on migrant workers. Ministers have come under pressure from Tory backbenchers to defy the EU and protect British jobs by keeping controls in place. Currently, Romanians and Bulgarians can only work in the UK on seasonal fruit-picking visas or if they are self-employed. From January, they will have the same working rights as Britons. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2510617/Mark-Harper-We-close-borders-Romania-Bulgaria.html
These are the same assurances that Mark Harper's Labour counterpart gave on the eve of the first tranche of former Soviet Bloc countries becoming full EU members - which famously included Poland. The government was hopelessly wrong in 2004 and we won't have to wait too long for it to be clear it is wrong yet again. I'd not be too surprised if Romanians and Bulgarians currently employed in the home countries for low wages decide to move to the UK and take low-paid jobs because they will be so much better off if they do. But they'll also be denying those jobs to British born unemployed people. And it's about time that the government got tough on those who won't work: simple solution stop all benefits after 6 months including housing and child benefits (if you can not afford to bring-up a child, don't have one). Give support to those (Brits) who do take the lowest paid jobs and outlaw zero-hour employment contracts. But it's the Roma from those two countries that worry people more. The Daily Mail also reports that Malta is to sell citizenship for 650,000 Euros per head to those who are not EU nationals thus giving them the same rights of movement as EU nationals but without the requirement of ever having to visit or live in Malta! There could be security implications not only for other EU members but also for those countries who allow visa-less travel to Maltese Passport holders such as the US. No doubt the Maltese will offer a range of discounts for group applications and hold BOGOF (or BOTO as its known in the Philippines) days should sales flag.
We could bring back the workhouse Mark not out of kindness just to stop the bad press from all those third world countries sending food parcels for starving kids living on the side of the road in the UK, at the moment its just a few that are hungry and no-ones noticed shhhh
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat estimates the new program will rake in roughly 30 million euros in its first year (equivalent to about 46 applicants), followed by 200 to 300 applicants in subsequent years. The aim, he says, is to attract new, "high value" citizens to the island, by which the prime minister apparently means those who can raise close to a million dollars for one of the most coveted passports in the world. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/13/malta-selling-citizenship_n_4267231.html I wonder how the EU will try to close this new horrific security loophole up in its ivory towers? Totally mad situation when a sovereign nations border control policy becomes null and void.. Its all going pear shaped...Fast.
Like quite a number of socialists I've met, you live in some la-la fantasyland and believe that the government should hand out cash to all and sundry in large quantities whenever they need it. And that cash never runs out does it? But actually, you're all champagne socialists because you start screaming and shouting if, heaven forfend, the general rate of taxation is raised to pay for all this largesse. It's then that you lot demand taxing the last penny out of people like Philip Green and Stelios Haji-Ioannou, never mind the fact that they provide hundreds of jobs and their employees are tax-payers - which you may or may not be.
Whoa now Mark, as a red flag waving, tree hugging, self loathing, commie sonofabitch socialist; I take umbrage with your reference to my la-la land. It is in fact, la-la-LA-la land! But I do agree with some of what you wrote there. We should ban zero hour contracts in all employment contracts! Treat all immigrants the same when it comes to benefits (if my wife can’t claim for 5 years, neither should anyone else who just arrived). But I would go far beyond what you mentioned.. I don’t just say “tax the rich”, but I do call for a fair tax system where everyone can benefit from it. I do think those with the most should pay the most, after all it was the free education, health care and safety of growing up in such a civilised society that allows entrepreneurs to push themselves in their early days and take risks that eventually turns some kid from a council estate into a multi-millionaire. A fair tax system would surely be something where the lowest earners paid the least tax and the highest earners paid the most tax! But sadly, this isn’t the case. Instead we have people getting rich off of the backs of their workers, so underpaid that they require the government to step in and top up their meagre salaries. The top earners stash their money offshore and find ways to avoid or vastly reduce their tax bills and so the tax burden then gets soaked up by those in the middle, the middle class.. And this is just wrong.
Having lived and worked in Malta, and got to know the political system, and rubbed shoulders with people in government and opposition, I am shocked that Malta could do something like this. My ex-boss over there is die-hard Labour (he was bodyguard to 2 Maltese Prime Ministers) and he campaigned tirelessly with Dom Mintoff, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and Norman Lowell for the Malta NO campaign to join the EU a few years ago. Joseph Muscat is to Malta Labour Party what Tony Blair was to New Labour here in the UK. He sold out.
