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| The times they are a changing? http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4256 |
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| Author: | JD [ Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:36 am ] |
| Post subject: | The times they are a changing? |
When Bob Dylan wrote "The Times they are a changing back in the sixties" little did we know how relevant those words would be some 40 years on. In three or four years time the chances are this website will still be here but will you? The following article suggests this Labour Government has no idea what repercussions mass immigration will have on the resources of this tiny island of ours, and the indigenous people who live here? There is a debate going on in another thread about the effect immigration is having and is likely to have on the Taxi trade. The people who run the UK Taxi trade outside of London have never really had a clue of how to take the trade forward, all they have ever thought about is restricting plates and letting any Tom, Dick or Harry enter the trade, without having to pass any national Taxi qualification whatsoever. Perhaps it is dawning on some that those vested interests who in the past have elevated themselves into a position of influence for their own personal advantage are nothing more than carpetbaggers who want restrictions in vehicle licenses but a free for all in driver licenses. The remedy to all this lies in your own hands, you can either get busy in your local area and form your own associations or you can join existing associations and turf out those who make the decisions. If you think the present crop of Taxi representatives can cut the mustard then so be it but don't say you haven't been warned. ....................................... DAILY MAIL (London) August 24, 2006 Thursday HEADLINE: THE TOWN THE POLES TOOK OVER BYLINE: BY SUE REID PETERBOROUGH USED TO BEA QUINTESSENTIAL CATHEDRALCITY. BUT,AS THIS SPECIALREPORT REVEALS,IT HAS NOW GOT A VERY DIFFERENT CLAIM TO FAME ASTONE'S throw from Peterborough's Norman cathedral, where Henry VIII's first wife Catherine of Aragon lies entombed, the queue of people talking in unfamiliar tongues snakes down the road every weekday just before lunchtime. By 1pm, when the doors of the local Inland Revenue office, Hereward House, open, the crowd of waiting Lithuanians, Slovaks and Poles is so long that only six at a time are allowed up in the lift to apply for Chancellor Gordon Brown's generous tax credits. Here in Peterborough, a beautiful, quintessentially English city nestling close to the East Anglian fens, word of the Government's largesse has spread quickly among what is said to be the fastest growing multi- ethnic community in provincial Britain. The queue cocks a snook at Home Secretary John Reid's promise of a national debate on limiting immigration, and serves as a grim reminder of the warning by local government leaders of council tax rises to pay for the housing and schooling of the huge Eastern European diaspora. Peterborough is not alone. Disturbing new figures released by the Department of Work and Pensions reveal for the first time the enormity of the foreign population explosion. In the past two years, 1 million migrants have registered for work in Britain, the majority -- 600,000 -- from the former Communist bloc. And as was revealed yesterday, a further third of a million Romanians and thousands of Bulgarians are expected to join the flood into Britain when their countries join the European Union next January. The result so far? A rising demand from migrants for state handouts in all parts of the country, from Slough in Berkshire, where 10,000 Eastern Europeans now live, to Southampton, which has more than 15,000 recent immigrants, and Leicester, which houses an estimated 8,000. Despite the Government's insistence that the new arrivals would not claim welfare, it emerged yesterday that 43,000 now collect handouts, including working tax credits and child benefits. Child support for the new arrivals alone is costing the British taxpayer £43 million a year. Some who wait in the Peterborough queue even have government letters telling them how and where to apply for state assistance. 'A lot of my friends are claiming tax credits from your government and now I want to do the same,' says Neringa Zitkeviciene, a 22-year-old Lithuanian. At her side is her son Tomas, aged seven, and in her arms is her toddler daughter, Eva. Neringa shares a £200-a-week shift in a vegetable packing factory with her husband so one of them can look after the children in their £40-a-week rented room. But they struggle to make ends meet. 'My husband and I don't earn enough money to support our family and pay the rent and buy food,' says Neringa. 'We have been told we can get this tax credit and that is what we are trying to do.' Further back in the queue, which is made up largely of foreigners and which by 3pm numbers 50 people, is fellow Lithuanian Kostis Mietxtis, who works as a supervisor in another packing factory. 'We understand how your system works,' says the 20-year-old. 