Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Can someone point me in the direction of any positives so far from Brexit?
I'm hoping it will take my mind off thinking about unleaded and floppy carrots.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
-
It has give me a lot of opportunities to demonstrate all the negatives to my brexit voting friend.
-
Permalink Reply by Brian Mahoney on
-
Are you a satire account?
-
-
Only one.
In 2004 the EU expanded and lots of Polish plumbers came to the UK, seduced by well paid employment and a higher standard of living. Everyone was happy! The plumbers were welcomed with open arms, the bosses got a new source of well-educated and skilled labour, middle income workers soon found they could afford new kitchens and patios by paying the polish workers and not to pay tax. Credit was cheap.
Then everyone wasn’t happy. The multi-skilled plumbers were doing all the jobs for less. The cheaper Romanian Plumbers would soon be coming, and Credit wasn’t so cheap anymore.
The bosses were worried that they would have to pay more in taxes to pay so the government told the plumbers not to apply for benefits.
If they couldn’t find work, they were told to go home. Many Romanian and Polish plumbers ended up sleeping on the street. They turned to drink, just like the Irish and English plumbers in the 80s.
Without the safety net of benefits many of the plumbers suffered, many died.
The one good thing about Brexit; to make sure all the ex-pat lovable rogue types didn’t have to come home from Spain, Boris negotiated the EU Settlement Scheme.
For the first time many in many years, the plumbers could get benefits and get off the streets. Well, the plumbers who could proof that they lived in the UK for over 5 years. Many of the exploited plumbers who worked cash in hand so couldn’t show their tax returns. These plumbers were refused EU Settled Status and are still on the street waiting for their turn to get the benefits.
Who would be a Polish Plumber!
-
Permalink Reply by adamvietnam on
-
And it goes without saying an English tradesmen always turns up, pockets overflowing with VAT receipts and their HMRC-approved accountant's business card to hand
-
-
Well probably not, but the English plumbers would not end up on the street in the same numbers as the Polish plumbers, would they?
-
-
I've never seen a homeless plumber - I doubt it's a real thing as, from experience, they always seem to be in demand regardless of their nationality.
-
-
The Polish plumber is a metaphor. He is every EU national who was used and abused by UK when they wanted cheap kitchens and low tax.
-
Permalink Reply by DavidJ on
-
I'm not sure it is a very helpful metaphor - given how well the Polish economy has been doing since they joined the EU. The idea that there are hordes and hordes of poor Eastern Europeans all set to come 'over here' was very much part of the Brexit schtick. This ignored the fact that part of the EU expansion project was to 'level up' poorer Eastern Europe - and so creating a wealthier and more stable continent allowing us to benefit from being part of a very wealthy and large trading block. By and large that has been going to plan . . .
-
-
Because the Polish plumbers i.e Central and Eastern Europeans were the forgotten. They were thrown on the scrap heap when the so-called "credit crunch" started in 2008. Later the safety net was taken from underneath them is a cruel and callous way.
They suffered for years on the street until they were finally accepted as having the right to benefits through the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
This is the one and only benefit I can see from Johnson's Brexit.
-
-
Let me guess. Other than people suffering age and disability discrimination, I'd say people with insufficient skills who were never trained up because employers thought they would always be able to rely on (often pre-trained) cheap foreign labour?
-
-
Permalink Reply by Brian on
-
Not being part of the EU meant that Britain was able to move swiftly re. procurement and rollout of Covid vaccine. Had we been subject to Ursuala Von Der Leyen's 'one size fits all' policy where no member state of the EU was permitted to source vaccine independently our programme would have been delayed by 3 months at the very least. Britain's ability to move swiftly in this way led the German newspaper Das Bild to put on its front page:
'Britain - we envy you.'
How's that for starters?
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
