Polly Toynbee # 1 "Of course the wealthy want an immigration free-for-all"

[durruti02]

Ok i think i made a mistake arguing we should not debate what she is saying on a new thread .. actually it can just get confused on existing threads so i've posted both up back again .. and shoot away ..

The use of cheap foreign Labour may boost our GDP, but it enriches the well-off at the expense of the low-paid

Polly Toynbee
Tuesday October 11, 2005
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1589105,00.html
<snip>

 

[durruti02]

see below

 

[durruti02]

edited .. full txt at url

Polly Toynbee "Immigration is now making the rich richer and the poor poorer"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...842146,00.html

Equal rights for all workers and a proper inspectorate would make exploitation of migrants much more difficult

Polly Toynbee
Friday August 11, 2006
The Guardian

<snip>

polly.toynbee@guardian.co.uk

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Sorry, is this two massive C&Ps? Edit down and summarise please, you know the rules.

edit: fine then, I'll do it

 

[tbaldwin]

The rich will usually be in favour of free market migration policies....And Rich Liberals will usually adopt the classic marie antoinette line.........

Its obviously good news for Rich owners and landlords....The more flexible the Labour force is,the better for them.....the less regulation.....the higher the profits.........

 

[blamblam]

Its obviously good news for Rich owners and landlords....The more flexible the Labour force is,the better for them.....the less regulation.....the higher the profits.........

Yeah and the answer to that isn't to stop immigration you muppet, it's to fight for good wages, conditions and services for all so how about stop wailing and playing up to the far-right agenda, recognise this simple and minor fact which has been obvious basically forever and get on with trying to do this.

 

[danny la rouge]

What icepick said.

 

[treelover]

Unionising, etc, may work with manageable levels of immigration, but what we are seeing now is unprecendented. Following media reports(yes, always read with caution) there seems to be real resentment growing from those who are seeing their wages cut and it is likely that the large rise in unemployment is directly linked to the exponential rise in migrant labour engendered by the NU labour and the CBI. Migration is a fact, inevitable in current economic circumstances, though a recession may alter things, i just don't see why the left has to be a cheerleader, doing ideological somersaults so as to not agree with NL and the CBI.

btw, a BBC report shows how the home office is ignoring migrants who forged documnts such as NI, while going after failed asylum seekers who often may turn out to be genuinely fleeing terrible persecution. Doesn't that show the real bias form the govt for cheap labour at any price, while attacking many who may really need help. May start a new thread on it.

Illegal worker warnings 'ignored'
An immigration worker
Immigration Service staff have not dealt with reports, agencies say
Reports from employers about possible illegal workers are sometimes being ignored by the Immigration Service, a BBC investigation has found.

Recruitment agencies say that when they pass on concerns about fake papers, the response is often that nothing can be done because of a lack of resources.

They believe the service's priority is to deal with failed asylum seekers.

The Home Office says it is committed to tackling illegal working but has to prioritise its resources.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4800537.stm

 

[tbaldwin]

Yeah and the answer to that isn't to stop immigration you muppet, it's to fight for good wages, conditions and services for all so how about stop wailing and playing up to the far-right agenda, recognise this simple and minor fact which has been obvious basically forever and get on with trying to do this.

Only twats really have any confidence in this arguement now....How many extra homes do you think we should build in the South East so that we can have unrestricted immigration 10 million 40 million? Or are you going to restrict it in someways after all.......
Got an idea about how all those new people will impact on water supplies or how taking skilled workers from poorer countries will impact on their development?

The far right have always loved mass migration....Enoch powell was pro immigration at first....George Bush is pro immigration ......

 

[durruti02]

Sorry, is this two massive C&Ps? Edit down and summarise please, you know the rules.

edit: fine then, I'll do it

excuse me i did edit them down .. by about 50% .. but whatever .. cheers

 

[durruti02]

Yeah and the answer to that isn't to stop immigration you muppet, it's to fight for good wages, conditions and services for all so how about stop wailing and playing up to the far-right agenda, recognise this simple and minor fact which has been obvious basically forever and get on with trying to do this.

i agree with your solution ... but will you agree/admit that there is a massive wave of immigration ENTIRELY related to neo liberalism with its aim to cut wages and union organmisation??

it is a fundamental problem that the left are seen as muppets and fools as they pretend what is happenning is not .. that black is white .. that there is no immigration ( that was once being argued on these threads!!) and that it is just some benign natural phenomena instead of a movement dictated by capital ..

 

[danny la rouge]

i agree with your solution ... but will you agree/admit that there is a massive wave of immigration ENTIRELY related to neo liberalism with its aim to cut wages and union organmisation??