'We know that we are entitled to the same help as the British because we are EU citizens. There is nothing wrong with us asking for the money if we need it.' Of course, this is true, and obviously among the migrant community there are many deserving cases. But the views of Neringa and Kostis are not shared by everyone in Peterborough. The city has witnessed a massive influx of Eastern Europeans who gained the right to live and work in Britain when eight former Soviet bloc nations joined the EU in May 2004. RECENTLY, Peterborough's MP Stewart Jackson revealed to the Mail that 5,080 new National Insurance numbers have been issued in the past year alone to foreign workers in the city. Of that total, two thousand went to Poles, 1,600 to Lithuanians and 400 or so to Slovaks. Yet even this figure is not the whole story. Another 3,000 National Insurance numbers were handed out to migrants in Peterborough the previous year, just after Britain threw open its doors. And the real tally could be twice as high. The East of England Regional Assembly estimates there are in fact 16,000 Eastern Europeans in Peterborough -- one in ten of the population. For, of course, no one has counted the number of illegal workers who come to this agricultural heartland to try their luck fruit or vegetable picking on the thriving black market. Certainly not the Government, which originally predicted that a maximum of 13,000 Eastern Europeans would come to Britain each year. According to the Office for National Statistics, nearly 250,000 Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Czechs, Estonians, Hungarians, Latvians and Slovenians are now arriving in Britain each month. That equates to three million a year -- the equivalent of three cities the size of Birmingham. The result of this massive invasion of foreign workers is, of course, higher unemployment. The jobless total has grown to 1.7 million in the past year and is rising faster in Britain than in any other major European country. Walking the streets of Millfield, one of Peterborough's inner suburbs where thousands of the migrants live, it can seem hard to find an English person. In the evenings, groups of foreign youths gather on street corners swigging lager from cans. Yet no one can say they do not work hard during the day. At 5am every morning, the vans arrive to take them to the packing factories and the outlying farms, where they slave for 12 hours before returning to their bedsits or overcrowded flats. Some even live in garden sheds, which are rented out to them for £5 a night by unscrupulous landlords. No wonder the city's housing waiting list now has 6,900 families on it -- higher than at any time in Peterborough's history. Meanwhile, primary school teachers say they are struggling to cope with the sudden influx of pupils who speak Slavic languages. The number of people registered with the local Millfield GP has gone up from 2,000 to 8,000 in two years. And Peterborough city council now pays an army of interpreters £28 an hour each to help out in schools, medical centres and housing offices. Local MP Stewart Jackson told a debate in the House of Commons last month that the complexion of Peterborough is changing fast. 'There are suburbs which were until recently settled and peaceful, if not affluent,' he said. 'They are now a centre of mass migration. 'They are becoming ghettoised and there has been a massive increase in the number of houses in multiple occupation, with many properties housing eight, ten or even more people. The demand on public services grows each week. 'Neighbour disputes are rife. The police try to keep disparate communities from conducting turf wars, which prevents them from tackling more routine crime.' The MP said his city has seen a growth in drug dealing, violence, sex crimes and people trafficking. And he warned: 'Resentment, anger and hostility is rising all the time in the host communities -- white British, Afro-Caribbean and Pakistani alike. There are enormous potential problems brewing in Peterborough.' The locals are not strangers to newcomers from abroad and, until recently, most had assimilated with few repercussions. After World War II, it was Italians who arrived to work in the city's brick factories. Twenty years ago, Pakistanis came to work as taxi drivers and run restaurants. [b/] [b]More recently, there have been refugees from Iraq, Iran, Kurdistan and Albania, following an influx of Portuguese a decade ago in search of work on the fen's farmlands. The first signs of trouble came only as recently as the summer of 2004, which saw riots between Portuguese youths and Pakistanis not far from Millfield. More recently, Kurds fought a running battle with other ethnic groups in the same suburb. This summer the atmosphere has been growing more and more tense in this provincial city, where 55 different languages are now spoken. None of this simmering resentment surprises Lindsay Clarke, 20, who sent a flurry of letters to the local paper which struck a chord in Peterborough. The postbag of replies has been overwhelming. When Lindsay was at secondary school, she wrote, there was one Asian girl in her class. She now works as a part-time administrator at the local hospital and lives near Millfield with her partner Jason, the father of her seven-month- old daughter McKenzie. Together the couple pay nearly £500 a month in rent and they are desperate to get on the housing association waiting list. They feel that because they are local people and they work hard -- Jason makes windows at a local glass factory -- they deserve the council's help. 'But when we went down to the housing office to explain our story, we were told we would have to join a list of thousands,' says Lindsay. 'As I sat in the waiting room, 95 per cent of the people there could not speak English. SHE ADDS: 'Jason and I walked on to the tax office to apply for the credits which you can get if you are low earners. As I was returning from maternity leave and starting part-time work, we thought we might be eligible. But I was told I earned too much to qualify.' Lindsay insists she is not racist, but she is desperately worried about the city she loves. 'It's hard bringing up a child here now,' she says. 'The migrants park their cars across the pavements and sit in the street with music blaring. We cannot live like we used to in our own city.' Lindsay's is not a lone voice. Inside the Hand And Heart pub in the centre of Millfield, the locals clutch their pints of beer as though marooned in a faraway land. 'No one hates foreigners just because they are foreign -- I am an Irish immigrant,' says the landlady, 60-year-old Pauline O'Reilly. 'Yet this has happened so quickly. Two and a half years ago this was a lovely place to live. People would talk to each other in the street, shout good morning or visit each other for tea. 'Now the old people are scared to walk out at night. Only two in every ten people speak English. There are just a handful of houses that are still lived in by the locals. 