In thinking the woman Gordon Brown called a bigot deserved it ?

[SwissCheeseIsHolyCheesus]

Because she was in fact a bigoted, bigotty pants .

Lol, jeee I thought that too!

Hollyoaks, your husband should lower his bloody prices then.

The plumbers in my area charge £70 an hr, plus a call out fee.

Do they need to earn £70 an hr ?? probably not.

Could they survive if they charged £35 an hour ?? yes they could and probably get more work as a result, Maybe if British workers worked harder for less ( as the Eastern Euopeans seem to ) it wouldnt be such a problem.

Fact is most 'foreigners' are doing the jobs us brits wouldnt demean ourselves by doing.

And if a polish worker offered to do the job for half the price of a rip off brit I for one would gladly accept !

I'm going to agree to disagree with you Hollyoaks, but good luck to your DH re finding work, it must be awful.

Henny, Was it one of the oil rich Gulf States where you lived for 2 yrs?

holly - I sympathise. But in an area where there are loads of Poles the carpentry and building company DH used to work for are turning down work atm as they are too busy. And they aren't the cheapest.

No, she's not a bigot. She's a British citizen concerned about immigration - like about 90% of the electorate.

Even labour (finally) conceded in the past year that it's wrong to brand people racist simpy because they express concern about immigration - and it's that sort of left wing thinking that has helped the rise of the BNP.

The white working class are the ones that have lost out the most because of immigration - this lady lives in a white working class area - the sort of area where the BNP has growing support. Because while Labour spent years saying 'you're all a bunch of bigots' the canny BNP siddled up to them and said 'we understand, we're on your side.' Of course the BNP don't give a fuck about them - but that's not the point.

this lady wasn't a BNP supporter she was a labout one - their core voter. And what did the leader of the party she's supported all her life do? He humiliated her and called her names behind her back.

What we need is an influx of eastern european banking bosses that will do the job for less, then we can end this ridiculous, 'we have to pay them millions or they'll go somewhere else' debacle.

Ha! Yes fearne

Swisscheese - that's totally uncalled for. You have no idea how much my dh charges, what he does or how much his work is worth! I'm glad that you think it's ok for a skilled workman to struggle to earn a wage which can support his family. Plus, I'm not talking about a job that would 'demean' anyone, I'm talking about work by dh would be desperate to do.

I'd like to hear your opinion if an employed workers wage was cut so drastically because a foreign worker was willing to do it for less.

YABU - by the very definition of the word bigot - anyone who calls another a bigot, is in fact themselves a bigot! Feel free to check the dictionary definition.

Duffy the Prime Minister Slayer!

Its not uncalled for it's the truth and that's the way competition works.

An, fwiw, I actually use a local British joiner for all my work. I use him because he charges a fair price and works hard for his money.(and always has ) Unlike most businesses in the area he has been totally unaffected by immigration and is having to turn down work.

He has always worked by the ethos of 'so long as I have enough to pay my way and save a little, i'm happy'.

It's an attitude more brits need to take.

My dh has worked hard for the last 15 years at his job and has the scars, aches and pains to show for it. It seems like, without any information, your insinuating that he's out to make a quick buck for no effort.

It's interesting that in your area immigration hasn't affected the construction industry. I wonder how your local joiner would feel if even his reasonable prices were reduced by foreign workers. I wonder if that's why you can take your viewpoint on this issue?

As has already been mentioned by someone else but ignored. Brown said her comments were bigoted. He did not call the woman a bigot, unlike the OP.

She has a the right to express her views and worries about immigration and her views and worries about the immigration policies of the present and previous labour administration.

She expressed them in bigoted language. She deserves to be pulled on her language. Age, level of education, social standing, from oop north, whatever, does not excuse anyone from couching their ideas in bigoted terms.

My concern isnt even about what the old bint said either, it is the cynical political mileage that is being made at her xpense by the political competition and media. Ole Mrs Duffy is just the tool with which they can grind their old axe on.

Hollyoaks, our area has been massively affected by immigration, unlike most workers my joiner hasnt stood around scratching his backside and complaining he's upped his game and as a result is totally unaffected and as I said, is turning work down.

Except me, he likes me. (will be tapping him for a bespoke kitchen next )

After he's finished my gate, fitted my bathroom rebuiltthehouse--

I think she sounded like a bigot, she also sounded a bit daft.

