Portaits from the globalised world Number 5: No-one gets paid what they are paid

One of our cats went missing recently – it’s very unusual for either of them to stay out all night. I thought she might have got locked in one of the barns by accident (the old farmyard beyond the garden is still partly used by a local farmer). This morning at 7.30 I heard the noise of vehicles in the farmyard so I walked round there to see if the cat ran out when the barns were opened.

To get there I had to leave my garden, walk along the lane, and go into the farmyard from the main entrance. In the big turning area was a lorry just leaving after dropping something off. Locking up one of the big sheds was a man aged about twenty-five whom I had never seen around the farm before. I explained to him that I lived in the old farmhouse and wanted to look in the barns (they are our property anyway). He just shook his head, uncomprehending. I repeated my request, pointing to myself and then pointing to the barns. He replied in very few words that he was Polish and didn’t understand. By sign language I made him realise that I wanted him to unlock each of the barns. In the last shed the cat came out as the door was opened.

The influx of Polish people into the local area has become considerable. My brother was walking past a nearby farm where they have a tiny caravan site (only about six caravans in a little copse of trees) which they used to let out to holidaymakers. He said the caravans are now lived in by Polish people who stay there all year round working on the fields and in the packhouses).



Above: Over half a million Poles have come to the United Kingdom since Poland joined the European Union in May 2004. Eighty per cent of these immigrants are men aged between 18 and 34, making them a valuable addition to the population (very hard working, because they are young they are generally healthy so there is no drain on the NHS, as they start to pay taxes they will boost the national economy etc). Although they are poorly paid by UK standards, they are famously wealthy in their home country (no-one gets paid what they are paid, no-one can afford the luxuries they can afford).



Above: At first you would see groups of Polish men, but increasingly you see couples. Although most of the Polish immigrants say they will eventually return to Poland, this is unlikely to happen. I’m basing this on the 20th century migration of Irish people to England where most intended to work for a short while, but ended up settling permanently, the majority becoming completely subsumed into the English population (the only key to their origin being surnames such as Kelly or Murphy).



Above: Please excuse this lopsided picture (I don’t have access to Photoshop at the moment). I took this photo in the car park of Asda where a group of enterprising Poles offer to wash your car (by hand) while you do your shopping in the store. The implications of this are striking – Asda is a downmarket store where mostly C2s and Ds do their grocery shopping. Despite being on low incomes, the C2s and Ds can still afford to have their cars washed (by hand) by the new immigrants. Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations demonstrated that value is ultimately related to labour. The movement of half a million (and rising) people from Poland to England represents a considerable boost to the capacity of the economy.



Above: In Tesco I noticed that these Polish gherkins have appeared on the shelves, presumably to appeal to the new immigrants. I bought a jar for my brother (I cannot stand gherkins personally). The label design is attractive but also alien.