Councils to Register EU citizens, not Home Office - Letter to the Observer

From Wiktor Moszczynski, Convenor of "A Fair Deal for Poles in UK"
48 Inglis Road, London W5 3RW, tel 07786471833
Dear Editor,
In answer to your front page report "Chaos looms for EU citizens" (19/02/2017) the 3 million EU citizens in this country are concerned not only whether their right to stay will eventually be guaranteed but also how it would be administered once the guarantee has been given. Amber Rudd in her reply to Hilary Benn had already implied that new IDs need to be issued and new proposed regulations for access to the NHS probably makes this inevitable.
It is apparent that local authorities are already in the best position to arrange the registration and to issue appropriate IDs to their local EU residents as they are already responsible for local registers of births, deaths and marriages, the electoral roll and social service and school records. They can draw on the additional resources of the Home Office and the Department of Work and Pensions where necessary, but they already have experience in issuing bus passes, blue badges and similar documents. Also, they have a less officious and more inclusive work ethic in comparison with, say, the Home Office, which tends to seek to exclude and has been responsible for a large number of much publicized blunders recently in relation to EU citizens.
It is recognized that currently councils are under enormous budgeting pressures as their central government grants are reduced and they may be reluctant to take on new tasks but the administrative cost of registering EU citizens could be covered from a central fund, ring-fenced entirely for this purpose, in the hands of the Treasury. Let us remember that this will be but a one off exercise lasting at most two or three years. It remains vital to perform this task quickly and efficiently as Poles and other EU citizens have come here in good faith covered by the UK’s adherence to EU rules and they have contributed considerably to the UK economy and to the social and cultural fabric of this nation. There are for instance 187,000 Polish children here who saw themselves as UK citizens and they should be saved from the trauma of being sent to Poland or another EU country because their parents feel concerned about their future.in post-Brexit UK.
Yours sincerely
Wiktor Moszczynski
26th February 2017

Will the House of Lords betray us too?

