Is Labour “racist” for comparing UK economy to Poland? | Economics | New Statesman
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- čas přidán 17. 06. 2023
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"Britian is a poor country with some very rich people in it". Nailed it.
Could have just said "Britain is a plutocracy" like any other plutocracy
YES...!!! I live in Bulgaria - the life of the average "poor" Bulgarian is a BETTER life than that of the bottom 25% of the UK
@superflams8752
The responsibility for the state, the mess our country is in now is 100% down to our tory government since 2010, they are responsible for the mess we now find ourselves in
I would not call it racist, rather self-righteous and arrogant 😊 it impled that Poland is traditionally some kind of fallen state and is suprising that it is doing well recently. If this is what bothers British politicians, how are they going to stand probable rapid growth of India in the upcoming years?
It's not about highlighting how well Poland is doing, that is a disingenuous take. It is sneering that even Poland will be better than us
It's not a question of Poland doing well, the problem is how badly UK is doing. We are sliding down all of the league tables.
And? Why single out Poland?
I can't see this as xenophobic. It's no worse than saying we're poorer than France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, etc., etc., etc. and falling down the list.
It’s actually a fair comparison and a way to highlight how badly the economy has performed under the Conservatives. We have been left behind by our peer nations like the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands and are now being caught up by nation’s historically poorer than us.
@@ThomasVWormbecause it shows relative decline.
I think you have a victim mindset.
I think the xenophobia comes in because of recent historical demeaning of Polish plumbers etc within the UK. Similar to the centuries of English belittling of the Irish. Right down to all the Paddy and Mick jokes.
@@ThomasVWorm there's nothing wrong with poland doing well and getting richer. The point is if they can do it why can't we? I'm glad poland's standards of living are increasing so well. I'm not happy with the UK suffering through its longest squeeze on living standards since the napoleonic war. If both countries had well run economies then both countries would be getting richer. But that's not the case. One is getting richer and the other getting poorer.
I’d say it’s a very good comparison. It’s a clear example of how one nation who joined the European Union in 2005, took all the advantages of being in the single market and is now on course to have an economy that outperforms a nation who is one of the G7.
Compared to us with taking our membership of the single market and completely flushed it down the toilet, and it’s doing absolutely everything to reduce our status to being a third rate power. All to appease certain members of society who have far too much influence, than is good for them.
Kier used the comparison in a very derisive way, as if to say: "we are at risk of falling so low that Poland, lowly Poland and oh-lord-no Romania will surpass us." He could've compared the UK with Canada (which has a similar but smaller GDP to the UK) or a small nation like the Netherlands, but that wouldn't have had the effect he was going for. He wanted to scare the British people because most of them still think that Central European countries mean kerosene lamps, hearths, sickles and potatoes. That was the image he wanted to conjure up in their minds. Honestly he should focus more on rebuilding "British exceptionalism" instead of making comparisons to "the others" so much. This comparison is very unfair if you know your history, which I'm sure Kier does, being educated in a public school. Most people are oblivious to the "white stains" or any negative impact UK's actions have had on the world. They know only the positives. Poland's economic performance from 1945-1989 is a direct consequence of the British backstabbing and them not standing up for their Polish allies at the end of WW2. The most ludicrous thing about Kier is, he still supports Brexit, which is the major factor driving the UK economy downwards! With recent investments by American Intel, and Korean Hanwha building factories in Poland and HB Reavis investing in real-estate, it will be interesting to see where Poland's economy really is in a decade's time and where England's is.
spot on
As a Pole I'm not offended, despite what we went through in the past, we are doing astonishingly well! and we will do even better!
We have rules and honour.
I confirm. UK its a poor country. Everyone lives in a overcrowded rooms. Houses are awful. After 10 years living here, completeing engineering studies I am done with this country. I am going back to Poland and I will make an effort to warn any young Pole about the idea of coming to UK.
Hahahahaha same here mate. I'll be moving back to Poland next year too. Went to Poland on holidays a few weeks ago and Poland is so much better, it's hard to describe how much better it is. Cities, infrastructure, parties, homes, everything. Poland looks like Disneyland. So much fun stuff to do, so many different activities to do, it's unbelievable. I loved every bit of it. UK is boring, depressing, awful. Don't want to insult anyone but it's true.
