Misery of the Polish newcomers

28 January 2006

Surely not that many? ‘Believe me,’ he said, ‘it’s not far off. There are no statistics yet, but I see many, many people. There are Polish newspapers in the newsagents, Polish food in the corner shops. Go to any Polish Mass on Sunday, the services are packed. I’m not joking with you. I would say that official figures seriously underestimate the true number of Poles in Britain today.’

But isn’t that a great thing, Mr Tutkaj? If unemployment’s high in Poland and we need workers here, surely that’s good news for both countries? ‘Yes, yes. That’s the story, isn’t it? It’s the only story you ever hear. Me, I see things a little differently. I meet the Poles who get lost in London, the ones who can’t cope. They heard about the jobs, you see, and they thought it would be easy. It’s the communist mindset. They arrive in Victoria, then come to me and say, you promised work, so where’s my job? Some do well, of course, but London’s a tough place to survive, so many end up destitute. They hang around, start drinking, then go to the Polish priests for money. Or they live all together in one house, fight, and sometimes cause problems with the neighbours and the police. There have even been a few cases of Poles killing each other in drunken rages. Then there’s the suicides. People who can’t cope in Poland come here thinking it’ll all be easy, and when it isn’t they despair and kill themselves.’

Mr Tutkaj is a second generation Pole, whose parents arrived here after the second world war. The post-war Poles fitted tidily into London life. Polish neighbourhoods grew up in Hammersmith, Ealing and Balham; Polish clubs, pubs and churches. It was a friendly symbiosis: they had their community, we had their workforce and their restaurants: Daquise, Polanka, Wodka. But since EU entry, Britain’s Polish community has become unsettled.

Perhaps you’re afraid the established Polish community will suffer as a result? ‘Yes, of course we want to maintain our good relations,’ he said. ‘But I’m thinking of Britain as well as Poland. I’m very concerned, for instance, that the criminal element in Poland is arriving over here, that the Polish mafia may move to London. Convicted rapists have fled already to Britain and re-offended here, and Polish women suffer from domestic violence and end up on the streets. Our chairman, Jan Mokrzycki, has talked to people high up in the British government about many of these issues.

‘I’m not a pessimist,’ said Mr Tutkaj. ‘I just think it will be best for everybody if Poles know how difficult life will be in London before they come, and if some can be persuaded to return to Poland.’

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Sean Maliphant Hogan

November 30th, 2007 11:11am Report this comment

REALITY BITES I spent 4 years at Andrzej's abode in Hounslow and I feel I got to know him quite well. He's a good Catholic and staunch supporter of Cardiff City and of Glamorgan Cricket Club. His heart is in the right place. Let's get one thing straight, however. Andrzej and the organisation he's wheedled himself into speaks for no-one, neither for the British-Poles such as himself nor for herds of Slavic folk that are now being bussed into the UK. It is merely a small social club sporting a ludicrously gradiose title ripe for hijacking as the generation behind its founding fades way. No doubt Andrzej may have political pretensions. I stress again : the FoP should not be taken any more seriously than any village debating society. Today he questions the Polish presence here; tomorrow he may perform a 180 degree turn in opinion. Andrzej was a figure of fun among his Polish tenants, who mocked his shaky grasp of Polski. He is what Stalin would term a 'useful idiot', i.e. a do-gooder who claims expertise in an area in which he is no more qualified to comment upon than you or I. He was born and brought up in Cardiff and his sensibilities are entirely British. He is the beneficiary of British institutions : free schooling, healthcare, democracy and religious tolerance. Such privileges should not be treated lightly. Poland was never part of the British Commonwealth and for much longer do we have to be made to feel guilty for the deal struck at Yalta in 1944 or for not intervening (how?) during the Warsaw Uprising the same year. We went to war for Poland, after all. On a personal note, I do hope next time Poland faces Wales in soccer Andrzej will choose support 'Cymru', not 'Polska'. Anyway, it's 30th November as I write this message. St Andrew's Day. Name Days of patron saints as celebrated as birthdays in Poland. So Happy Name Day, Andrzej ! Sean Hogan Llanelli

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