The vote at the House of Commons over the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill on Wednesday 8th February was disappointing for the 2.9 million bewildered EU citizens in the UK as the amendment to secure their rights here unilaterally was defeated by 322 to 290 votes. None was more bewildered and felt more betrayed than the 984,000 who form the largest single contingent within the EU, namely the Polish citizens. Regrettably that sense of betrayal is within the Polish DNA, a legacy of the WWII experience when Poles were first lionized as Britain’s truest gallant allies and then discarded as victims of the Yalta Agreement. Now they sense a repeat “Deja vu” – the Polish work ethic praised 10 years ago in the British media, and now they and their children are but the largest contingent of EU citizens referred to humiliatingly by Dr Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, as “main cards” in the Brexit negotiations poker game. Not do they accept the argument about reciprocity. They believe that as it was the UK’s decision to leave the EU and not the other way round, it was the UK’s responsibility to declare immediately that EU citizens currently here will be allowed to stay. In any case the Polish government was one of the first in the EU to declare that UK citizens would be safe in Poland after Brexit. Many had come here more than 10 years ago out of a sense of adventure but then settled down her, set up families, prospered and contributed massively to the UK economy. Until the referendum brought in a new harsher reality, the overwhelming majority of them felt welcome in the UK and treated it as their new home.
Many Poles are only dimly aware from their media sources in Polish freebie magazines and websites that this amendment on their rights failed because of a confidential letter written that same day by the Home Secretary Amber Rudd to Conservative MPs which effectively conceded the principle that EU citizens currently here should be allowed eventually to stay but argued that the details of their status would be clarified during the passage of a new Immigration Bill at some unknown future date. The letter from the Home Secretary also concedes that the current advice to EU citizens to apply, when eligible, for “permanent residence” status, will take too long. This is hardly surprising to Poles as the Migration Observatory has calculated that it could take 140 years to register all 3 million EU citizens in the UK at the current rate at “permanent resident” applicants are processed. While many Poles who have been here more than 5 years are now resigned to the fact their legal status post-Brexit will be recognized eventually at some future date it still does not protect them and their children from insulting comments in the work place, at school and in public areas and still leaves their status as employees with pension rights and benefit entitlements unresolved. Recently a British nationalist thug pushed a young Pole under a train in Bond Street station while another Pole was killed by thugs in Harlow. They are still vulnerable to ruthless employers exploiting the current uncertainty by blackmailing them with reduced wages. This is especially true if they have been here legally paying taxes but for less than 5 years. They need their status defined now and not during the next few years. They need to know that clear demarcation date before which their post-Brexit status will be guaranteed in the knowledge that the status of those arriving after that will depend on the result of future negotiations with other EU countries.
For the time being the EU nationals issue, along with the whole Brexit Bill, has been directed to the House of Lords who will debate it in the last week of February. The Lords, in their discussion document “Brexit: acquired rights” published in December, favoured a special status that should be defined and implemented unilaterally covering all EU citizens, including students, who arrived here legally before the referendum date of June 23rd 2016. Will the House of Lords have the courage to withstand the threats of the Government and the more fanatical Brexiteers and hold to what they concluded in their report? And if they pass the amendment for an immediate unilateral guarantee will the Remainer Tories on this occasion be ready to support Labour and the smaller parties in passing the amendment in the Commons? Or will they rely again on the promises of the Home Office? Poles, like other EU citizens will want to know now, and not at some future date, if they still retain the same right as UK citizens to the minimum wage, pensions, benefits, access to education and the NHS and the right to vote in local elections as before, because they are still paying the same national insurance, income tax and council tax as before. Will they still be eligible to apply for UK membership provided they have been in the UK for more than 5 years and pass the relevant civic and language tests? The more this is delayed the more Poles may decide, despite the desperate pleas of their Anglicized children, that they have been betrayed for long enough and move back to Poland or elsewhere more reliable within the EU.
Finally, Poles want to know how this eventual recognition in their status can be administered to ensure that 3 million EU citizens can register for it as quickly as possible once the guarantee has been given. Amber Rudd in her reply to Hilary Benn has already implied that new IDs need to be issued. Poles are highly suspicious of the Home Office should they be responsible for registering EU citizens. It is apparent that local authorities are already in the best position to arrange the registration and to issue appropriate IDs to their local residents as they are already responsible for local registers of births, deaths and marriages, the electoral roll and social service and school records. They can draw on the additional resources of the Home Office and the Department of Work and Pensions where necessary, but they already have experience in issuing bus passes, blue badges and similar documents. Also, they have a less officious and more inclusive work ethic in comparison with, say, the Home Office, which tends to seek to exclude and has been responsible for a large number of much publicized blunders recently in relation to EU citizens. It is recognized that currently councils are under enormous budgeting pressures as their central government grants are reduced and they may be reluctant to take on new tasks but the administrative cost of registering EU citizens could be covered from a central fund, ring-fenced entirely for this purpose, in the hands of the Treasury. Let us remember that this will be but a one off exercise lasting at most two or three years.
It remains vital to perform this task quickly and efficiently as Poles and other EU citizens have come here in good faith covered by the UK’s adherence to EU rules and they have contributed considerably to the UK economy and to the social and cultural fabric of this nation. This is not an unpopular measure as, according to a post-referendum poll, 84% respondents believe that EU citizens living in the UK should have the right to stay. The need for speeding up the decision on the continued right of EU citizens to stay is being championed by organizations such as The 3million and by the New Europeans who are now jointly, with the support of UNISON and “A Fair Deal for Poles in UK”, organizing a Mass Lobby of Parliament on February 20th.
Last year there were 984,000 UK residents with Polish nationality. Their food shops are visible in every town centre and their language is the second most common in the UK after English. They form a sizeable minority in most parts of the UK. 97,444 of them were on London’s electoral registers last year, which is 1.6% of the total London electorate. Last year too there were more than 187,000 Polish children below the age of 14, while 23,000 children of Polish mothers are born in the UK every year. These children see their future exclusively in the UK speaking Polish at home and English at school. They helped cement their parents’ further integration into British society. Yet they too are now part of Liam Fox’s “bargaining chips”. If the government delays the guarantee to their parents about their secured right to stay, many of them will have gone and the Government will enter negotiations with an empty deck of cards.
Wiktor Moszczynski, Convenor of “A Fair Deal for Poles in UK” 15th February 2017