@@Matt-rw9pyhonestly makes me emotional how good it is here, you will have a culture shock if you move. I literally cried of relief 🥲
@@yulka1712 loving to hear that. I’m sure you’re doing fantastic. Party every day and all that init?
The British constantly display ignorance and xenophobia towards Central Europeans. The fact that they regard Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, etc. as Eastern Europe highlights this.
That's not fair. There are plenty of negative comments floating around about the French, the Germans, the Irish and Italians. It's not just Central European countries, then.
It is a very cringe worthy comparison and implies that people from Eastern Europe are some how worse people than that of the UK.
The premeditated comparison of showing how bad the UK is doing was a subtle way of pointing out “look how bad we are doing, the Poles are better than us”.
Or
The underlying intention of the comparison is to show that the second class citizens of the world are doing better than us now.
Poland is doing well because for over 30 years it has been free of foreign occupation - and communism was a de facto Soviet occupation - and can play to its inherent strengths as an economy and society as an EU member. The UK is by comparison a declining economy ruined by Brexit. Labour will fail to recover that unless it moves closer to the EU. Im of Polish origin and don't find this sort of comparison xenophobic or anti-Polish. What troubles me more is how the residue of anti-Polish German and Russian propaganda from the 20th century still informs some British people as to who the Poles are, as witnessed by the rise in anti-Polish sentiment here before Brexit.
The premise of this question is absolitely stupid. Comparing economies is a entirely normal thing to do.
I don’t think it’s the comparison that’s the issue but rather way the it’s framed. It sound like…
”Look how bad we are doing, we are as bad as the second class Poles”. That’s how it comes across.
@@sportnation8885 ...no its not "the second class poles". We're a G7 country and we're falling behind a Baltic state that was both occupied by the Nazis and the Russians
@@sportnation8885 ...in other words, pull your finger out
@@lafreeman4558 as a Pole, the arrogance the English always had about themselves being Great or better than everyone else has always been present.
So the comparison pulls a few strings when you hear these remarks like we are any worse than the English counterparts. I would say 99% of Poles would interpret it this way.
@@sportnation8885 ...absolute crap again. We're a G7 country and we're supposed to be the 5th largest economy in the world. Comparing our economy to another country is not racist. The fact that the English economy is on such a significant downturn is an entirely valid concern to have.
If you want to see racism where there isnt any... thats your perogative. You feel free to be paranoid and throw around ludicrous accusations. All you do is make yourself look ridiculous.
It is instructive to note that 2 nations which traditionally provided "cheap labour" to the UK, namely Poland (and Ireland) are financially out gunning the UK. Finland, a poor war torn country in 1945 is now vastly better off than the UK, despite fairly scarce natural resources, having overhauled the UK in the eighties. The fact is the UK is on a rapidly accelerating economic decline, which was halted by joining the EU and that decline has now been reinstated by Brexit. The doomsters and gloomsters are being proved correct, sadly.
Complete nonsense. Free Movement was just capitalism importing an OVER SUPPLY of labour in which is a race to the bottom particularly for the working class. Capitalism will never ever invest in training or increase pay and conditions if it can just fly in labour.
Brexit was just about moving power from the EU Superstate to Westminster. You still have to VOTE in a positive government.
Corbyn should of accepted the result of the Referendum and set out an alternative direction. He was very anti EU all his political life just like his hero Tony Benn. He became leader suddenly flipped flopped and crashed in the Old Labour Leave seats.
The West not just the UK is in real structural economic problems. Decades of open borders Globalisation has hollowed out the West particularly of its manufacturing and industrial capacity.
My part of East London collapsed into Mogadishu in the 90s.
@@evolassunglasses4673 I lived in Leyton E10 for a while, in the now demolished tower blocks overlooking the Leyton Orient ground. It was a bit rough in the early 90s but not a bad place to live.
Could you send a message to Jacek that it is actually completely the other way around. Many UK citizens were pointing a finger at Eastern Europe and saying how terrible their life is. Now, Poland is predicted to be better off than UK!
