The future for the Polish community is uncertain, again because of the difficulty in assessing how many Poles are actually in the UK at any one time. Immigration will continue of course whoever forms the next government although all the political parties are calling for tighter controls with Labour highlighting their points system, the Conservatives proposing an annual cap on immigration and the Liberal Democrats looking at regional variations to move migrant workers into areas where there is greatest need.

A constant message given when discussing Polish immigration into Great Britain is that they are willing to do jobs that the indigenous workforce are not. This is likely to be a trend in British employment in the future. There will be more demand for workers operating at the lower end of the pay scale and much of that labour is likely to come from overseas simply because it is being rejected by the indigenous workforce.

A report, produced by the Migration Policy Institute and commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission reinforces this view. Andrea Murray of the Commission says: “To address these potential tensions, the commission believes there is a need for the government to introduce measures to bring the eastern European workers out of their enclaves. We should be reassessing how well we assist new migrants to learn English, enforce laws designed to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable workers and provide adequate supports to regions with substantial numbers of new migrants."

While controversy inevitably follows immigration on a large scale, what can be seen, cutting through the headlines, is that the majority of Poles who come to the UK do so to work hard and take jobs, usually rejected by British-born workers. Their numbers may come and go but the Polish community has, and will continue to have, an enduring collective impact on British society.