Thanks for being able to label me so easily the reality is much more complex,The cash you refer to ran out decades ago and has been invented ever since. You on the other hand are in line with comments like this to become our resident dedworth. What I do know is that anyone who says as you did, and ill repeat your words, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO PUNISH CHILDREN? You are one easy step away from the forced abortionists,sterilisations forced adoptions oh and while were at it lets build some nice ovens. Our society has since my birth lost its way. The values of community, shared experience and care for our neighbor (or even knowing there name) has been replaced with isolation , consumption and a world view that effectively has consigned a generation to the scrap heap. All that seems to matter is what things you have, greed is now promoted as a virtue by our politicians. Fear is being used everywhere as a mechanism of control , the media create illusionary needs and booze filled violence is to be seen on every street corner in our towns and cities, what you seem to doing is lashing out perhaps from your own frustration with your bored life. Me , in my terms , im doing ok , Im studying for a degree, running a business , integrating my familly in the UK , loving my missus ,dealing with the devious H.O. helping my kids & grandkids, enjoying my daughter learning to read and her delight in her new found ability with numbers, am i rich in money nope do i have enough (love)? yes, But there is no part of me that wants to judge the guy down the road that may by now be unemployable or his family to be put on the streets, regardless of his origins ,its a social contract we all made that none should starve. In a finite world our expectations of "infinite growth" would to an objective observer be tantamount to insanity , we are all going to have to have less and share more or as an alternative lose 70% of our population the old the weak and the young and live in virtual prisons with walls and guards to keep out the have nots. Its not an attractive picture and I wont waste any energy painting it, so I will continue to notice and speak against intolerance and thinly dressed violence where ever it rears its ugly head.
Agreed - on every point! Socialists love to punish those who do well, who make a success of their lives whilst at the same time they reward the indolent with cash benefits. I wouldn't mind if you Socialists were principled supporters of Trades Unionism and Britain's workers but just as we saw when Blair became PM, Socialists are actually unprincipled, corrupt and easily bribed. Remember Bernie Ecclestone? He's just one of many. Thing is, you see, the wealthier businessmen have to stash their cash in tax havens to prevent it being plundered by the likes of Brown, Darling and Balls. If they didn't do that, how would they have the money to invest? And do remember that if you make life difficult for the richer members of society, they'll up sticks and move to another country. To put things back on an even keel :- . there should be an end to the giving of tax incentives to foreign investors intending to run businesses in the UK - rather those incentives should be given to Brits investing in British companies employing British workers; there needs to be a rule that British jobs are for British people first and foremost; EU nationals living in the UK will be entitled to NHS and state-funded education on a reciprocity basis with their home country; EU nationals living in the UK are not entitled to any state benefits until they've been employed for a minimum of 13 consecutive months; the qualifying period of continuous residence in the UK before British citizenship can be applied for should be raised to ten years;
Good post sir...unlike the handwringers from lala land here....totally agree. (Yes, I know, I'm one of the nasty horrid despised ones too...oh well ). What these commies conveniently forget, is that the 'rich' also create most of the PRODUCTIVE work, and also pay VAT on all their purchases....apart from their higher levels of personal taxation, but no, that isn't enough for the envious and the parasites.
Seems its all about what suits eh. A line for every occasion regardless of belief. Well I never. Do you know that in all these years that has never onced dawned on me to be the case that there is a need for an entrepreneur and it has taken until now for me to realise that. Thanks for pointing that out. Do you know, I just dont know what I would have done without some of the advice from some of you pumped up Fil UK stalwarts. How did I manage for so long... By the way, who exactly are you accusing of being a socialist? I am not one. But I don't have a grudge against them either.
John every one with a social conscience is a commy to those on the right of Gengis Khan all manner of cruelty, lawlessness and plunder are considered to be fair after all the poor can always eat cake Luckily here the boss welcomes free speech must be terrifying for the good old boys
I know Keith. Exactly. But such folk like G59 have a social conscience when it suits. It is turned on and off at will to suit themselves and their agenda.