Jacek, it only shows how low the mighty have fallen and your country does well. So don't worry about someone using Poland as an example - actually, be proud of it!
Another strike, ‘eastern Europe’ is an insulting ineprial term, it has no clear definition and is asoscysed with stereotypes.
No, there’s no pride here. These people are specifically using their stereotypes that these people are worse and poor, and saying that if Britain is poorer than them then that means it’s worse and pot, it lost its ‘dignity’
Who are you to tell people what to be proud about? Another example of condescension
It’s not about wanting Poland to do badly. It’s about the UK falling behind! Considering our history as one of the wealthiest countries in the world, surely it’s not controversial to say that UK growth has been bad ever since the Conservatives got into power, so much so that a once much poorer country is now primed to overtake us? Good for Poland - but it demonstrates how bad things are going for us!
Nothing racist about it, it's just comparing economies. It's relevant as these eastern European countries were once a source of cheap labour. It demonstrates our decline in living standards and lack of gdp growth. It's an impactful way of highlighting this.
Although I widely agree, I can see the way he often says it, and borderline spits the word 'Poland', could offend a Polish person
@@tobypettit6417 I am Pole, it's not offending to us but for you Brits ;) we are doing pretty well and we are proud of that.
Nothing wrong with this comparison. A classic example of why Liberalism is becoming hysterical.
"liberalism is an American term... Are you an American Fascist ?
@@SunofYork No it's not. Labour has been controlled by the right wing neo-liberal faction of the party for a long time.
@@sueyourself5413 You can only think like that if you are a cannabis puffing commie. I voted for Harold Wilson and my dad was a co-op van driver
What a joke Liberalism has become with this sort of question
My polish builders 100% better than local Essex cowboy builders.
Calling something like this racist belittles genuine racism. A comparison with other countries is a useful tool to judge how we are doing, good or bad.
It's not about highlighting how well Poland is doing, that is a disingenuous take. It is sneering that "even" Poland will be better than us, as if the natural state dictates this should never happen. That is very much racism.
Had this comparison been made to a majority non-white nation it would absolutely universally be seen as racist.
@@asoton957Hi
Im Polish and I dont see it as racism. You will always find racism if you look for it. We are proud people, not victims. Statements like this dont offend us.
The MP who raised it a is a rampant Brexiteer and a weapons grade chancer. He can't even speak Polish properly.
@@asoton957 Tripe. The UK ought to be doing better than Poland simply because it had a head start - a history of being a liberal free market democracy rather than a totalitarian satellite of the USSR. That's not racism, it's history and economics.
Gosh - the Poles are whinging about racism because of this statement - talk about a ridiculous overreach. This isn't racist or xenophobic. It's simply snobbish and shows how embedded the bygone heyday of the British empire is in the minds of many Brits.
It's a logical comparison to make when you want to see how UK is doing economically. Poland has been an economic success post credit crisis.
But the statements Starmee makes ant not ebing ‘comfortable’
Or is it racist to complain about innate British Exceptionalism ?
I am Bulgarian. Bulgaria is the poorest economy in the EU. It is a fact, not a racist or xenophobic comment.
There is not assumption that the country doing worse in the comparison should not be so compared to the one doing better. It is simple comparison of numbers.
When Hunt and Sunak are pointing that Germany is projected percentage-wise to perform worse than the UK in the next year, what is that then?...
People need to grow up and realise, all strangers are not out to get them, all strangers are not out to offend them, strangers do not care about their feelings. Pay attention to those who care about you and let the rest be.
it's true, the Polish economy is growing, many large investments are underway, such as Rail Baltica, Via Carpathia, the Central Communication Port with a mega airport and high-speed rail, Polish cities, towns and villages are changing very quickly, new highways, etc ... according to various statistics, we are the 22-20th economy in the world, but we are still far from the UK, so don't worry
Been to Poland a few weeks ago. It looks amazing. The change is happening so rapidly. Poland looks so much better than depressing UK. UK needs to start investing in infrastructure otherwise it will collapse.
