50,000 Romanians and Bulgarians ‘will arrive in UK every year’
How many UK resident unemployed Poles do you ever meet? I am working at the moment in Boston and I could ask the same question about people from the Baltic States. I firmly believe that there are positive as well as negative angles to migrant workers, particularly where they are needed to support rural economies – especially around food processing. This article suggests we can look forward to an influx of Romanian and Bulgarian workers. I reflect personally and you may have different views, that this may economically be a more positive thing than many people think.
The article itself tells us:
Twenty nine million Romanians and Bulgarians will gain the right to live and work unrestricted in Britain in 2014 under European “freedom of movement” rules.
Despite previous claims by ministers that no estimates on the number of immigrants had been made, Nick Clegg has now conceded that there are “broad” figures that have been seen by the Government.
Mr Mehmet, who spent three years living in Romania as a diplomat, said that it was difficult to put an exact number on the number of immigrants from the two countries, but that Migration Watch believed around 50,000 people a year would arrive until 2019.
“If you compare the relative wealth between us and them, it compares pretty well exactly to the sort of situation we had when the Polish citizens came here after the last enlargement of the EU,” he added.
“It will be a mix of people. Some will come here simply looking for a better life, more wages, a better standard of living.