Letter to David Davis, Brexit Minister on EU citizens in UK

Dear Minister,

I am grateful for receiving an unsigned letter dated 22 December 2016 – ref TO006534 from your Correspondence Unit of the Department for Exiting the European Union on the subject of EU citizens’ rights in this country. Regretfully I have to say that as a former Vice-Chairman of the Federation of Poles in great Britain and a former Ealing Borough Councillor I found the response somewhat unsatisfactory despite your Department’s assurances about “protecting the status of EU nationals already living here” and for the following reasons:
1/ What does “already living here” mean? What is the deadline? Does the Government intend to allow more EU citizens to arrive here before the deadline is set at some date in the distant future? It does make this open to abuse by later EU arrivals seeking to settle. The quicker your Government makes that announcement, the less abuse there would be.
2/ Just allowing EU citizens to carry on undergoing the complex procedure of applying for permanent residence and digging up all details of their travel, home addresses and details of employment over the past 5 or so years is not only especially onerous for the applicants and their families but, at the present rate that such applications are processed by the Home Office, it could take nearly 20 years to be implemented fully for all those eligible. Also these applications are more likely to be rejected by the Home Office because of the difficulty of obtaining the right information, especially for the self-employed
3/ Your proposal does not secure the rights of those who are not yet eligible for permanent residence as they have been here less than 5 years, and seriously undermines the rights of those who have been here legally under Treaty rules for less than 3 years, as their eligibility would still remain uncertain after the supposed 2 year negotiation period is over
4/ The status of permanent residence is an EU concept and will in any case be likely to be formally substituted by the UK’s “indefinite leave to remain” status and that change could involve further bureaucracy
5/ The future status of EU citizens, even with “permanent residence”, are likely to be disenfranchised of their eligibility to participate in local government elections as soon as the EU negotiations are completed, despite the fact that they pay council tax and national insurance
6/ UK employers are still finding it difficult to plan long term with their investment and employment policies because of uncertainty over the status of their current and future EU employees
7/ The dragged-out procedure for granting permanent residence or other equivalent means of ensuring the right to stay is not likely to impress other EU countries when negotiations begin after March 2017 and could be applied in the same way to UK citizens in those countries
8/ In the meantime criminal elements from the EU and those working illegally without payment of taxes would continue to live here over the 2 year negotiating period on the same status as law abiding EU citizens
9/ This elongated procedure does not make clear to perpetrators of hate crime that EU citizens currently here have a right to stay and work here, and their children have a right to attend school here.

In my opinion most of these issues can be resolved by a resolute and early decision before March 2017 to create a new legal status open to all EU citizens currently living here under Treaty rules (with some similarity to the status of Maltese citizens). A possible name for it could be “Maastricht Treaty status”. Eligibility for this status and issuing of the appropriate new ID could be handled by local government based on the electoral and social services records as well as registered births and marriages already in their possession, but enhanced by relevant records from the Home Office and DWP and financed from a special central reserve fund at the Home Office. In my view the advantages would be as follows:
1/ The deadline for eligibility can be set immediately as soon as the announcement is made. This would prevent a later surge of EU citizens to this country.
2/ Eligibility can be established very quickly by local government and will not require the complex procedures required by the Home Office for acquiring permanent residence. IDs can be issued with same speed as local bus passes.
3/ The new Status encompasses all EU citizens currently here as long as they have national insurance numbers and have not abused welfare payments or been guilty of criminal offences either here or in their country of origin. It will ease the deportation of EU criminals with no right of return.
4/ The new status would be the same as the current EU status under permanent residence but with the added right to continue to participate in local elections
5/ UK employers will be able to commence their medium and long-term planning on investment and recruitment
6/ This will have a positive effect on the EU negotiations once they begin and will make it much more likely that EU countries will reciprocate with similar rights for UK citizens abroad.
7/ Their special status protects EU citizens from intimidation by perpetrators of hate crime
8/ This is a one off right applicable only to citizens currently here from the current EU countries, including Croatia, but would not apply to citizens of any new member countries of the EU.

I would like to thank you for allowing me to make my views known and I hope that you will have the opportunity to discuss these issues with your colleagues on the Cabinet and your Civil Servants. I am also forwarding a similar letter to the Chairman of Parliamentary Select Committee on Brexit and a copy to my local MP – Dr Rupa Huq.

