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Hi Folks, I don't want to take sides in the "ethnicity/immigration" debate which has been going on, but I would like to draw attention to what strikes me as a potentially grave aspect. It is certainly one where the gathering of good statistical information would be very important. I refer to a story in this evening's Cambridge Evening News. Its context is the large number of (mainly Polish) immigrant workers in the agricultural sector in Fenland. It starts: Dyskryminacja (Discrimination) JOB-seekers in Cambridgeshire are being turned away because they do not speak Polish, an MP claims. Malcolm Moss, MP for North East Cambridgeshire, revealed constituents had told him they had been refused work in the fens on the grounds they would not fit in with other factory workers, who were all migrant workers from Poland. He slammed the practice as "obvious discrimination". He said: "A woman came to my surgery and said: 'My daughter went to an agency to get a job and was told by the gang-master: 'If you don't speak Polish I can't put you on the assembly line, because they all speak Polish. They won't accept you, and you won't be able to communicate with them anyway.' For the rest, see: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/region_wide/ 2007/06/16/bcb2e637-88ca-4d9c-b7f6-9ddd3d5088dc.lpf [all one line]; equivalently at: http://tinyurl.com/26u8pb Further down the article: Replying to a special debate on EU migrants in Cambridgeshire in the House of Commons, Home Office Minister Joan Ryan said a special task force had been set up to address the issues raised. The debate in question would seem to be: Hansard 13 Jun 2007 : Column 817 EU Migrants (Peterborough and Cambridgeshire) 4.4 pm which begins on http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/ cm070613/debtext/70613-0012.htm [all one line]; equivalently at: http://tinyurl.com/2525oc The debate continues to Column 844, so is quite substantial. In the earlier parts there are several reference to Govt statistics, not all complimentary ... for example: [Stewart Jackson, Peterborough]: It bears repeating that the Government's estimate of the likely level of migration at the time, which was reiterated by the Prime Minister, was between 13,000 and 15,000. That estimate has been dwarfed by the actual numbers. According to figures released in July last year, 427,000 migrants from EU member states 13 Jun 2007 : Column 818 have registered to work here since May 2004, and most reliable estimates put the figure at between 600,000 and 700,000. [...] Mr. Vara [NW Cambs]: I am grateful to my neighbour for giving way. Does he agree that we are simply talking about figures that the Government are aware of, and that most commentators agree that a large number of people are not in the estimate system? The actual figures are therefore much larger. And so on ... As far as "taking sides" may be concerned, and referring to the incident described in the CEN article, I do find it sinister if it is the case that immigrant workers (to whom I have no objection as such) can displace native workers by virtue of speaking a language that most natives will have no grasp of, and little hope of learning! Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[log in to unmask]> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 16-Jun-07 Time: 22:26:55 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------ ****************************************************** Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your message will go only to the sender of this message. If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's 'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically to [log in to unmask] Disclaimer: The messages sent to this list are the views of the sender and cannot be assumed to be representative of the range of views held by subscribers to the Radical Statistics Group. To find out more about Radical Statistics and its aims and activities and read current and past issues of our newsletter you are invited to visit our web site www.radstats.org.uk. *******************************************************