At the turn of the last century in France and in America the syndicalist unions fought back at the bringing in of immigrants to undercut wages and to be used as strike breakers. But they did it by welcoming migrant workers into their homes. That way the immigrants didn't want to undercut the host working class communities. This is solidarity in action, and it worked to the advantage of both communities. And both communities recognised their common class bonds outweighed the divisions the capitalists had hoped to play on. Another effect was that the pull of migrant workers into those communities lessened.

Capitalists in America in particular learned, and in successive decades got their defence in first with propoganda painting union organisers and activists as foreign, lazy and 'Other', setting up a false unity of "us", the American factory boss/non unionised worker/honest hard worker versus the lazy/foreign/wants to disrupt "our" livelihood/anarchist. Divide and rule at its best. And in those circumstances of mistrust of unions and outsiders, migrant workers could be brought in to undercut wages once more.

There is no reason that I can see that the syndicalist response of my first paragraph cannot be made to work today. It also seems to me that what we have currently is a situation more like my second paragraph.

 

[Hawkeye Pearce]

Totally agree. By building unionisation not only can solidarity between new and existing communities be built up but it can provide the means to fight back against any wage cut/attack on working conditions the bosses may try to pull off.

 

[revol68]

At the turn of the last century in France and in America the syndicalist unions fought back at the bringing in of immigrants to undercut wages and to be used as strike breakers. But they did it by welcoming migrant workers into their homes. That way the immigrants didn't want to undercut the host working class communities. This is solidarity in action, and it worked to the advantage of both communities. And both communities recognised their common class bonds outweighed the divisions the capitalists had hoped to play on. Another effect was that the pull of migrant workers into those communities lessened.

Capitalists in America in particular learned, and in successive decades got their defence in first with propoganda painting union organisers and activists as foreign, lazy and 'Other', setting up a false unity of "us", the American factory boss/non unionised worker/honest hard worker versus the lazy/foreign/wants to disrupt "our" livelihood/anarchist. Divide and rule at its best. And in those circumstances of mistrust of unions and outsiders, migrant workers could be brought in to undercut wages once more.

There is no reason that I can see that the syndicalist response of my first paragraph cannot be made to work today. It also seems to me that what we have currently is a situation more like my second paragraph.

excellent post.

 

[Baboonking]

At the turn of the last century in France and in America the syndicalist unions fought back at the bringing in of immigrants to undercut wages and to be used as strike breakers. But they did it by welcoming migrant workers into their homes. That way the immigrants didn't want to undercut the host working class communities. This is solidarity in action, and it worked to the advantage of both communities. And both communities recognised their common class bonds outweighed the divisions the capitalists had hoped to play on. Another effect was that the pull of migrant workers into those communities lessened.

.

So how might we today go about doing this in say the construction industry or the hospitality industry?

 

[danny la rouge]

I think each community really needs to find its own response, because there are different circumstances and pressures on different communities and industries. I do agree with durruti02's general thrust that the left too often wants to impose ready made blueprints on working class communities. So I think it's the general principle that matters, rather than the actual practicalities.

But as an example, one of the pressures on some working class areas is that that is where people seeking asylum are housed. This needn't be a problem in and of itself, and in Sighthill in Glasgow (which I choose as an example because I know the area) the community has worked very well together, campaigning on issues of mutual benefit to asylum seekers and non asylum seekers alike.

The infrastructure and facilities in Sighthill have long been underfunded or non existent, and the campaigns have been about improving those for the whole community. However it remains the case that over two thirds of Glasgow's asylum seekers are housed in Sighthill. I don't know the figures for middle class areas such as Kelvingrove, but I'm willing to bet that's because there aren't any. And yet there is empty housing and other unused buildings in those areas. I passed just such a building in Kelvingrove the other day. Kelvingrove borders the working class area of Maryhill. Could people not set up their own facilities in those buildings?

According to official figures, the vast majority of mirgants in Glasow are from the countries that have recently joined the EC. The number of official asylum seekers is a much smaller figure, and those are anyway housed by the authorities. (Albiet concentrated in working class communities, and in particular Sighthill) So the real pressure on housing comes from Poles etc. Could working class communities not help by identifying empty housing in middle class areas that might be suitable as squats? Maybe even setting up unofficial hostals?

I should note here, though, that speaking to people there is often conflation of asylum seeker with EC accession country migrant and even the indigenous non white population. I think this blurring has been caused and played on by the tabloid press. Leaving the clearing up of this morass to state campaigns like the "Fresh Talent Initiative" seems to me irresponsible.

 

[Gmart]

There is a premise here which needs pointing out. This is that all business has adequate control over their market, and thus enough profits, to pay their workers more than their competitors will for labour.