Yours sincerely,



Wiktor Moszczyński

A Fair Deal for Poles in the UK – Appeal to Parliament

Dear Members of Parliament, “Our ties with Poland are rooted deeply in our shared history” the Prime Minister said last week. Poland and the UK have faced external threats together since before the Second World War, and again now through NATO. Polish workers were made to feel especially welcome here when Poland joined the EU in 2004. In fact, they were encouraged to come and work here as a dynamic younger work force which would tackle the skills shortage, re-energize the British economy and rejuvenate the ageing population. Poles have continued to maintain their highly motivated work ethic, set up more than 87,000 businesses and contributed generously to the UK exchequer. After the EU referendum on June 23rd, Polish and other EU workers and their families discovered that their presence in the UK was no longer welcomed. Most Leave campaigners during the referendum campaign had promised that the status of EU nationals currently here would be safe. Yet in the aftermath of the referendum Poles in the UK found themselves open to abuse and on occasions to actual physical attacks from UK citizens who interpreted the referendum result as a call for all EU foreign workers to depart. More than 180,000 Polish children in the UK were left deeply unsettled over their future. There were ugly incidents of hate crime including serious physical assaults, arson and even murder, as well as low level intimidation in public and online. While the UK Government has said no EU nationals should be expelled they have made this conditional on EU acquiescence. The International Trade Secretary has even referred to EU nationals as being a “key card” in the negotiations lasting over the next 3 years. It is shameful that thousands of Polish children should be treated by the UK government as hostages in a diplomatic poker game. The UK government must declare unequivocally now that Polish and other EU citizens currently here under EU treaty rules, as well as their dependants, will be allowed to stay and work in this country. It is to the advantage of the United Kingdom to make such a declaration promptly because: 1/ The UK should honour its commitment to those who arrived here legally under EU legislation and have contributed to the UK economy and society. 2/ UK companies need a stable environment to plan their future investment and recruitment policies 3/ A positive tone will be set for starting future negotiations with the EU when Article 50 is invoked. 4/ There is less likelihood of a late “surge” of EU nationals once a clear demarcation date is set. 5/ Polish entrepreneurs and Polish families will not feel pressurized to leave the UK early. 6/ Perpetrators of hate crimes will be discouraged from intimidating Polish and other EU citizens. Krystyna Bell, cultural coordinator, Andrzej Błoński, architect in private practice, Alina Callender, retired civil servant , Piotr Chłapowski, architect in private practice, Dr Ryszard Chmielowiec, retired engineer, Andrzej Fόrmaniak, chartered engineer, Piotr Fudakowski, feature film producer, Danuta Hart, headmistress, Maria Horbaczewska, retired city banker, Major Otton Hulacki, retired printer, WWII veteran, Jan Jarzembowski, historian, Joanna Kańska, actor; Stefan Kasprzyk, former Mayor of Islington, Wanda Kościa, documentary film maker, Jakub Krupa, press agency journalist, Dr Olgierd Lalko, community leader, Ludomir Lasocki, former adviser to Polish Finance Minister, Jan Ledόchowski, financial adviser, film-maker, Rula Lenska, actor, Agnieszka Major, founder of Polish Psychologist Association, Director, Antah Ocean Ltd, Joanna Młudzińska, project manager, Dr Jan Mokrzycki, ex Chair of Federation of Poles in GB, Wiktor Moszczyński, ex Ealing Councillor, author, Bartłomiej Nowak, community centre manager, Tad Ostrowski, Director, Artington Legal, Irma Pietroń, solicitor, Romana Pizon, Bradford community leader, Tad Potworowski, Chartered Accountant, Krzysztof Ruszczyński, Director, Credit Union, Jolanta Sabbat, Health Policy Consultant, Janusz Sikora-Sikorski, Chair, Relief Society for Poles & Janusz and Wanda Prawdzic Szlaski Charitable Trust, former chair of the Polish Catholic Mission in England & Wales, Filip Slipaczek, Chartered Financial Planner & Patron of Faith Matters, Piotr Sowiński, veterinary surgeon, , Dr Marek Stella-Sawicki MBE, military historian, Magda Szkuta, librarian curator, Robert Wiśniowski, Chartered Accountant, A E P Zaleski, solicitor, Andrzej Zakrzewski, chartered engineer, Krzysztof Zarębski, Management Consultant, Dr Marian Zastawny, Chair Association of Polish Engineers, Jan Zylinski, former London Mayoral candidate. Contact address: Wiktor Moszczyński, Convenor, A Fair Deal for Poles in the UK, 48 Inglis Road, London W5 3RW, Tel 07786471833 To be published in The House" magazine 9th December 2016