@@Matt-rw9pyyou do- HS2
The investments you mentioned do not make any sense and will only increase debt without improving the economy.
@@2mek99 how do they not make sense? I can also say that something does not make sense without giving any arguments. Explain how roads, motorways, pipelines, airports and other infrastructure projects do not benefit the economy. You must have had very bad grades at school it seems.
The point that needs making - but never is - is that Poland in The EU is a roaring success, but The UK outside is stagnating and going backwards. A better comparison would be Ireland who’s EU driven GDP per capita massively eclipses it’s former rulers.!
Has absolutely nothing to do with the EU.
Croatia's GDP per capita peaked in 2008 and still hasn't recovered since joining the EU in 2013.
Poland grew at an average rate of 5.5% in the 10 years before joining the EU, and grew at an average rate of 4% in the 10 years after joining the EU, and an average rate of 2.6% in the 10 years since 2014.
The EU neither helps nor hinders, there's positives and negatives. Blind belief in Brexit and blind belief in EU are both marks of a total fool. Multiple economies have absolutely failed out of the EU - Italy, Greece, Croatia et al. Who benefited other than export-led economies like Germany and Netherlands is a little harder to judge. Regardless, Poland's wealth and growth correlates with South Korea and Israel - two other emerging economies - NOT with the EU at large.
@@asoton957 Now explain how The UK economy has atrophied since leaving The EU and compare growth/post covid recovery figures to other EU countries. Comparing small economies to what was the second largest EU and long established UK economy to relative minnows are both markers of a 'total fool.' Try again... FAIL.
It is definitely offensive. The intention is to show how bad things are going... so one choses what one thinks is the lowest possible benchmark. The problem lies exactly there...
I am Polish, I do not care at all, the intent behind it is what matters, as everyone says something awkward sometimes and the intent behind it we cannot know unless we are Keir
The only issue I took with the statement was the use of german in reference to Poland, insensitive considering history but again is it an intentional thing or just awkward,
What?
I don’t think there’s anything xenophobic about it, it simply strengthens the political message by saying that countries that had more difficult start are doing better than the country the others have been looking up to for so many years.
surely the point is that if our economy hadn't been hamstrung since 2010 then this wouldn't be happening. It's great that poland's standard of living is increasing so fast. But they wouldn't be catching up with us so quickly if our standard of living were also increasing. But its not. Our standard of living has been fladlining since 2010 and nose diving more recently. There's nothing special about the UK that says it is entitled to be richer than poland. But given where both economies were 15 years ago, this wouldn't be happening if our economy had been run with a bare minimum of competency for the past decade and a half
What Kier was clearly pointing out was the appaling state of our economy after 13 yrs of tory government
Poland was not doing well because it was sold by the UK to the Soviets.
Remember that?
Dobra przestań się skarżyć tylko się weź za siebie. Będziesz się mazgac przez resztę życia, ze kto inny ma twój los w swoich rękach, a nie ty? Weź swoje sprawy i życie w swoje ręce w koncu i przestań płakać. Nikt nie szanuje słabeuszy.
@@Matt-rw9py stwierdzenie faktu to nie mazganie. Tobie plują w twarz a ty mówisz że deszcz pada
@@jankowalski6338 stwierdzenie faktu, ze ktoś był panem twojego życia, a nie ty sam to jest naprawdę, łagodnie mówiąc, hańba i wstyd i nikt takich ludzi nie szanuje.
@@Matt-rw9py co ty pięć minut temu przeczytałeś Ayn Rand?:)
Kompleks na kompleksie w tobie widzę. Jesteś Polakiem.
From an economic point, we should not be in this situation. Poland is going from a stunted strat and we have a huge economy beforehand and still mucked up. Only reason we're now in the G7 is the volume of money.
“What is wrong with us being like Italy?”
Um, you mean besides the fact that young people in Italy have no economic opportunities and have been fleeing the country for nearly 30 years now? With no end in sight to their continued relative economic and social decline since the 1990s?
No, it's not. But not be able to admit who really broke Enigma code was a little bit at the time.