'Our objection is not that these new arrivals are from Poland or Slovakia or Lithuania, but that the numbers are out of control.' Her words are echoed by John Peach, the local councillor for Millfield and leader of Peterborough city council. He has written to Tony Blair to invite him to see what is happening for himself. As yet, he has not received a reply or even an acknowledgement from Downing Street. 'We are struggling to provide housing, education and social services,' says Mr Peach. 'On top of that, many of the foreigners have a completely different lifestyle to those who were brought up in Peterborough. 'We have always been a city that has accepted and welcomed migrant workers. We were a dispersal centre for asylum seekers. 'But we now believe that some of the Eastern Europeans should be sent home.' Of course, it is money that is driving this diaspora, as Dovile Cervokaite and her boyfriend Gubtautas Galvanask, both in their 20s, explain as they queue for tax credits in Peterborough in the shadow of the city's cathedral. 'We earn £300 each week in the vegetable factories. It's five times the amount we could get at home in Lithuania,' says Dovile. 'We pay £35 a week for a double room and have been here for 13 months. Of course we want to stay. This is the place where we can change our lives for ever.' It is an honest answer. But one that will provide little consolation for the people of Peterborough and those of other British towns and cities. For the truth is that while thousands of Eastern Europeans are already here, it may only be the beginning. .................................................................... |
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| Author: | Sussex [ Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I think times are a changing, just not sure if it's in a good or bad direction. Listened to a lad on Five live today, two lads in fact, both of them cab drivers. One from up north and the other from Bedford. Both made very good points, yet they came from complety different backgrounds and maybe continents. The lad from Bedford posed the question, when was anyone asked if this country should become multicultral? 
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| Author: | Stinky Pete [ Fri Aug 25, 2006 2:24 pm ] |
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This is an editorial written by a British Citizen,published in a National newspaper He did quite a job; didn't he? Read on, please! IMMIGRANTS,NOT BRITS MUST ADAPT. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on the 7th of the 7th we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Brits. However, the disgist about the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct!" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Britain, Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants.(The Danes, Romans etc.) However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of the Brits being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity.As Britain's we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak ENGLISH, not Indian, Urdu, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society,learn the language! "Land of Hope & Glory" is our motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture. If the "Union Jack" flag offends you, or you don't like our QUEEN, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our Laws give every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so! But once you are done complaining, whining and griping about our Flag,our lifestyle our government, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great BRITISH freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE. It is Time for Great Britain to Speak up |
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| Author: | TDO [ Fri Aug 25, 2006 2:52 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
While the letter is addressed to immigrants, to be fair it's as often the indigenous population that ojects to these thing rather than the immigrants - it's called political correctness 
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| Author: | GMB Branch secretary [ Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:32 am ] |
| Post subject: | the times they are a changing |
Anyone would think this is something new you should watch the TV series MONGREL NATION explains very clearly why the population of this country are SUBJECTS of a german parasite.The answer re the industry JOIN the union organise educate agitate. |
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| Author: | edders23 [ Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:16 pm ] |
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In the case of a city like Peterborough the migrants are there because the locals don't want the low paid jobs and to be fair a lot of them are very nice and polite even if they are a little hard to understand. As a nation we are pretty lazy and don't want to get out of bed for less than £x per hour don't want to work weekends or bank holidays etc etc well these people WILL and many jobs need people that WILL. Hotels Restaurants Agriculture TAXIS all need weekend workers and British workers simply won't work those hours if wife and kiddies are at home they're at home no argument so what do you expect 
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| Author: | rambo [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 3:04 am ] |
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GMB, don't start slagging off the royal family, the way this country is changing, the tower of london will become a mosque in a few years time. The royal family may come from german decent, but I don't hear anyone worried about german people working here. We all know who the p*ss takers are. I ask you this GMB, would you let a foriegn worker join your union?, you should be opposeing imigrant workers, they are taking our jobs away. |
