29.01.2006: Three versions of the Spectator article.
Dear Everyone,
It may be worth comaparing three versions of the same article
1/ The Spectator’s draft version which was sent to be for agreement
2/. The apparently agreed version
3/. The actual published version.
Hi All,
Regarding the Spectator article, I would like to state the following:
All the questions and the title were added after my apparently agreed
answers were sent.
I definitely did not say that the “Poles are far from ideal”. Instead, I
remember saying “Poles were as good and bad as everybody else.”
It is definitely not my style to say ” I am not joking with you”.
They also conveniently omitted my phrase
” It’s just a complete guess, since many come over for short spells. With
the era of
cheap flights there is no way to assess the true figures”
Andrzej
1/.The Spectator’s draft version.
“Yes, but for myself, since Poland joined the EU, it has been chaos and very
hard work. A lot of mistakes have been made.”
“last year, your government said that there were 700,000 jobs in Britain for
Poles. So of course this spreads instantly around Poland. ‘Wonderful’
everybody thinks, and comes straight over here.
“Thousands of them, hundreds of thousands, I would guess there are maybe
half a million Poles in England now, it’s just a guess, nobody knows.”
“There are no statistics yet, but I see many, many people. There are Polish
newspapers in every newsagent, Polish food in every corner shop. Go to any
Polish mass on Sunday, the services are packed. Take the highest official
estimate you hear and double it, maybe more.”
“I meet the Poles who get lost in London, the ones who can’t cope. They
heard about the jobs, you see, and they thought it would be easy. It’s the
communist mind-set. They arrive in Victoria, then come to me and say, you
promised work, so where’s my job? Some do well, of course, but London’s a
tough place to survive so many end up destitute. They hang around, start
drinking, then go to the Polish priests for money. Or they live all together
in one house, fight, and sometimes murder each other. Then there’s the
suicides. People who can’t cope in Poland come here thinking it’ll all be
easy, and when it isn’t they despair and kill themselves.”
“I’m thinking of Britain too. I’m very concerned, for instance, that the
criminal element in Poland is arriving over here. Convicted rapists have
fled to Britain already and I’ve talked to people high up in the British
government about Polish mafia moving to London.
I’m not a pessimist, I just think it will be best for everybody if Poles
know how difficult life will be in London before they come, and if some can
be persuaded to return to Poland.”
2/. MY APPARENLTY AGREED VERSION
“Yes, since Poland joined the EU, it has been very
hard work for the people in the firing line having to deal with desperate
Poles with no money and nowhere to live.”
“last year, the British government said that there
were 700,000 unfilled job vacancies in Britain.. So of course this spreads
instantly around Poland. ‘Wonderful’ everybody thinks, and comes straight
over here.
“Thousands of them, hundreds of thousands. I would
estimate that there are maybe half a million Poles in England now. It’s
just
a complete guess, since many come over for short spells. With the era of
cheap flights there is no way to assess the true figures”
“I see many, many Polish people. There are Polish
newspapers in most London newsagents, Polish food in most local corner
shops.
Go to any Polish mass on Sunday, the services are packed. I would say that
any official figures significantly underestimate the true number of Poles
in Britain today.”
“I meet the Poles who get lost in London, the ones
who can’t cope. They heard about the jobs, you see, and they thought it
would be easy. It’s the communist mind-set. They arrive in Victoria, then
come to us and say, you promised work, so where’s my job? Some do well, of
course, but London’s a tough place to survive so many end up destitute.
They hang around, start drinking, then go to the Polish priests for money.
Or they live all together in one house, fight, and sometimes cause problems
with the neighbours and the Police. There have even been a few cases of
Poles being killed in a drunken rage by their fellow nationals. Then there
are the suicides. People who can’t cope in Poland come here thinking it’ll
all be easy, and when it isn’t they despair and kill themselves.”
.