The English will be migrating themselves to Europe if things don’t change 😂😂wouldn’t it be Karma for all those years
That's true I've heard of many people that have lost their jobs as some UK companies have moved to Poland and now employ Polish people who are considered "better" workers. It won't be long til you see us English cleaning Poland's streets or working in the fields.
Are we now back at the old "countries are races" thing? I thought we settled that small misunderstanding 80 years ago in some picturesque old town called Nuremberg.
The Poland/Romania comparison is very important. Wages in the former Soviet bloc countries now in the EU have been steadily rising in real terms for 20 years. This is because of Freedom of Movement. Money already moves easier than workers do. If you add legal barriers on top of the practical ones, it becomes even easier for the money to move where workers can be exploited, and the workers have limited options to respond by moving to where the money is better Putting people and money on as level a playing field as possible is part of resisting falling wages.
In short FoM exerts upward pressure on wages throughout the SM (contrary to what leave voters believe) and this fact (which is fully supported now by ample evidence) means that one of the main arguments for brexit, some might say the deciding factor for many leave voters, is destroyed. This is why Labour is talking about it: ground preparation for the crucial coming battle for hearts and minds over FoM.
It is perhaps even more instructive that the accusations of "racism" over this are coming from Conservative/brexiteer quarters - they don't want this argument made as it drives a further nail into the brexit coffin. Some might argue the final nail. Once the Red Wall leave voters realise the truth that with FoM their wages will trend towards the EU average rather than the global average remaining support for brexit will crumble and it will be game over. GG as gamers say.
"Wages are rising because of freedom of movement" is a nonsensical statement to make from an economic theory POV. What are you talking about?
You're clearly not talking about labour supply vs. demand as you've somehow disconnected supply and demand with your blanket "FoM exerts upward pressure on wages throughout SM" comment so do explain the economic theory at play here.
In your own words, through your own understanding of economics. Not a research paper. My dissertation which I got 83% for was proving that tax avoidance is good for the economy. You can prove anything with statistics. I want your own explanation of how this process apparently works.
Is it racist to point out all the european countries that had less covid deaths per capita? Spent less per unit of ppe? Which was most of them.
Very few people understand what "racist" means. There is nothing racist here.
From being the 5th largest economy to the equivalent of Poland.
Don't be so daft is it xenophobic.
Polish got developed due to EU free trade help and trade with germany . Uk got developed because of colonialism
and the EU is funded by colonialism so... you know...
This is a ridiculous discussion. We all know he's not being racist. The UK was so far ahead of Poland, but is on the wrong path and will fall behind Poland soon. All he is saying is that the UK under the Tories is doing particularly poorly.
Thats wild because Poland never colonized country. Look at Portugal, they colonized Brazil. 5th biggest country in the world. They invented slavery. Colonized 50 countries. Poland economy is right now way more stronger.
Sorry, but y’all sound so tone deaf. It’s xenophobic because it’s a neoliberal, imperialist-colonialist, gore-capitalistic and necropolitical nation-state-industrial-complex (ie. UK) being compared against a historically oppressed, culturally erased, and systematically stereotyped country (ie. Poland), literally just for the sake of being able to say “Omg we’re gonna be poorer than Central/Eastern Europe, that’s just a right mess”, with the intimation being that 1) it’s a fair comparison (it’s not, they are not even similar economically, let alone on a generalized level) and 2) that Central/Eastern Europe is a poor and underdeveloped region that can be used as a measurement heuristic by which to base another country’s prosperity on (which is intrinsically compartmentalized, not to mention unethical). Sure, one could say “well that’s not said explicitly”, but it doesn’t have to be shouted in your face to pick up on the implicit messaging underlying these statements, that being that Britain considers itself ‘above’ countries like Poland or Romania, and has for a very, very long time.
It's true though. It's not racist to point out to xenophobes, that the people they voted to end freedom of movement for, will soon be net contributors to the eu budget. It's not a bad thing to point out that we could have been doing better than we have been. The point is that countries like france/germany/poland have had wage growth, and the uk has not.
A pathetic reach by apologists for Tory failure. I didn't hear them complaining about racism in 1987 when the boot was on the other foot and Italians were celebrating their success at topping the UK economy as "il Sorpasso". No, that was an excuse for more more cuts and union-bashing. Hypocrites.
