大象传媒

From Poland to the pound store - Magdalena Stoma-Szarkowicz in Wellingborough

Warsaw to Wellingborough

There's a new topic on the lips of everyone in Wellingborough - immigration.

Wherever you go, it seems everyone's talking about the influx of immigrants from Poland.

Inside Out's Kylie Pentelow travelled back to her home town to explore the issue.

She interviewed numerous relatives, friends and other people around the Northamptonshire town.

Major issue

Local MP David Bone conducts regular surveys to gauge which issues concern his constituents.

He said, "In the past, crime, health, education and council tax were the top issues.

"Now immigration is appearing in the top three."

Some people in the town claim Polish workers are draining local services and some aren't paying taxes.

Magdalena Stoma-Szarkowicz works at a pound store in the town centre, and dismissed claims that Poles aren't paying tax.

She said, "This is not true... and last year we paid double tax, because we had to pay here and in Poland."

Polish gentleman

Polish painter Martin Lukszwicz has another theory about why the locals are unhappy.

Polish painter Martin Lukszwicz - new style English gent

He said: "My English teacher at my secondary school in Poland told us lots of English people just don't like nobody."

But Martin is enjoying his new life.

He says that he's determined to eventually apply for a British passport and "become like an Englishman."

Migration fact file

* Eight new central and eastern countries joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004, including Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

* There were 447,000 applicants to the Worker Registration Scheme nationwide from foreign workers between May 1, 2004 and June 30, 2006.

* The top occupations for migrant workers nationally are catering, hotel workers, agriculture, manufacturing, food processing, public transport, cleaning, and administration.

* The majority of migrant workers are young. Eighty two per cent are between 18 and 34 years - and 93% have no dependants living with them in the UK.

Source: Home Office, August 2006

Links relating to this story:

The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external websites