(And caused the recession, weakness of the pound, the expenses scandal and created the chav culture.)
THE impact of immigration into the UK is back in the headlines again. The Government is claiming that more than half of the 1.5million Eastern European workers who have come here since 2004 have now gone home. But Polish academic Prof Krystyna Iglicka disputes this, insisting more than one million Poles are still living in Britain. Here Polish actress Joanna Kanska, 50, the star of BBC1's Material Girl who moved to the UK in 1981, tells SUE CRAWFORD that Britain is being damaged by the influx of her fellow countrymen and other Eastern Europeans.
(Other Eastern Europeans? Since when is Poland in Eastern Europe?)
THE Britain I fell in love with almost 30 years ago was a beautiful, clean, orderly, elegant and friendly place.
(Ahhh... indeed it was. The glorious years of riots in Brixton, Tottenham, Birmingham and other places, the miners’ protests, persecution of immigrants and homosexuals, IRA bombs exploding.)
Now I am frightened to go out on my own. The pavements are littered with rubbish and people openly spit on the street. I have watched these changes with bewilderment and sadness.
(Mrs Kanska is afraid to go on her own because she thinks she might get attacked by rubbish or spat on by a Polish immigrant? Should she not have also brought up the problem of dog faeces on pavements and blame that on immigrants too?)
The problem is Britain has let too many different cultures come here and take advantage.
(Would it have been all right if 6 million people from just a handful of cultures had come? Say, 1 million Zimbabweans, 1 million Iraqis, 1 million Poles, 1 million Nigerians, 1 million Pakistanis and 1 million Indians?)
When I arrived there were only two million people living here born overseas. Now the figure is 6.5million and rising.
This has had a dramatic effect on Britain - culturally, practically and financially.
(Hope you’re not saying that it was all negative. Every change has its effects, some are good, some are worse, right?)
Britain is a magnet because of its hand-outs. Immigrants bypass other countries because the best rich pickings are here.
(They bypass other countries? Are you now trying to convince us that France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Denmark (to name just a few) don’t have big numbers of foreign-born residents?)
But it's wrong for so many immigrants to be living on benefits. You have to put something in to society before you take something out.
(Correct me if I’m wrong but to be entitled to benefits, you need to have worked in the UK for at least two years. Since the article is about Polish and maybe other Central Europeans, I must point out that they are less likely to live on benefits than the indigenous Brits.)
Since I arrived here I have always worked and prided myself on paying my own way.
When I first came I ran the Corney & Barrow champagne bar in the City of London while acting with a Polish theatre company in Hammersmith, west London.
Soon after I became a TV actress starring in dramas such as Capital City, Sleepers and A Very Peculiar Practice.
I was a single mum determined to look after myself and my son and I even worked as a dental assistant between acting jobs. So it makes me angry when other people arrive and expect a free flat and benefits. Not everyone from Poland is hard-working.
(Very nice of you, Mrs Kanska to share the story of your life with us, we appreciate it. However, I understand that by telling us how hardworking and resourceful you are you’re trying to prove that you’re not like THEM, you’re not a typical Pole and that everyone should follow your example.)
Obviously a lot of crooks have come over too and they all laugh at how silly the system is and how easy it is to take advantage.
(I’m sure they have but how do these crooks compare to the rest that came with them? Are there really so many of them?)
I am totally against mass immigration. Multiculturalism doesn't work, because people don't integrate - quite the opposite.
(People don’t integrate? I gather you base this claim on your personal experience? The opposite to integration is separation, how can a newly arrived group of people separate from the local community?)
And giving immigrants priority, for example with local authority housing, just causes more racial tension.
(Who gives them priority? Housing applications are not assessed based on the applicant’s nationality, are they?)
Britain worries too much about hurting other people's feelings, but it needs to be firmer and state clearly that anyone who comes here must accept British laws, traditions, customs and culture and learn to speak English.
(No one’s above the law, if you don’t accept it and don’t live by it, you will be punished. So, Mrs Kanska, your view is that Muslims, Buddhists, Jews and people of other religions ‘must accept British traditions’ and celebrate Christmas? As for the language, everyone learns it, some take longer, some do it quickly but if they think of staying in this country, they will learn English and it won’t be because you want them to but because at some point they will realise there’s no other option)
This country is losing its identity. People no longer seem proud of themselves and what they have.
(Don’t weep just yet, the country isn’t losing its identity, I don’t think that’s even possible. The Brits survived Anglo-Saxon conquest, Viking conquest, Norman conquest, the collapse of their empire, Thatcher’s premiership so I think I’m right to say they will survive an influx of Polish workers.)
Trying to be nice to everyone else is damaging this country. Why doesn't Britain adopt a tougher system, like that in Australia or America, where only skilled people are welcome to apply?
(Ok, lady, I don’t know what planet you’re living on but Britain is part of the EU and as such it cannot adopt a system that would act against the freedom of movement.)
Let's have the right people coming in - those who can bring something to this society or only those who genuinely need saving from persecution.
(Once again, there’s no communism in Poland, the Iron Curtain is long gone and the above mentioned freedom of movement means that anyone can come.)
I am very fond of this country and have no plans to leave, but I am in despair.
(I feel for you but these feelings might be down to the changes that are taking place in your body, something that’s perfectly normal at your age.)
Coming from Poland under Communist rule in 1981, Britain seemed like Disneyland. But now talented, hard-working, law-abiding British people are leaving and that pains me.
(I’m sure that was the case, the difference now is that since Poland is not a communist state any longer, Britain doesn’t look as much appealing as it did decades ago. And why are those marvellous people leaving? Because the Polish have come?)
Britain sometimes seems as though it is conspiring against its own good citizens and that has to change.
(What’s the condition called when you feel as though others are conspiring against you? Bipolar disorder?)
Now I’m asking myself the question: what made this vile woman write such a toxic and deceitful article? Was it because she cared about the welfare of thousands of Polish children who will now have to suffer its consequences? Was it because she’d heard negative comments about her compatriots in the UK and wanted to distance herself from them? Maybe she lost a bet? Or maybe, as I said earlier, she lost touch with reality due to her creeping dementia?
We may never know the answer but no matter what it is, she will have to be hold accountable for this article one way or another.