Who are apologists for Tory failure?
@@andrewrichardson2079 The people claiming it's "racist" to contrast our failing economy with that of Poland or Romania.
The UK was in recent memory the 6th biggest economy and Poland is the 22nd. Its just saying "we will fall a long way down the league table, and they are on track to overtake us". I think if you want to interpret that negatively, you can, or you can interpret it positively, or cautiously, or however you want. It's just counting.
Recent memory? Only last year were the 5th largest economy, which is irrelevant in comparison to Poland which has a much smaller population and therefore will continue to have a much smaller economy.
It's not about the outright size of the economy but income per capita. Poland doesn't need its economy to be as large as the UK for the per capital income to overtake.
Why do you think Wales never really succumb to popularism in the way that England and Scotland did?
Do you mean "succumbed"
Reform UK is our last hope
Erm how do you compare your economy with out comparing it to another country?? Would the question be asked if we compared with Germany or France or India??
It was offensive as hell to fraze it like that.
2:57 why is it? Things change over time
It has been, what’s wrong with being more prosperous? The problem is the UK being less prosperous, this shows an idea that Poland being successful makes them uncfortbwle
My Romanian fiance laughed out loud when I suggested people thought these comparisons were racist/xenophobic
*HERE IN BULGARIA* the average wage was 400 leva a month when I arrived in 2009 - its now 2000 leva a month = 24k a year
You can buy a small house for modernising for 25k. Small modernised house 50k. Small new apartment 50k. Large new luxury apartment 200k [All in Bg Leva £1= 2.2 leva]
He would never give Malta or Cyprus as example though. He believes it would be embarrassing to be poorer than Poland. Basically, Poland should forever stay poor so UK should feel better about themselves
What with happily having Terfs writing columns for it, and now this, I am starting to wonder if the NS is as progressive as it claims to be.
FYI if England had just lost a key World Cup match to Poland, and not just by one lucky shot or controversial penalty but 4-0 or something, would it be racist to start asking serious questions about the state of English football? Of course not. So could the NS start asking serious questions about the state of the UK economy and how it got that way?
This is ridiculous. It is not racist to compare economies with other each other.
What an utterly bizarre question!
Since when did the current Polish government bother about offending other nations?
What a politician says or 'thinks' usually has no bearing on any type of truth, for them it's all about votes and revenue
Racism? That's a ridiculous accusation in the context
5:08 Useless? It can be not fully accurate
That is just showing further superiority
Why would it be racist? Can anyone explain without themselves showing their own racism lol
Xenophobic
It is a reflection of the idea Poland is inferior, so it surpassing Britain means only Britain is doing badly, not that Poland is doing well
Some bizarre statements about Slovenia also that reflect lack of understanding how population doesn’t determine living codntios
As George Friedman predicted in his book The Next 100 Years poland will be superpower again
Is Labour “racist” for comparing UK economy to Poland? got to ask, who even thought of a headline like that, just when I was starting to watch this channel.
2:28 the word is itself
Yes the background issue is the implication
In the 1200, under Danelaw, Scandinavia had the same population as the UK. Which means your king is as important as the queen of Denmark.
Some bulshit woke question right there. He said about Poles and Romanians because these are the two massive waves of immigration rhat came to the UK. That was an obvious comparison to show the rest how the things are going in rhe wrong direction. Soon brits will seek for a beter standards in the central and eastern Europe.
That qualifies as a good question? It’s a moronic question
I wonder if this question is brought up when people are comparing Britain to so-called 3rd world countries?
the tories have had 12 years to rebuild the economy with boosting industrys what have they done nowt at least labour created industrys not shut them down.
4:31 it should be per capita having less people didn’t make up inporer
See Luxembourg
Labour IS racist 100%, because Starmer married an indigenous Pole instead of a proper British rose as he is supposed to. There are plenty with good Jamaican descent in Brixton
I wouldn’t say it’s racist, it’s just arrogant and ignorant. I don’t mean the comparison as such but the way it’s being said.