A Fair Deal for Poles in UK – Open Letter to Prime Minister Theresa May from UK citizens of Polish origin

13th October 2016 Dear Prime Minister. There is a long tradition of warm Polish-British relations starting with the Polish soldiers who settled here after the 1830 rebellion against Russia, and including prominent Poles in England such as Marie Curie and Joseph Conrad and the Polish soldiers, sailors and airmen, including the legendary 303 Squadron, who served under British command in the Second World War. Those close ties extend between the two countries in a common NATO strategy and in joint active service in Iraq and Afghanistan. These experiences contributed to the special welcome given to Polish workers in the UK after 2004 when Poland joined the EU. According to the first quarter of 2016 ONS statistics there are at present 984,000 Polish nationals living in the UK. They are the largest national grouping out of the 2.9 million EU citizens currently residing here. 75.4% of Poles in the UK are of working age (the majority aged between 20 and 39) and 87% of them are employed and paying taxes. Less than 2% are pensioners. A further 189,000 (19.2%) are children below the age of 15 who see the UK as their home. The majority of them arrived here from 2004 onwards after the British Government opened up the UK labour market to Polish workers and other EU nationals in order to bring in a dynamic younger work force which would tackle the skills shortage, re-energize the British economy and rejuvenate the ageing population. The Poles have continued to maintain their highly motivated work ethic, set up more than 87,000 businesses and contributed generously to the UK exchequer. They have also, with time, set up their own families here and, with over 22,000 babies now being born each year to Polish mothers, they have helped to revert the UK’s falling birth rate. Following the result of the EU referendum on June 23rd, Polish workers and their families woke up to the shock awareness that their presence in the UK was no longer so welcoming. Most Leave campaigners during the referendum campaign had assured them that the status of EU nationals currently here would be safe. Yet in the aftermath of the referendum Poles found themselves open to abuse and on many occasions to actual physical attacks from UK citizens who interpreted the referendum result as a call for all EU foreign workers to depart. Traumatized Polish schoolchildren were bewildered by their fellow pupils asking them when they were leaving this country. There were ugly incidents of hate crime including serious physical assaults and arson attacks in towns such as Leeds, Spalding, Lancaster and Plymouth, and even a tragic death in Harlow, as well as instances of graffiti vandalism and intimidating abuse in public places throughout the UK. Despite the overwhelming expressions of sympathy and support from the British public at large for victims of such abuse these incidents continue. The Government have stated several times that the EU nationals should not be expelled. Yet at the same time government ministers have called for indigenization of the work force in the NHS, in agriculture and in industry, referred to the need for Polish construction workers to obtain visas, threatened to impose a requirement for British businesses to list all their foreign employees and have consistently refused to guarantee the right to stay for Poles and other EU nationals until all 27 EU countries have given similar guarantees for UK nationals living abroad. The International Trade Secretary has even referred to EU nationals as being a “key card” in the negotiations lasting over the next 3 years. In light of this Polish families remain very concerned about their future here. This procrastination antagonizes the EU countries, many of whose governments, such as those of France, Spain and Portugal, have already offered to retain residential rights for UK citizens. The UK government cannot blame EU governments for this uncertainty. It was the British people who chose to leave the EU and not the other way around, so the onus is on the British government to act first. It is shameful that Polish children who considered the UK their home should be treated by the UK government as hostages in long term negotiations with the EU. We urge the UK government to declare unequivocally now that Polish citizens here legally under EU treaty rules, as well as their dependants, will be allowed to stay and work in this country, apply for indefinite leave to remain, and, if they wish, for UK citizenship, and that every effort be made for police and local government to record all incidents of xenophobia and racism, especially in relation to Polish and other EU citizens. It is to the advantage for the UK government to make such a declaration promptly because: 1/ It is the duty of the UK government to honour its commitment to those who arrived here legally under EU legislation with which the UK had voluntarily acquiesced 2/ It will give UK companies a more stable environment in which to plan their future investments and recruitment policies 3/ It will set a positive tone for starting future negotiations with the EU after Article 50 is invoked 4/ By setting a deadline arrival date now for EU citizens already in the UK, it will prevent a feared late surge of EU nationals seeking to find permanent residence here 5/ It will reassure Polish families and Polish businesses over their future in this country and prevent an unnecessary early exit of Polish entrepreneurs and skilled workers from the UK 6/ It will give clear notice to all perpetrators of hate crimes in UK that Polish workers and their families have a right to stay in the UK. Signed: Krystyna Bell, cultural coordinator Andrzej Błoński, architect in private practice Alina Callender, retired civil servant Piotr Chłapowski, architect Andrzej Fόrmaniak, chartered engineer Danuta Hart, headmistress Maria Horbaczewska, retired city banker Stefan Kasprzyk, former Mayor of Islington Joanna Kańska, actor Dr Olgierd Lalko, community leader Ludomir Lasocki, former adviser to Polish Finance Minister Jan Ledόchowski, financial adviser, film-maker Rula Lenska, actor Joanna Młudzińska, project manager Jan Mokrzycki, former Chair of Federation of Poles in GB Wiktor Moszczyński, ex Ealing Councillor, author Bartłomiej Nowak, community centre manager Irma Pietroń, retired solicitor Romana Pizon, Bradford community leader Jolanta Sabbat, Health Policy Consultant Dr Marek Stella-Sawicki MBE, military historian Magda Szkuta, librarian curator Andrew Zaleski, solicitor Andrzej Zakrzewski, chartered engineer Prince Jan Zylinski, ex London Mayoral candidate Contact address: Wiktor Moszczyński, Convenor, A Fair Deal for Poles in the UK, 48 Inglis Road, London W5 3RW, Tel 07786471833