"What about all these immigrants, these eastern europeans, I mean where are they flocking from?"

Ummmm you just answered your own question dear.

If we were earning a massive salary before I could understand but we live a modest life with a car, semi-detached and nearly 2 dc. I work 3 and a half days a week and we are now struggling to support our lifestyle. We have had to make huge cuts in our spending and can barely afford the mortgage let alone the other bills.

I don't think your grasping that what your reasonably priced joiner was charging is probably very similar to what my dh has been charging (as I said we have never been 'well-off' just comfortable). I bet he's not working for minimum wage or less.

Plus, is travelling 90 mins twice a day to earn just above minumum wage an example of 'sitting around scratching his backside' or the actions of someone desperate for work. Plus, we aren't complaining merely stating that for many people immigration is a problem for them and there circumstances.

Maybe if you are in a position like we have found ourselves your view point may change. I think we will have to agree to disagree.

Hollyoaks lovie, my dp works as a cleaner after losing his job and being unemployed for 2yrs, its not the job he wanted, but its what he got and he took it.( he was one of only 3 people who applied in an area of mass unemployment )

I don't work as i'm a carer, we own a small 3 bed house, with the lowest mortgage we could possibly get, we have no car but have a reasonable standard of living and are still able to save a little .

In fact the only reason i'm able to get any work done at all is because I inherited (a modest) sum of money.

She possibly was or at least clumsily expressed herself but last time I heard we had freedom of speech in UK. She has unfortunately been cleverly manipulated by the media though, whatever her views were.

Ok, so we're both struggling on low incomes, we both have caring responsibilities which limits how much work we can do and we both have dh's who will travel any distance and work at any job to make ends meet. I still don't understand why you can't see why we aren't happy that he has been effectively priced out of the market.

I'm walking away from this one as you clearly don't see where I'm coming from or where the woman interviewed was coming from and it's not doing my bp any good.

Oh yes, Hollyoaks bloody English people will insist on a decent living wage won't they?
Having a mortgage and family to support here is different to sharing accomodation and sending money home as many Polish workers seem to do.
Of course they are able to work for less.

But is your husband's fault,Hollyoaks, as it is all British builders fault that the companies that employ them are greedy and would rather pay less, house prices are inflated etc
But never mind, Swisscheese is okay because she inherited a modest amount of money so jher husband can work for peanuts

I think that the most telling thing about the whole incident is that Gordon asked 'who put her in front of me?'

He isn't used to going out on the street and meeting the public. Usually when he meets people it is set up and tends to be pro labour peole only.

Doesn't say alot about his ability to know, understand and represent the British people.

When it comes to that woman, one of the wuestionsshe asked was 'these eastern Europeans...where did they all come from?'

So, certainly she isn't the brightest!

Agree Duke748 It gives the impression that people are vetted by the lackeys first so that they don't ask "awkward questions".

When I said modest sum, I meant exactly that.

Not enough to pay off the mortgage or retire, it's enough to get much needed work done !!

We certainly don't blame immigration on our situation, they seem to get blamed for everything.

Wonder if the many brits who emigrate get the same reception ??

I did try and explain this a little bit on another thread,

I live very near to Rochdale in a place called Oldham (you may remember the race riots) at the moment there is a large influx of immigrants from all races,added to which with all the election propoganda,the high unemployment,problems with teens on the streets,street violence and indeed we all know that some races do live very differently than the majority of us in England,my own son goes to a school where a few of the teachers have a very poor command of the English language -social housing is very hard to get,the local jobcentre can be a very threatening place to visit as can the shopping centre due to gangs of other races just hanging around.

Now im not for a minute suggesting these gangs would hurt anybody nor am I saying that integration is a bad thing - this world is big enough for us all but you have to understand that if I at 35 see these changes and fear then this lady who has probably grown up in Rochdale with parents who worked in the mills must really have witnessed huge changes.

Dont call her a bigot for her opinions,she may be politically incorrect but she is of a generation that doesnt want change and certainly not the changes we are experiencing.

I really find it hard to understand these days how diverse communities seem able to live quite
well together around London particularly, yet elsewhere it's such a trauma to the white poulation.

Perhaps we've just been used to living, working and being friends with people from outside the UK round here.