The immigrants aren't going home, they're signing on.

[TimberWolf]

We are foolishly tolerant.

We were foolish enough to let so many people in so we should pay the consequences.

[gingerjedi]

If nobody wants them to claim benefits then they shouldn’t be made to pay tax and NI contributions.

I don't want to claim benefits, should I be exempt from paying tax and NI???

[lightng]

In my younger days, I visited Poland and made a few good friends there. The people I met there were hard-working, friendly and charitable.

The family I stayed with would have gladly shared their last loaf of bread with me. I'm sad and ashamed to say I can't say the same for the vast majority of people here.

[Board Game Geek]

I went on holiday to Poland many years ago, to see Majdanek.

[Rantor]

We were foolish enough to let so many people in so we should pay the consequences.

This is another example of why britain doesn't get the whole EU thing. We pretty much stuck to the spirit and letter of our treaty obligations hence people came to Britain to work and live and now are entitled to claim benefits.

Large parts of the rest of Europe sign up to the same stuff and then just go on their merry way with localised protectionsist measures - see Holland, Belgium, France etc. - that make it difficult to work and, in some cases, reside in their neck of the woods.

To me it is a fundamental cultural difference and the UK has just never learned to take what it wants from Europe and to ignore/enforce rules as it suits us.

[DieScum]

I don't think it is really going to be a problem.

Benefits are less in Poland but the cost of living is less so it's silly to compare directly.

I don't think there will be too many people who have enough gumption to go abroad to work, have worked hard for 12 months, and will then be content to take the absolute minimum income possible on benefits.

[DieScum]

To me it is a fundamental cultural difference and the UK has just never learned to take what it wants from Europe and to ignore/enforce rules as it suits us.

Well we have much lower unemployment than the rest of the EU and importing workers was a huge benefit to our economy.

[lightng]

I don't think it is really going to be a problem.

Benefits are less in Poland but the cost of living is less so it's silly to compare directly.

I don't think there will be too many people who have enough gumption to go abroad to work, have worked hard for 12 months, and will then be content to take the absolute minimum income possible on benefits.

I agree. Sounds like another predictable news item from the Daily Mail.

[xoggoth]

Huge benefit? Even based on the government's own highly flawed studies it works out at £2 or £3 a week per person. That was during the good times of course.

With proper control immigration really could be a huge benefit and some are excellent but we let in too many of marginal or negative value who lower the average. Check out the welfare, social housing, crime and health stats from the government or other reputable bodies.

We would not seriously expect the Australians or Canadians to take in welfare kids from our sink estates so why do we do the equivalent?

Even when migrants do a good job, and I think most Poles/Czechs do, it is a way to duck real problems we have, like forcing some of the welfare dependent back into employment.

[dinker]

We were foolish enough to let so many people in so we should pay the consequences.

We didn`t, Labour did.