The Immigration Invasion that Never Was

The immigration invasion that never was
No extra flights, empty seats – the lack of stampeding Bulgarians and Romanians shows the rightwing hysteria for what it was
Alex Andreou
theguardian.com, Thursday 2 January 2014 11.11 GMT

'Advance air bookings from Bulgaria and Romania are down for the first three months of the year compared

On Wednesday, Luton airport became a political hadron collider, where the rhetoric of fear of the past few months over immigration crashed into the charged particle beam of hard reality. The aftermath revealed commons home affairs committee chairman Keith Vaz and Conservative MP Mark Reckless outside the arrivals gate, like hapless limousine drivers waiting in the wrong terminal, holding up a card which read "Mr Something-escu".

They found someone eventually. It turns out that Victor Spirescu was not here to claim benefits, beg, steal, have an expensive heart operation, six children, get a council flat and assassinate the Queen. He was just here to wash cars, pay tax and, eventually, go back home with his savings to repair his house.

This was no fluke either. Transport data shows that no extra flights or coaches were scheduled from Romania or Bulgaria, advance air bookings are down for the first three months of the year compared with 2013, and there were plenty of seats available at prices as low as £135.

"The Holiday Invasion That Never Happened" sounds like a Doctor Who special. But then again, it always was fiction. The fiction that one can have a pick 'n' mix arrangement with other countries, with no repercussions for international trade or millions of Brits living outside the UK. The fiction that a country can be a more effective player on the global stage by becoming insular and xenophobic. The insidious fiction that what stood between us and prosperity was a hypothetical Bulgarian.

No doubt it will be claimed that measures, taken at the eleventh hour to deter immigration, worked; despite reason dictating that most people plan such a life-altering move more than a month in advance, which was when the government started trying to out-Ukip Ukip. No doubt those tabloids that love to bash migrants will uncover one who came here to claim benefits and make them front page news. No doubt Nigel Farage will latch onto some spurious statistic, that 60% of all robberies, in a rural Post Office, between 65 and 72 sq ft, on a sunny day, were perpetrated by someone whose name ends in -ov, then tout it across the BBC programmes that obligingly provide a soapbox for his nonsense.

The fact remains that this morning, Brits woke up to find there was not a Bulgarian family squatting in their front garden; that their job had not been stolen by some crafty Romanian who spoke no English; that they had been completely, unnecessarily, cynically manipulated into panic. Let's hope they wake up to the understanding that immigration is a convenient distraction, which they can choose not to allow to cloud their vision.

To the few who did arrive, and continue to trickle in, to Mr Spirescu, I say "welcome". The risk migrants choose to take in uprooting their entire lives, the gumption they show in starting over, the ingenuity required in negotiating a completely unknown and hostile environment, the pure desire to be here, is precisely what this country needs more of.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/02/immigration-invasion-bulgarians-romanians-uk


Those who tried to stir this up should be bloody ashamed of themselves. Reading about the lead up to WWII when I was younger, I thought, could never happen again, people wouldn't let themselves be manipulated again like that, they'd see through it. Boy, was I ever wrong. Some people are just as easy to manipulate and frighten today as they ever were, and some people are evil enough to do it.

I think there are a few here that Hitler wouldn't have had to do much manipulation with!

Sassy wrote:I think there are a few here that Hitler wouldn't have had to do much manipulation with!

Oh my word.

Are we all going to be called Nazi's, homophobes and racists again by you and Mr Catman?

sassy, please let's just discuss whatever is on our minds, but not discuss how evil we think other posters are.

Didn't call you a Nazi, said you would have been easy to manipulate. In fact, judging from your posts on here, you'd have been helping with the manipulation.

BigAndy9 wrote:

Sassy wrote:I think there are a few here that Hitler wouldn't have had to do much manipulation with!

Oh my word.

Are we all going to be called Nazi's, homophobes and racists again by you and Mr Catman?

sassy, please let's just discuss whatever is on our minds, but not discuss how evil we think other posters are.

Give up on your agenda you are so easy to read you fucking ignorant muppet.

Come on guys, we should not tolerate hatred towards foreigners,it's terribly ugly...unlike me!

Joy Division wrote:Come on guys, we should not tolerate hatred towards foreigners,it's  terribly ugly...unlike me!

Hatred towards foreigners?
Hatred to others is ok then?

Sassy wrote:
The immigration invasion that never was
No extra flights, empty seats – the lack of stampeding Bulgarians and Romanians shows the rightwing hysteria for what it was
       Alex Andreou
       theguardian.com, Thursday 2 January 2014 11.11 GMT

'Advance air bookings from Bulgaria and Romania are down for the first three months of the year compared

On Wednesday, Luton airport became a political hadron collider, where the rhetoric of fear of the past few months over immigration crashed into the charged particle beam of hard reality. The aftermath revealed commons home affairs committee chairman Keith Vaz and Conservative MP Mark Reckless outside the arrivals gate, like hapless limousine drivers waiting in the wrong terminal, holding up a card which read "Mr Something-escu".

