I visited my family in Wisbech today – the very same town which “the Baltic Mafia is terrorising” – according to this sensational report in today’s Daily Mail. Driving through the town, I passed a coach with a Lithuanian number plate parked outside a factory. A new influx of migrant workers? Or potential drug dealers, as the Mail would have us believe.
I read the story and was shocked by two points: first, the terrible slur on my home town, with a Russian migrant quoted as describing Wisbech as rougher than Moscow; and second, the terrible demise and wasted life of 17-year-old Alisa Dmitrijeva, said to owe £15,000 to a drug dealer. Her badly decomposed body was found on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate by a dog walker in woodland near King’s Lynn, on New Year’s Day.
Latvian-born Miss Dmitrijeva was identified by comparing detail from her palm with records held. She was last seen in King’s Lynn, on 31 August, 20 minutes from Wisbech.
With a third of Wisbech’s 20,000 population now said to be Eastern European, and five reported murders from their community in the last two years, a Wisbech man felt compelled to write to the Daily Mail urging the paper to highlight the “desperate situation” in the town which he claims is being ignored by politicians for fear of being branded as racist. Following its investigation, the Mail claimed that the “Baltic Mafia” was taking over English Fenland towns, terrifying local residents and ensnaring teenage girls, such as Alisa. One woman is quoted is saying she is too afraid to go out after dark as Wisbech “has changed for the worse”.
I thought it was sensational drivel, until I spoke to a very well reasoned trader in the town today who I respect and asked for his views on the article. To my astonishment, he agreed with it all. Yes, he said, there was an incredibly high number of migrants in the town, and 30% wouldn’t be unreasonable. Yes, he said, there was an element of fear in the town and it was driving shoppers away. No, he said, he did not think the Mafia comment was exaggerated as he had seen Mercedes and BMWs with blacked out windows prowling the streets which were new to the town.
I asked the trader, why Wisbech? He told me that local gangmasters advertise for workers in Eastern Europe, and some go to other towns like Boston, Spalding and King’s Lynn for work.
So I asked the trader for his solution. “Stop giving them our benefits. They even get child benefits for their children back home,” was the resolute reply from him and others in his store. Is it politically incorrect to say this? Or commonsense?
He was also quite definite that many Eastern Europeans were decent, hard working people, but there is a hard-core criminal element causing fear which hasn’t been nipped in the bud.
Wisbech people remain fiercely proud of their town, and many have not forgotten the drubbing it was given by the BBC and Evan Davis which claimed that locals blamed migrants for taking their jobs.
I also asked someone from Outwell who I met this morning for his views about the article, and he told me he avoids Wisbech too as it had changed in recent years, preferring to shop in Downham Market instead.
This is a great disservice to our small businesses who are struggling to survive in today’s economy, but he was adamant that Wisbech held no appeal for him any longer.
One other part of the article that surprised told how during a five-day police crackdown on violent crime in the area and drugs raids, £40,000 of cannabis was seized and 25 people arrested for suspected offences ranging from knifings to burglary. Surely this kind of crackdown should be happening every day to stamp out crime! There must also be concerns from the Eastern European community about intimidation towards towards them as they fear reprisals from drug and crime gangs if they speak to police .
I guess I will always see Wisbech through rose-tinted spectacles, but clearly our politicians, council officers, police, traders’ associations, local people and the Eastern European community should be putting their heads together to discuss these issues. Every town has problems, and didn’t Wisbech have its fair share before migrants moved in?
Personal safety for all our citizens, and a healthy local economy, are vital for a successful community, and if there are very real concerns that they are at risk, they should be discussed openly.
 UPDATE 29 January: Immigration Minister Damian Green is this week expected to outline the principles behind the government’s new ‘‘selective” immigration policy that will give preferential treatment to investors, entrepreneurs and world-class artists, dancers, musicians and academics. Under the planned reforms ”fewer but better” immigrants will be allowed to settle in the UK, with those who lack the skills to ”help drive economic growth” or contribute to UK culture facing greater scrutiny.
*Instead of knocking my home town, I would like to see the media highlight personal successes stories about Eastern Europeans who have settled in Wisbech to highlight the positive contribution they have made to the local community. It’s not an underworld town, and I feel safe walking around there.
*Here is a link to Sally Chidzoy’s report on this topic for BBC Look East.
*In 2007, Chief Constable Julie Spence of Cambridgeshire Police said more officers were needed to cope with complex problems posed by an influx of migrant workers following the expansion of the European Union. Â Were her concerns heeded?
She warned it could take as much as three times longer for officers to deal with a crime involving a migrant worker.
Were her concerns heeded?
*TheWisbech Standard linked to this post with comments. And the Huffington Post. There are additional comments too on another post I wrote.
The Mail (and its readers) get a bad press.
5 million readers and yet the BNP barely register in elections – apparently most of those who do vote for them are erstwhile Labour voters.
Combine this readership with those of other ‘right wing’ tabloids and the lack of extremist voting is even more startling.
The simple fact is that these papers – and their readers – are moderate and even tempered.
They are vilified because that’s the way our Left wing establishment (much of it Tory) closes down debate while it utterly betrays our people.
