The Daily Expresses Christmases have all come at once with this story about the Romanian president, Traian Basescu's comments on how 2 million Romanians (100,000 in UK) are working overseas, because the natives of western Europe. (The Express headline implies he means the U.K. But further reading between the lines reveals that he actually was commenting on Italy, Spain, Germany and France. We don't get a look in!) are too accustomed to living off the cushy bosom of state welfare, to do the jobs the Romanians are filling. And indeed it is good for Romania, as they have a deficit of unemployed, and minimal welfare benefits themselves. It is really a double whammy for the Express, as they can (and do) claim that it will encourage more Romanians to come here, (pure speculation.) and allows them to have a pop at the feckless working classes, who live on our cushy (I've currently been put out of work, and waiting for all this money I'm apparently supposed to hosed down with! I most certainly AM NOT better off!) welfare system. At one point the.. You've guessed it - Taxpayers fucking Alliance give us this soundbite.
“President Basescu has held a mirror up to our welfare culture and identified the lack of incentives to work that mean so many UK nationals pick welfare over work, and so many migrants flock here to cash in.”
He said that the native born, OF A LIST OF NATIONS THAT DIDN'T INCLUDE BRITAIN were disenfranchised to work because of the "generous benefits", and that his countrymen had to fill those roles. Not that they were coming for benefits themselves.
Nigel Farage sticks his oar in with this statement.
“We cannot blame the Romanians for taking what they can get but we can blame our own Government for allowing British workers’ wages to be forced down and jobs to be handed over to those prepared to work for less.”
It's ambiguous whether his "what they can get" refers to benefits, but don't Farage and the "Tax Payers Alliance" always nail their libertarian, uber free market colours to the mast? Aren't these migrant workers embodying the spirit of free enterprise? Isn't wage deflation, and cost undercutting to those who are willing to work harder for less, the true spirit of the free market? Character building or some bollocks? Is Farage endorsing that the state should regulate the wages of low paid indigenous workers?
Now I must emphatically state that I don't support the raw free market philosophy of these people quoted. I know many who would suffer under a system, due to bad luck, the wrong place at the wrong time, not having an entrepreneurial nature. The totally self made society is often more myth than reality. I know a few "self maders" who had a bit of a leg up on the way. Nor is it right to ignore that certain working class groups do fare badly with such a mobile; globalised labour market. See the Lindsey oil depot trouble last year. (perhaps tax incentives for companies to invest in local workforces in deprived areas is an idea. I'm not averse to this sort of protectionism.) But migrant workers can create jobs too. I worked in a distribution warehouse a few years ago, for a Christmas job. It is safe to say, that the place was kept running by the Eastern European staff (my god these guys could work.). It would have been hard (IMHO) to staff it with just local workers, and gave me a perspective on this issue. But that is another story, and I may tell it one day. But it gets on my wick when these so - called champions of laissez faire, ostensibly try a bit of worker solidarity this way. A sad hypocritical joke.
“President Basescu has held a mirror up to our welfare culture and identified the lack of incentives to work that mean so many UK nationals pick welfare over work, and so many migrants flock here to cash in.”
He said that the native born, OF A LIST OF NATIONS THAT DIDN'T INCLUDE BRITAIN were disenfranchised to work because of the "generous benefits", and that his countrymen had to fill those roles. Not that they were coming for benefits themselves.
Nigel Farage sticks his oar in with this statement.
“We cannot blame the Romanians for taking what they can get but we can blame our own Government for allowing British workers’ wages to be forced down and jobs to be handed over to those prepared to work for less.”
It's ambiguous whether his "what they can get" refers to benefits, but don't Farage and the "Tax Payers Alliance" always nail their libertarian, uber free market colours to the mast? Aren't these migrant workers embodying the spirit of free enterprise? Isn't wage deflation, and cost undercutting to those who are willing to work harder for less, the true spirit of the free market? Character building or some bollocks? Is Farage endorsing that the state should regulate the wages of low paid indigenous workers?
Now I must emphatically state that I don't support the raw free market philosophy of these people quoted. I know many who would suffer under a system, due to bad luck, the wrong place at the wrong time, not having an entrepreneurial nature. The totally self made society is often more myth than reality. I know a few "self maders" who had a bit of a leg up on the way. Nor is it right to ignore that certain working class groups do fare badly with such a mobile; globalised labour market. See the Lindsey oil depot trouble last year. (perhaps tax incentives for companies to invest in local workforces in deprived areas is an idea. I'm not averse to this sort of protectionism.) But migrant workers can create jobs too. I worked in a distribution warehouse a few years ago, for a Christmas job. It is safe to say, that the place was kept running by the Eastern European staff (my god these guys could work.). It would have been hard (IMHO) to staff it with just local workers, and gave me a perspective on this issue. But that is another story, and I may tell it one day. But it gets on my wick when these so - called champions of laissez faire, ostensibly try a bit of worker solidarity this way. A sad hypocritical joke.
No comments:
Post a Comment