[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by roughbeast

If we hadn't joined the EU then we would have got our low-paid agricultural workers from somewhere else. There would have been plenty Commonwealth citizens happy to have filled that slot. In the long run we would have imported just as many, but perhaps not in such large spurts.

In one respect you are right. We wouldn't have had the surge in arrivals when the EU expanded. The story of the mishandled arrival of so many Poles is now legendary. Funnily enough though, if it hadn't been for their arrival our agricultural industries could not have done as well as they have and food prices would have been sky high.

A perfect example is Boston, which has had very large numbers of Poles arriving. Not only have they filled certain sorts of jobs, but they have revived industry and employment in the area. Boston now imports food from abroad to process around Boston to take advantage of available labour. New plant has been built and the port is booming. Existing non-Pole tradesmen are benefiting because all this new investment needs plumbers, builders, fitters, electricians etc. Boston now has some of the lowest unemployment in the country.

Yet, Bostonians voted heavily to leave the EU because they didn't like the way their area has changed culturally and because the government didn't provide additional funds to expand schools, hospitals etc. One thing is for sure, if they lose their influx of young and economically active Europeans Bostonians will find that it begins to diminish once more with empty premises and run-down area appearing again.

Great points. I think the issue also is that the area changed very rapidly and people understandably found this hard to cope with and reacted against it.