“I’m thinking of Britain too. We’re very concerned,
for instance, that the criminal element in Poland is arriving over here and
the Polish mafia moving may move into Britain. Convicted rapists have fled
to Britain to reoffend here. It is often the case that Polish women suffer
from domestic violence, often from their fellow countrymen, and end up on
the streets without the access to shelters. Our chairman, Jan Mokrzycki has
talked to people high up in the British government about many of these
issues.”
I’m not a pessimist, I just think it will be best
for everybody if Poles know how difficult life will be in London before
they come, and if some can be persuaded to return to Poland.”
3/. Tha actual published version.
Misery of the Polish newcomers
Mary Wakefield
Everybody loves the Poles. Everybody loves reliable plumbers and
natural-born nannies. Only Andrzej Tutkaj, of the Federation of Poles in
Great Britain, is sceptical about the benefits of the march from East to
West.
I spoke to Mr Tutkaj on the telephone this week and asked him how all the
new Poles were faring in London. There was silence, then a sigh. ‘I
personally,’ said Mr Tutkaj, ‘don’t like to over-glorify the Polish people.
They are far from ideal.
‘Since Poland joined the EU, it has been very hard work for the people in
the firing line having to deal with desperate Poles with no money and
nowhere to live. A lot of mistakes have been made.’ What do you mean? ‘Well,
last year, the government said that there were 500,000 unfilled jobs in
Britain. So of course this spreads instantly around Poland. “Wonderful,”
everybody thinks, and comes straight over here. Thousands of them, hundreds
of thousands. I would estimate there are half a million Poles in England
now.’
Surely not that many? ‘Believe me,’ he said, ‘it’s not far off. There are no
statistics yet, but I see many, many people. There are Polish newspapers in
the newsagents, Polish food in the corner shops. Go to any Polish Mass on
Sunday, the services are packed. I’m not joking with you. I would say that
official figures seriously underestimate the true number of Poles in Britain
today.’
But isn’t that a great thing, Mr Tutkaj? If unemployment’s high in Poland
and we need workers here, surely that’s good news for both countries? ‘Yes,
yes. That’s the story, isn’t it? It’s the only story you ever hear. Me, I
see things a little differently. I meet the Poles who get lost in London,
the ones who can’t cope. They heard about the jobs, you see, and they
thought it would be easy. It’s the communist mindset. They arrive in
Victoria, then come to me and say, you promised work, so where’s my job?
Some do well, of course, but London’s a tough place to survive, so many end
up destitute. They hang around, start drinking, then go to the Polish
priests for money. Or they live all together in one house, fight, and
sometimes cause problems with the neighbours and the police. There have even
been a few cases of Poles killing each other in drunken rages. Then there’s
the suicides. People who can’t cope in Poland come here thinking it’ll all
be easy, and when it isn’t they despair and kill themselves.’
Mr Tutkaj is a second generation Pole, whose parents arrived here after the
second world war. The post-war Poles fitted tidily into London life. Polish
neighbourhoods grew up in Hammersmith, Ealing and Balham; Polish clubs, pubs
and churches. It was a friendly symbiosis: they had their community, we had
their workforce and their restaurants: Daquise, Polanka, Wodka. But since EU
entry, Britain’s Polish community has become unsettled.
Perhaps you’re afraid the established Polish community will suffer as a
result? ‘Yes, of course we want to maintain our good relations,’ he said.
‘But I’m thinking of Britain as well as Poland. I’m very concerned, for
instance, that the criminal element in Poland is arriving over here, that
the Polish mafia may move to London. Convicted rapists have fled already to
Britain and re-offended here, and Polish women suffer from domestic violence
and end up on the streets. Our chairman, Jan Mokrzycki, has talked to people
high up in the British government about many of these issues.
‘I’m not a pessimist,’ said Mr Tutkaj. ‘I just think it will be best for
everybody if Poles know how difficult life will be in London before they
come, and if some can be persuaded to return to Poland.’