The supply of workers depends on the skill levels required. Low skill jobs anyone can do and so employers are in a strong position. Skilled workers are more in demand and thus are not at the mercy of the market.

The conclusion is thus that everyone needs the opportunity to enskill themselves, and the government would do well to encourage this.

It is absolutely inevitable that the poor, if unable to find jobs in the poor areas, often due to a lack of economic activity, then they will move to the rich areas, usually for a small period of time, to work hard and send money home. This is why Bush/Blair are concentrating on trying to get democracy and the market to catch on in all these countries because these usually lead to more economic activity, which benefits the whole population aggregately (though obviously the rich/skilled benefit more).

 

[bolshiebhoy]

Another racist thread. Shame.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Another racist thread. Shame.

You've made this claim before. Would you actually like to make an attempt at backing up your sentence.

 

[bolshiebhoy]

You've made this claim before. Would you actually like to make an attempt at backing up your sentence.

Look. On all sorts of genuine threads I've withered on for hours defending my position and marxist politics. But this vile stuff just needs abuse. I'll spend this evening surrounded by people well to the right of me who when they have a political thought inevitably it will be racist and anti-immigrant. To have to come on here and read an elleged lefty and his pals giving left cover to that crud is frankly revolting.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Look. On all sorts of genuine threads I've withered on for hours defending my position and marxist politics. But this vile stuff just needs abuse. I'll spend this evening surrounded by people well to the right of me who when they have a political thought inevitably it will be racist and anti-immigrant. To have to come on here and read an elleged lefty and his pals giving left cover to that crud is frankly revolting.

It's not vile, and it's not racist. But these threads have been going on for the best part of a year now and have run their course - arguments are just being rewritten again and again.

Although I haven't agreed with everything, I think that contributions (mostly) have been of a great standard - it's even forced Revol to elevate his contributions above his usual "cock" insults.

I don't think effects people's political activity really

a. The need to organise all workers, immigrant or not is still a priority.
b. Mass immigration is not a new 21st century phenomenon.

But,

a. Immigration is at a very intense level - previous mass immigration tended to be localised, primarily in the East End of London.
b. This is being promoted and encouraged by the bosses and the political class - for both ideological and economic reasons.

 

[bolshiebhoy]

previous mass immigration tended to be localised, primarily in the East End of London.

I know. I know. They're getting everywhere aren't they? I'll walk into my local in Swindon tonight and the table staff will be Polish. In Swindon for goodness sakes. It's just not on!

'This' as you call it is people deciding to move around the planet. Good luck to them.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

'This' as you call it is people deciding to move around the planet. Good luck to them.

yes, how liberal

 

[bolshiebhoy]

yes, how liberal

liberalism is worth defending when attacked fom the right which is what is happening in these moronic threads.

 

[Hawkeye Pearce]

How is calling for for a unionisation campaign amongst migrants in order to stop divide and rule tactics "racist" precisely.

 

[levien]

When i first joined this board (as cliffite) around 2003 this was a place where two sections of the left trots and anarchists argued over politics and the direction of the mass movement. Mass marches or specialised direct action. Posters like commie fred, Nigel Irritable, Butchers, Icepick, rebel warrior, belboid who all seem to have left.

What is left is failed anarchists and IWCA hangers on discussing why the left shouldn't support immigrants trying to find a better life. Where did everybody go?

 

[bolshiebhoy]

What is left is failed anarchists and IWCA hangers on discussing why the left shouldn't support immigrants trying to find a better life. Where did everybody go?

Absolutely right. But you don't know where? I'll pm ye.

 

[belboid]

I just wonder how far right durutti is going to go in calling up 'supporters' for this crap. Right-wing labourites, check, right-wing liberals, check - whose next?

Also, one other thing I heard on yesterdays news - a polish woman doctor who moved over here, saying yes she sknows its bad she left Poland, but the rates they pay are so disgustingly low - ovberall health investment there is about 10% of britains apparently - and thats as a percentage of natinal income - that working ther is impossible. If they improved conditions there she would be happy to return. Her (ande others') refusal to work for such a poorly paid system may well end up forcing the Polish government to actually increase the rates of pay and investment in the health service. Surly that would be a good thing?

 

[mk12]

today's topcs seem more relevant to 'ordinary' people, don't they? the "mass movement" only concerns 'activists', whereas immigration concerns a whole lot more of the population. In that sense it's more representative of society on here. Although I wish some of the posters you mentioned still posted here.

 

[belboid]

Posters like commie fred, Nigel Irritable, Butchers, Icepick, rebel warrior, belboid who all seem to have left.

<waves>