Visas for europeans

[Mich the Tester]

because the market is skewed by other governments taking less tax or subsidising specific industries to build them. If it were truly a free market then a head to head would be fine.

As our government enforces things like labour rights, Health & Safety and a universal benefit system we will always be more expensive than countries using underage labour, burning toxic cables or letting their old starve in the street.

Yep, but this is about EU countries and not turd world sweatshops. Most EU countries have similar levels of social security spending and 'elf and safety regulations; the newer EU countries are now being pushed to raise their systems to the same levels of expenditure, precisely because of what you're saying.

[DodgyAgent]

Yep, fair enough, but is a visa system with all the inevitable bureaucracy and cost to the taxpayer that goes with it really the way to deal with that?

The test will be on how easy it is to get visas for Bulgarian bobs

[DodgyAgent]

letting their old starve in the street.

When you look at SASGuru this looks like a perfectly reasonable policy

[Paddy]

If the government are genuine in their concerns, they would close the door to Indian workers. The reason why the government pick on Romania and Bulgaria is that they have chosen not to go along with UK-US foreign policy.

[vetran]

the newer EU countries are now being pushed to raise their systems to the same levels of expenditure, precisely because of what you're saying.

So currently they spend less, therefore their tax burden is less and their cost of living is less. They are cheaper. it may be transitory as Indian and Chinese outsourcing was,its now becoming expensive to hire a Bob but can you wait for two decades until we are cheaper again?

[Mich the Tester]

So currently they spend less, therefore their tax burden is less and their cost of living is less. They are cheaper. it may be transitory as Indian and Chinese outsourcing was,its now becoming expensive to hire a Bob but can you wait for two decades until we are cheaper again?

No, but is the problem of Bulgarians and Romanians bringing cheap labour really big enough to justify hindering businesses who want to bring in highly paid specialists from the richer EU countries like Germany, Holland or France?

[Paddy]

No, but is the problem of Bulgarians and Romanians bringing cheap labour really big enough to justify hindering businesses who want to bring in highly paid specialists from the richer EU countries like Germany, Holland or France?

Bulgaria has a high standard of education. HP has moved to Sofia, and Lufthansa has moved aircraft maintenance from China to Sofia. Other attractions for business are low taxes, low business rates and cheap industrial land. Wages are lower but so is the cost of living therefore it is not much advantage for a worker to move to the UK.

[vetran]

No, but is the problem of Bulgarians and Romanians bringing cheap labour really big enough to justify hindering businesses who want to bring in highly paid specialists from the richer EU countries like Germany, Holland or France?

considering most shops, factories,coffee shops and restaurants around London are staffed almost entirely with Eastern Europeans yes.

Its hardly a big issue if you make it a simple Highly Skilled Migrant / work Visa.

Strangely enough every high grade employee we have transferred from places like Switzerland or the USA has had no difficulty getting a visa. If you do that you can also add no recourse to public funds which stops eastern European organised welfare abuse which is becoming common.

[Mich the Tester]

considering most shops, factories,coffee shops and restaurants around London are staffed almost entirely with Eastern Europeans yes.

Its hardly a big issue if you make it a simple Highly Skilled Migrant / work Visa.

Strangely enough every high grade employee we have transferred from places like Switzerland or the USA has had no difficulty getting a visa. If you do that you can also add no recourse to public funds which stops eastern European organised welfare abuse which is becoming common.

...from some huge expensive department of civil servants who deal out visas, along with all the other huge expensive government departments regulating everything, which brings me back to what my point actually was; that conservatives tend to support deregulation and the free market only as long as it's politically expedient to do so. If the free market works so well for other things, why shouldn't it work for labour? If the conservatives now feel that the European labour market needs regulation, how can they maintain a taboo on re-regulating the financial sector?

[vetran]

how can they maintain a taboo on re-regulating the financial sector?

they can't. that needs to be done.