They found someone eventually. It turns out that Victor Spirescu was not here to claim benefits, beg, steal, have an expensive heart operation, six children, get a council flat and assassinate the Queen. He was just here to wash cars, pay tax and, eventually, go back home with his savings to repair his house.

This was no fluke either. Transport data shows that no extra flights or coaches were scheduled from Romania or Bulgaria, advance air bookings are down for the first three months of the year compared with 2013, and there were plenty of seats available at prices as low as £135.

"The Holiday Invasion That Never Happened" sounds like a Doctor Who special. But then again, it always was fiction. The fiction that one can have a pick 'n' mix arrangement with other countries, with no repercussions for international trade or millions of Brits living outside the UK. The fiction that a country can be a more effective player on the global stage by becoming insular and xenophobic. The insidious fiction that what stood between us and prosperity was a hypothetical Bulgarian.

No doubt it will be claimed that measures, taken at the eleventh hour to deter immigration, worked; despite reason dictating that most people plan such a life-altering move more than a month in advance, which was when the government started trying to out-Ukip Ukip. No doubt those tabloids that love to bash migrants will uncover one who came here to claim benefits and make them front page news. No doubt Nigel Farage will latch onto some spurious statistic, that 60% of all robberies, in a rural Post Office, between 65 and 72 sq ft, on a sunny day, were perpetrated by someone whose name ends in -ov, then tout it across the BBC programmes that obligingly provide a soapbox for his nonsense.

The fact remains that this morning, Brits woke up to find there was not a Bulgarian family squatting in their front garden; that their job had not been stolen by some crafty Romanian who spoke no English; that they had been completely, unnecessarily, cynically manipulated into panic. Let's hope they wake up to the understanding that immigration is a convenient distraction, which they can choose not to allow to cloud their vision.

To the few who did arrive, and continue to trickle in, to Mr Spirescu, I say "welcome". The risk migrants choose to take in uprooting their entire lives, the gumption they show in starting over, the ingenuity required in negotiating a completely unknown and hostile environment, the pure desire to be here, is precisely what this country needs more of.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/02/immigration-invasion-bulgarians-romanians-uk


Those who tried to stir this up should be bloody ashamed of themselves.   Reading about the lead up to WWII when I was younger, I thought, could never happen again, people wouldn't let themselves be manipulated again like that, they'd see through it.   Boy, was I ever wrong.   Some people are just as easy to manipulate and frighten today as they ever were, and some people are evil enough to do it.

Don't be silly Sassy as nobody expected millions or even thousands of them to enter the UK on day one.We all know that it will be a gradual process which will add to the already creeping invasion.

Don't be such a silly daffodil.

Oh yes they did.   Listen to some of Farage's statements lol

Plus, as they keep telling everyone, those that want to be here to work already are. Plus, we were not the only country they could move to, and some of us are moving there.

Sassy wrote:Oh yes they did.   Listen to some of Farage's statements lol

Now you stop being a show off or I'll slap those legs of yours.And what has uncle Shady told you about exaggerating,especially about what people have & haven't said?

Sassy wrote:Oh yes they did.   Listen to some of Farage's statements lol

Plus, as they keep telling everyone, those that want to be here to work already are.   Plus, we were not the only country they could move to, and some of us are moving there.

So what,there's still too many people living here? Next thing you know I'll be forced to live in Lewisham because Cornwall is full up with Gypos.

Where will I get my pasties in Lewisham coz all they sell there is horse & halal pig?

Oh Shady, you'm the one being the show off me lad.   Farage did say it.   He forgot to mention that there were 9 other countries they could go to, and said that in January we would be overrun with Romanians.   January flights - no extra, flights not full, no extra buses, those on the flights and buses 99% those already working here returning after going home for the holidays.   The one person who was new they managed to speak to, had a job, and was going to save and then go home and mend his house.    Damp squid didn't begin to cover it lol

Sassy wrote:Oh Shady, you'm the one being the show off me lad.   Farage did say it.   He forgot to mention that there were 9 other countries they could go to, and said that in January we would be overrun with Romanians.   January flights - no extra, flights not full, no extra buses, those on the flights and buses 99% those already working here returning after going home for the holidays.   The one person who was new they managed to speak to, had a job, and was going to save and then go home and mend his house.    Damp squid didn't begin to cover it lol

Okay so one person says that but you twist & magnify his words to make it sound that everyone said those things.

No matter what you do & say & no matter how many well intentioned immigrants are coming here,the fact remains that the UK doesn't have the means to cope with so many people.

You will now make a meaningless post that will contradict mine just for the hell of it.

Its pretty obvious people from vastly poorer parts of Europre would come to the richer regions., the problem is those richer regions already have considerable unemployment, wouldn't it be better for the EU to try and bring those poorer countries up to a more equal development then open the gates, I don't see that the way it's done now really helps the poorer countries, the workforce is being drained from them how can they develope? Exactly how does worker movement help the richer countries except by giving businesses an excuse to use cheap labour, the richer countries have less work, higher living expenses and lowering wages as a result, not good news for workers from any region.