Justice for Poles in UK

Justice for UK Poles There is a long tradition of warm Polish-British relations going back to the Polish revolutionaries who settled here after the 1830 revolt against Russia, to prominent Poles in England such as Marie Curie and Joseph Conrad, to the heroic role of Polish soldiers, sailors and airmen, including the legendary 303 Squadron, serving under British command in the Second World War and to the close ties between the two countries in NATO strategy and in Iraq and Afghanistan, all of which contributed to the special welcome for Polish workers in the UK after 2004 when Poland joined the EU. According to the first quarter ONS statistics for 2016 there are currently 984,000 Polish nationals living in the UK. They are the largest national grouping of the 2.9 million EU citizens currently residing here. 75.4% of Poles in the UK are of working age (the majority aged between 20 and 39) and 87% of them are employed and paying taxes. Less than 2% are pensioners. A further 189,000 (19.2%) are children below the age of 15 who see the UK as their home. The majority of them arrived here from 2004 onwards after the British government opened up the UK labour market to Polish workers and other EU nationals in order to bring in a dynamic younger work force which would tackle the skills shortage, re-energize the British economy and rejuvenate the ageing population. The Poles have continued to maintain a highly motivated work ethic, set up more than 87,000 businesses and contributed generously to the UK exchequer. They have also, with time, set up their own families here and, with over 22,000 babies now born each year to Polish mothers, they have helped to revert the UK’s falling birth rate. Following the result of the EU referendum on June 23rd, Polish workers and their families woke up to the shock awareness that their presence in the UK was no longer so welcoming. Although most Leave campaigners during the referendum campaign had assured them that the status of EU nationals currently here would be safe, in the aftermath of the referendum they found themselves open to abuse and on many occasions to actual physical attacks from UK citizens who interpreted the referendum result as a call for all EU foreign workers to depart. Traumatized Polish schoolchildren were bewildered by their fellow pupils asking them when they were leaving this country. There were for instance ugly incidents included serious physical assaults and arson tickets in Leeds, Spalding, Plymouth and even a death in Harlow, as well as graffiti vandalism and insulting comments in public places throughout the UK. The Government have stated that the EU nationals should not be expelled but government ministers have called for indigenization of the work force in the NHS, in agriculture and in industry, referred to the need for Polish construction workers to obtain visas, threatened to impose a requirement for British businesses to list all their foreign employees and have consistently refused to guarantee the right to stay for Poles and other EU nationals until all 27 EU countries have given similar guarantees for UK nationals living abroad. The International Trade Secretary has even referred to EU nationals as being a “key card” in the negotiations lasting over the next 3 years. It is shameful that Polish children should be treated by the UK government as hostages in long term negotiations with the EU. We urge the UK government to declare unequivocally now that Polish citizens here legally under EU treaty rules as well as their dependants will be allowed to stay and work in this country, apply for indefinite leave to remain, and, if they wish, for UK citizenship, and that every effort be made for police and local government to record all incidents of xenophobia and racism, especially in relation to EU citizens. It is to the advantage for the UK government to make such a declaration promptly because: 1/ It is the duty of the UK government to honour its commitment to those who arrived here legally under EU legislation that had been approved by the UK’s membership of the EU 2/ It will be set the right tone for a more positive start to the future negotiations with the EU after the critical responses in the EU to the British Government’s anti-immigrant declarations at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham 3/ By setting a deadline date for arrival in the UK it will prevent a late surge of EU nationals seeking to arrive here in order to be assured of the right to stay in the 4/ It will reassure Polish families and Polish businesses over their future in this country and prevent an unnecessary early departure for Polish entrepreneurs and skilled workers from the UK 5/ It will give clear notice to all xenophobic and racist elements in the UK that Polish workers and their families cannot be intimidated into leaving the country. Wiktor Moszczynski Convenor, Justice for Poles in the UK 48 Inglis Road, London W5 3RW Tel 07786471833

