I was surprised by Gerald Ingram’s view (Daily Echo, 13th February) that rapid Eastern European migration to the UK was driven by the widespread use of English, and an ‘arrogant, inflexible and bullying’ EU.
Could it not have been driven by the UK being one of only three EU member states, along with Sweden and Ireland, which opened its labour market to these new EU citizens immediately?
This had bi-partisan support at Westminster, because of the labour needs of our booming economy and Margaret Thatcher’s legacy of wanting strong alliances with the former Eastern Bloc countries.
Under the flexible EU rules, we could have imposed transitional arrangements for up to seven years.
Had we done so, it seems reasonable to deduce that immigration would have been spread more evenly across the EU.
EU nationals have been making a huge contribution to the UK, including in the NHS and care sectors.
It’s sad that Boris Johnson said they had been ‘treating Britain as their own’ for too long, a few months before one helped save his life.
Denis Fryer
Calmore
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