Latvians replacing Poles in the UK

While the Poles are returning to their home country a growing number of Latvians are heading for the UK. The daily The Times sees this as a positive development: "A new wave of Eastern European migrants - this time from Latvia - has arrived to season that stew of nationalities and cultures that, simmered over centuries, gives Britain its tang. Why are they coming? Because the once booming Latvia today has an unemployment rate of 23 per cent. Drastic cutbacks implemented by the Government there to narrow the budget deficit mean that jobs will be scarce for a while yet. Hence their arrival in Britain, where applications to work from Latvians doubled to a record 15,000 last year. Even this modest number will make a few insular-minded Britons itch. It should not. And not just because we will still have leaky taps that need fixing long after all the Polish plumbers have returned home. We should welcome Latvians warmly for all that they have contributed to the world; and for what they might, therefore, contribute to Britain."

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