186,000 Polish children as "key card" hostages in UK

Letter to Editor of The Daily Telegraph. From Wiktor Moszczynski, 48 Inglis Road, London W5 3RW tel 07786471833 Dear Sir, Now that Theresa May has nailed her colours so emphatically to the mast on Brexit ("It is wrong to sneer at patriotism" 04/10/2016) and the process of indigenisation of British industry and the NHS is in full swing perhaps the Government should bite the bullet and pay its debt of honour to those 2.9 million EU citizens in this country who have worked or settled here and contributed so much to the British economy. It is breathtakingly cynical for the Trade Secretary to proudly display these people as a "key card" in a 3 year poker game with EU diplomats when it is the UK that has chosen to leave the EU and not the other round. I am thinking, in particular, of the 186,000 Polish children in the UK, a potential great asset to Britain with its current alarmingly low birth rate, suddenly feeling alienated towards the country they were expecting to live in. Yours faithfully, Wiktor Moszczynski

Unpublished Letter to New European on xenophobia among UK minorities and the Brexit vote

This is copy of my letter to the "New European" which for some reason did not get printed. I know its contents are contentious but it still deserves to see the light of day.

Dear Editor, Simon Woolley's article about Operation Black Vote, entitled "Xenophobic Genie is out of the Bottle" (July 22) missed the most signficant link between the Black Vote and Xenophobia, namely the large number of ethnic minority voters who opted to vote Leave, and not necessarily for altuistic reasons about sovereignty. Of course I don't have the statistics but anectodally so many voters that I canvassed before the referendum, but also before other elections as well, made it adequately clear that "immigration is too high" and that these "Poles and Romanians were taking our jobs". Whether Indian, Somali, Chinese voters, even Polish, it made no difference, they considered these new immigrants were a threat to them and to the Britain that they wanted to identify themselves with. So many Indian voters had been beguiled too by the argument that if there were fewer Eastern Europeans it would make it possible for a less restrictive regime on immigrants from the Indian Sub-Continent. Each time I heard this I shook my head in sorrow and thought of turkeys voting for Christmas. After the Brexit vote, the the racist genie was indeed out of the bottle, beginning with the graffiti at the Polish centre in Hammersmith, and the insulting comments towards black passengers on the Manchester bus, Every piece of graffiti in Hammersmith was not just an attack on Poles in the UK; it was an attack on all racial and religious minotities in this country. Racists may cherry pick from day to day in attacking in turn, Poles, or Indians, or Jamaicans, or Jews, but ultimately they fear and hate all of us who are not white and British. We minorities must stick tigether and resist submitting ourselves to the language and agenda of racism, as an attack on any one of us, is an attack on us all. Yours faithfully Wiktor Moszczynski