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| Author: | rambo [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 3:25 am ] |
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Edders, i'm afraid I don't agree with you. Before mass imigration to this country, we all had jobs, food in our belly's, roof's over our head's and we were a great nation. We have 1.5 million unemployed, why do we imigrant workers?. I know what people think; Imigrant workers do the work british people won't do. Thats cr*p, what it should read is; Imigrant workers do the work that british people won't do, FOR THE MONEY THEY GET PAID. Imigrant workers live 10 to a house and buy a pair of tescos jeans once a year and never go out, they send all thier money back home, they strip this country of its wealth. They are changing the way are country is, and the pc brigade are bending over backwards to help them, and I hate it. |
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| Author: | GMB Branch secretary [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:56 pm ] |
| Post subject: | the times they are a changing |
The GMB is an anti racist organisation,we have members from every where.And i tell you once theyve got the picture they will stand up for themselves,many of our most militant members are from the ethnic minorities.The labour laws allowing this immigration are of course due to our membership of the EU the left opposed our entry into this capalist club, but the congenital idiots the electorate voted for it and the tories took you in.Should we leave? i dont know very likely too late,if we stay in we should take a leading role.These workers must be organised thereby safeguarding the industry and us, the problem the indigenous population,at least on this site ,it would seem fail to racognise their plight or the solution.ie ORGANISE EDUCATE AGITATE. |
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| Author: | JD [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:23 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: the times they are a changing |
GMB Branch secretary wrote: The GMB is an anti racist organisation,we have members from every where.
And i tell you once theyve got the picture they will stand up for themselves, Once who gets the Picture, GMB? And what's this missing picture that will ultimately help them stand up for themselves? Regards JD |
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| Author: | 187ums [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:30 pm ] |
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its funny observing the holy trinity in action, fact is they should be 100% behind immigration as its a form of competition, lets just say that this carry on is deregulation and you should be supporting it. and as for " the tower of london will become a mosque in a few years time." and your other sad comments, get real you bigot. |
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| Author: | Sussex [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:34 pm ] |
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You seem to be mistaking quantity competition for quality competition. 
Reasonable standards can be met by anyone who wants to meet them, whilst quotas can be met by anyone with money. 
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| Author: | jimbo [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:25 pm ] |
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And for those who think mass migration from eastern europe is swamping this country,it is nothing to what will happen when Turkey, inevitably get to join the EC. |
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| Author: | GMB Branch secretary [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | The times they are a changing |
Like your style JD a serious debater.once the exploited immigrant realises that 12 hr shifts in the bed and car for peanuts,given their expenses in London and the repaymebt of various debts at extortianate rates,is somewhat taking the p--s they leave our industry thereby negating your perceived threat to the indigenous workforce we of course spare no effort to point out their situation.Our research indicates barely 15% remain in PHV after 4months.Which of course begs the question why dont the Licenced PHV drivers stand for themselves.Come 31st Dec no more temporary permits in London should prove interesting the big companies cant wait to see the smaller agencies struggle and fold,plenty of business in Carey St we are prepared for it. |
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| Author: | streetcars [ Sun Aug 27, 2006 11:17 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The times they are a changing |
GMB Branch secretary wrote: Like your style JD a serious debater.once the exploited immigrant realises that 12 hr shifts in the bed and car for peanuts,given their expenses in London and the repaymebt of various debts at extortianate rates,is somewhat taking the p--s they leave our industry thereby negating your perceived threat to the indigenous workforce we of course spare no effort to point out their situation.Our research indicates barely 15% remain in PHV after 4months.Which of course begs the question why dont the Licenced PHV drivers stand for themselves.Come 31st Dec no more temporary permits in London should prove interesting the big companies cant wait to see the smaller agencies struggle and fold,plenty of business in Carey St we are prepared for it. First Step Only
Frank Field, the first MP to call for restrictions to be placed on workers from Romania and Bulgaria when their countries join the EU next year, welcomes the Government’s move to restrict access but expresses the hope that the Government will now begin implementing a serious immigration policy. This needs to balance the needs of the economy with the proper protection for British workers and local communities. MR G M B do you agree with frank field ? Do you think Frank is a racist .?
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