I thought Poles were generally of the same race as the majority of Britons ?
Poles are slavs, Brits are Anglo-Saxon
Not that simple Poland is a mixture od West Slavs, Germans and Balts. The people who rule Britain used to live in Germany and Poland. Then they invaded Britain .. some of them
@@AFGuidesHD Poles and Brits are north Europeans and have hair under both armpits...so put away your skull measuring tape and your eugenics/ hitler books
@@perkunlitewski oh for heavens sake.... what is all this skull measuring Himmler/Hitlerism ? Poles generally, and Brits, generally, are north Europeans. They have been known to successfully interbreed.. FASCISTS ARE FINISHED SINCE 1945
Yep, all Caucasian. Like Indians, Arabs etc
Kinda heartbreaking how Jacek specifically wrote ‘central European’ and they explicitly said ‘eastern European’ with all the parochial Brit associations
Yes it is xenophobic, the arrogance is crazy
In a nutshell before Brexit vote, we were the fifth richest economy global, we are now seventh
Well,.. considering the example is used from the premise that Polands economy used to be considered "inferior" and bound to the EU regulations it makes sense to consider it a bit "racist". Especially if you consider how many Polish residents of the UK have left due to the xenophobic frenzy that was unleashed by Brexit.
I wonder in how much those Polish seasonal workers that stopped picking have now found much better paid jobs elsewhere in Europe as well. Many would accept the dismal wages for having holiday money and explore the island.
The sad thing that Labour has adopted the xenophobia and the concept that Brexit can be made to work to the benefit of the UK doesn't bode well for the UK. And in the insane voting system they are the only viable option to oust the Tories. It's horrid.
No...its not even a relevant word.
This is fluent british or x2 ? Please I'm high.
If you live in the UK right now and you have the option to live in another country I would leave!
The UK is DONE!
I'm a born and bred British person and I'm looking for a way out
Which country would you choose, maybe Canada?
Regards from Poland
@@perkunlitewski why did you say Canada
@@darrenwestbury8569 I've noticed Canada is a premium location for many Brits(still Commonwealth , right?), contrary to Spain where the bureaucracy is hell and job market is very difficult even for natives.
In my opinion Canada has almost everything, it is the second biggest country on planet (only gigantic Russia is bigger), full of natural resources etc... with such a wealth I believe that Canada is probably no 1, I wouldn't choose Australia - too close to China in case of mayor war.... Just my opinion.
not racist at all, now move on
1:01 ‘ancestry’ is better than heritage
Of course its neither xenophobic or racist... its a comparison of economies, clearly the tories are desperately grasping at straws as they sink into the morass of their own malaise.
Tosh. If anything he's an optimist.
4:20 How does the size of the country affect how well off a household is? Ever heard the phrase _per capita?_
Finally, Brexiteers have always banged on about the UK being the 5th largest economy, to which my answer has always been "for now/correct at time of recording/give it time".
Not at the top of your game today, folks.
Another problem with the comparison is that it doesn't really show whether Poland is doing well, or the UK is doing poorly. It might be better to see how the UK ranks amongst a pool of European countries, to show if our economy has gone from high in the rankjngs to low in the rankings
The meaning of the comparison is between the lines.
Oh no look! UK's economy is on a downturn! It's so bad that before 10 years we could be reached by Poland. Why mentioning Poland? In collective consciousness Poland is a poor country, destroyed by the war, mangled by communism - and not much more to their story. UK is doing so bad that in no time we might have to look at those plebeians as on equals. Do we really want it? Doesn't it motivate you to work harder, not to let those eastern commoners triumph over our once great economy? For years we used them as cheap labor for the jobs we didn't want to do. Imagine our youth going there to work. That would be degrading!
In my view, international comparison is not inherently "racist". It is valuable that performance in any area is benchmarked. What should be advised in any commentary is any hint of sneering, so as "we wouldn't want to be as poor as them" thinking. I often cite the example of Zimbabwe and the Weimar Republic of Germany as countries with failed currencies, without any suggestion in my mind of racism towards either.
Its possibly exceptionalist and slightly pompous but thats just the way British people are.