Sending troops to be killed by IEDs in far off lands to ‘protect our country’ whilst letting all and sundry settle here is utterly wicked and everyone knows it.
We are nearly two years into this government and yet immigration is on as large a scale as it has ever been.
Why haven’t they stopped it while a review is conducted ?
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that nothing will be done. I regret voting Tory at the last election and will not do so again. I exhort many people not to vote Tory too.
I’m coming to the conclusion that they only way things are going to change is if our country goes bust and there isn’t the money to chuck around willy nilly.
“They even get child benefits for their children back home
Why should they? I seriously don’t know why they should?
“The simple fact is that these papers – and their readers – are moderate and even tempered.”
Arf.
None of this can be true.
All nationals (no matter what their cultural differences), live together in perfect harmony, I mean the main stream media fronted by the beeb tell us, the sheeple that, so how can such (Daily Mail) articles really be believed?
Our country is on its way to becoming the 1970’s Coca Cola advert where everyone sings “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmoneeee”…
And if you believe that, then you need to get out more.
I was a big fan of Julie Spence, Cambridgeshire’s former Chief Constable. I met her when I was raising awareness about sex trafficking.
In this Daily Telegraph story dated September 2007, she appeals for more police officers to tackle the demands of migrant crime on her force:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1563559/Police-chief-warns-of-migrant-crime-impact.html
Police chief warns of migrant crime impact
A chief constable has demanded more staff for her force to help cope with the effect on crime of the rise in migrant workers.
Julie Spence of Cambridgeshire Police said more officers were needed to cope with complex problems posed by an influx of migrant workers following the expansion of the European Union.
She warned it could take as much as three times longer for officers to deal with a crime involving a migrant worker.
The chief constable said immigrants often arrived with “different standards” from those in the UK, most notably over issues such as carrying knives and drink-driving, which has seen a 17-fold rise in arrests of foreigners in a year.
Mrs Spence said crime investigations could now involve trips abroad to interview relatives, and steep bills for interpreters. Officers must now be equipped to deal with people who speak a range of close to 100 languages, she said.
There is also a problem with “feuds” between foreign nationals being brought across to the UK, Mrs Spence told BBC Radio 4.
“We recently had a murder and it was a Lithuanian on Lithuanian and it could easily have happened in Lithuania.
“But it didn’t, it happened in Wisbech, so one of my staff spent a lot of their time in Lithuania trying to get underneath what was actually happening with the crime and criminality, which brings costs that you wouldn’t have had before, which means something else has to give.”
She said: “While the economic benefits of growth are clear, we need to maintain the basic public services infrastructure which means increasing the number of officers we have.”
Introducing a report on the impact of migration on policing, Mrs Spence said the effect of immigration brought problems ranging from lack of familiarity with local traffic laws to a rise in prostitution, apparently driven by the influx of large numbers of single men.
Between 50,000 and 80,000 of eastern England’s 2.8 million economically active people are migrant workers, contributing about £360m a year to the economy, according to research from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).
Migrant workers are also increasingly falling victim to crimes. In 2004, a report by Norfolk County Council and Norfolk police said immigrants working in fields and factories in west Norfolk were often victims of extortion, racism and crime.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “The way ministers fund local public services, including the police, makes it incredibly difficult for communities to cope with the rapid changes in population that can be caused by immigration.
“It takes years for the extra money to come through from the Government for areas with high immigration, so it is no wonder the police can find themselves struggling.”
Liam Byrne, a Home Office minister, said it was vital that the social impact of the influx of immigrants be considered.
He said: “It’s because we want to hear voices like Julie Spence’s that I set up the Migration Impacts Forum, so public services can help shape our tough points system which is introduced in around 150 days time.
“At present, people who seek to come to the UK permanently, or as highly skilled workers are required to speak English. As the Home Secretary has said, we will be looking at extending this requirement to those coming to the UK to do lesser and low skilled work as well.”
Home Office officials said police had “benefited from a significant increase in resources over the last decade”.
They said spending on police services had risen by nearly £5 billion from £6.2 billion to £11 billion since 1997.
Gordon Brown’s spokesman said: “The Chief Constable has given her views but I think it’s important that we keep this in context.
“If you look at what’s happening to total crime in Cambridgeshire, it’s been on a clear downward trend.”
You were in Wisbech for a [part of] day and made an opinion which suits your already well known politcal views. You did not do a recognised survey, just spoke to a few people, including a market trader, (known for their wisdom like black cab drivers in London) asked a few leading questions and got what you wanted, did you speak to anyone from Lithuania, Lativa or Poland? How you can equate a drugs bust and a murder of a young girl is not only bizzare it’s down right evil.
Think for a second who are this country’s most famous criminals?
In reality you came to support the lies of the Daily Mail, if you want to see why foreigners are working here get a job in food preparation factory for a week, and then perhaps you’ll see why they are taking the jobs…
This town of Wisbech is crap. Their is nothing here people need to open their eyes and see what Wisbech can offer…. Nothing. Shops closing. Half the shop sell shit. The only good thing about Wisbech. I can’t even think of one.. Yes foreign people are hard working and they put you English people to shame… I’m one and lived in England for over thirty years. Yes married to a londoner..