The conservative party accusing others of being xenophobic. 😂😂😂.
last I checked, neither Polish nor British were races. Did that change somehow?
I agree with Rachel.
jeeze wept.... so he can't compare our economy to to another economy without being racist? he's pointing out how the tories have sunk us so low!
Racists find racism everywhere they look.
Please cut the click bait titles. Poland is not a race.
Am pole too, Keir point is valid. Why on earth there are 1m poles in the UK? Because life is easier and better here, period. While Tories in power UK is hitting to standards of living compared to the one in Poland and none of us want this to happen, trust me neither Poles nor Brits want this, unless your desire is to get poorer.
Going by your logic, the fact that there are millions of British immigrants in Spain, Canada, Australia, Malaysia must mean standards are lower in the UK? Why are there millions of Brits still in these places if the UK is so great? Keir's point is very short-sighted and shows a lack of historical knowledge. If the British "allies" didn't hand over Poland to that other "ally", Stalin, at Yalta, who then imposed 60 years of communist rule in the country, Poland's economy would have been in a much better place than it is today. It's as if I had you committed to an insane asylum for 30 years, then, once you're out and starting to rebuild your life, I went around and compared your earning potential to mine, saying "Tsk-tsk, don't want to end up like him." Ridiculous British behavior.
My logic is sound. Are you a Pole? I assume you're not but the nick name of yours made me question this assumption; Ursus is/was a polish tractor, anyway, we know better why we're coming to the UK.
Of course, not all of us coming as economic migrants but almost all of us, not only UK. Germany as well, again for economic reasons, Italy too, I know better because I'm polish.
Can you name one country where you have 1m Brits? If you say Spain for example, where the number is large, they'd refer to themselves as an expat not migrants most of them are retire there, obviously.
And please do not question my logic and then go off topic.
I didn't mean to say what Poland would be like if or... I know what you mean but I'd disagree Keir did not know why he was using this example, that was not argument from ignorance. He knew why he was saying that.
@@LukaszStolarczuk Yes, I am a Pole, so you don't know better Łukasz. I can attack your logic all I want. Your logic is only a sound reason for why they MOVED to the country, not why they STAYED. People stay in a country for all sorts of reasons; education, relationships, putting down roots, even just better weather. Just ask the british immigrants living abroad in those other countries. That's what they are, btw, immigrants. They can call themselves Purple Ticker-Stripers for all I care. When they're living abroad, the rest of the world counts them as immigrants. And, as for a country with more than 1 mil of them, according to Australian government statistics, Australia has more than 1.2 million British immigrants settled there. Times are changing. Economies grow and economies shrink. If you look at just the last decade, more Brits have left the UK, than Poles have moved to England. Ask an average Brit and they seem very unhappy with life in the UK, more so than Poles in Poland today. Getting back to Kier, he used the comparison in a very derisive way, as if to say: "we are at risk of falling so low that Poland, lowly Poland and oh-lord-no Romania will surpass us." He could've compared the UK with Canada (which has a similar but smaller GDP to the UK) or a small nation like the Netherlands, but that wouldn't have had the effect he was going for. He wanted to scare the British people because most of them still think that Central European countries mean kerosene lamps, hearths, sickles and potatoes. That was the image he wanted to conjure up in their minds. He should focus more on rebuilding "the Brittish model of excellence" instead of making comparisons to "the others" so much. My 2nd point was an analogy to show that this comparison is very unfair if you know your history, which I'm sure Kier does, being educated in a public school. Poland's economic performance from 1945-1989 is a direct consequence of the British backstabbing their Polish allies at the end of WW2. You chose to ignore that. That's ok. Most people do. They're oblivious to the "white stains" or any negative impact UK's actions have had on the world. They know only the positives. The most ludicrous thing about Kier is, he still supports Brexit, which is the major factor driving the UK economy to shrink! With recent investments by American Intel, and Korean Hanwha building factories in Poland and HB Reavis investing in real-estate, it will be interesting to see where Poland's economy really is in a decade's time and where England's is. Trzymaj się wiatru!
😂😂😂...oh stop it! 🙄