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For all the people who posted derogatory comments about my fellow legal (!) immigrants:

a) the UK is NOT the most densely populated country in the EU. The most densely populated country in the EU is the Netherlands.

b) I doubt the level of benefits in the UK is the main attraction for legal (!) immigrants. You obviously have no clue what's on offer in other countries - check out Germany for starters - a haven for benefits recipients!

c) Most people would prefer to stay at home and make a living there. The reason so many Eastern Europeans come to the UK is because there are lots of menial jobs that UK citizens don't want to do. They also seem to have better morale than many Brits, who take time off sick when in reality all they have is a hangover.

c) The Spanish would prefer if all those British pensioners who have moved to Spain and are now putting a huge burden on the Spanish healthcare system would have stayed in the UK. Just some food for thought.

- Paulina Smid, London, UK

Keep on paying them benefits, of cause they will stay here.No wonder NuLabour have nearly broke the country.

- Stan White, leeds

Edw, London - from what you say you are a net contributor - any time that counts against you is when the country has sunk so low its gone past the point of no return. Looks like the same applies to the Grugel family of this story.

There are far too many immigrants who are not though.

- Rogan, Irving

it seems like british people are going to get no say in this anyway, the 3 main parties try to out do each other pandering to migrants, why because there is now a huge migrant vote, add in a bit of vote rigging and they can carry on with the expenses scam

- Peter Woods, UK

I'll readily admit to being a migrant. I pay my taxes, I've never claimed benefits and I'm earning well above 40k a year with a good degree from a good British university which followed on from 5 years at Harrow School. Does this make me equally worthy of deportation?

- Edw, London

Another attempt to woo the Eastern immigrants away from the influence of the Russians. Its an ongoing thing.
T H Leeds

- Thomas Hayes, Leeds UK

Paulina Smid - Fact: We are a a small Island, the first, if not second most densely populated country in the whole of Europe. Fact: there are too many people living on these Islands already. Is that being prejudiced? No. It's being sensible and practical. We cannot keep on taking in everyone from the whole world and expect to live in harmony. The more people come here the more trouble there will be. Where they going to live, will our NHS survive, schools, infrastructure, more cars on the road, etc. etc. I have now made a statement in 2009. Wait until about 2015 and then tell me I was wrong to say no more immigrants. You wait and see trouble is brewing ahead!!!

- Sue, Orpington, Kent

Paulina Smid,
Mandleson appeared before a Commons Select Committee the other week and said that East Europeans 'rarely' claimed benefits. He didn't actually give the figures but his tone was dismissive.

A few days later the Daily Express said that almost 290 thousand East Europeans claimed benefits of one kind of another and this did not include the cost of educating children. It is not all about 'lazy' Brits.

- Richard, London, England

Why wouldn't you keep coming to Country that after ONE YEAR you get free schooling, NHS and benefits for live.
Utopia.
For you wearers of tinted glasses, Ive worked in agriculture for years and if you truly think that immigrants do not get benefits try taking your glasses off.

- Roger, Surrey

Hard working eastern europeans blah blah.. open your eyes people, its not true. First thing they do is have a child then they cannot leave. They have sussed this country out. Most council accommodation is now taken up by these people.

- Grim Reaper, Hell

Countries like Denmark where State benefits are much higher, have stricter qualifying periods than the UK, and of course they chose not to allow entry to migrants from the new EU members. Plus, its crass stupidity to ignore the fact that benefits in migrant exporting nations are very low or non-existent.

The reason they all chose the UK was because, apart from Eire (which also has serious social/integration problems), the rest of Europe chose to bar Eastern European migrants in 2003. Labour lied when they said only 13,000 would come; instead its been more than 1m. Many have put down roots and will not return, despite the latest lies emanating from the Left. We have more than 5m people of working age on some kind of benefits. It is a lie to suggest that migrants are doing jobs Britain’s won’t. They are doing them for wages and hours not comparable to a lifestyle that we’ve fought hundred of years to create.

Mass immigration has benefitted the already wealthy, and it’s the poorer citizens who suffer from depleted wages, increased competition for jobs, education, housing, etc. This from a left leaning Govt that relies on the votes of the lower classes. How could people be so stupid to vote for them?

- Chav, London

By now, large swathes of the public pay little or no attention to the claims of think-tanks, lobbyists, politicians, employers and their agents, where immigration numbers and trends are concerned. We've noticed how it's possible to construct sentences suggesting one thing about trends while something else entirely occurs, and that the composer of the sentence knew that all along.

We've had the 'Poles are returning home' claims for six months at least, the lead-story on some front pages, but never based on more than flimsy evidence and questionable supposition. Like we have had distinctions between asylum seekers 'accepted for residence' and 'those whose claims for asylum have been rejected' as if the latter group had departed or were about to, it transpiring that most don't leave at all. We have learned to be cynical of those involved in these attempts to hoodwink

I don't know of any politician who sides with the public on this type of concern beyond the periodic media articles to fellow party members that the issue left unchallenged, i.e. the problem they have with a cynical and furious public, may unseat them, as if that's a public problem. Employment prospects are fast diminishing, and unemployment, homelessness and indebtedness taking hold. All this immigration since the mid-1990s and going beyond the late 2000s, is an issue that disarming platitudes will not address.

- Peter, London, United Kingdom

What we need is more immigrants and fewer of our very own, made-in-britain, howegrown spongers!

- Alan, Islington

These people do not work hard, pay much tax or contribute anything worth mentioning to our society. The fact is that there is a massive black market for their £1 an hour labour rates and many businesses are all too happy to take advantage of this to increase their profit margins. This is obviously at the expense of the real tax payer's and undermines many UK native born workers as they cannot possibly compete with this legally.

Only people who live in ivory towers are ignorant to the true cost of uncontrollable EU immigration. There should be a 10 year rule before any benefits are paid and even then it should only be to immigrants who have contributed taxes & have bothered to learn the
language. Every other country in the world is laughing at how easy it is for immigrants to prosper here and it makes it easy for them as UK is the no1 immigrant target thanks to unfair EU laws which make it hard for any gov to stop this.

- Mr P, London, England

Wow, the comments from "Evening Standard" readers so far are impressive in their hatred of legal immigrants. I wonder why that is? It certainly isn't to do with your article, which doesn't say anyting about benefits, instead explaining that migrants are staying because they have jobs in "safe" sectors, such as agriculture and food processing. I wonder which UK citizens would want these jobs? From what I've seen so far they're quite happy to leave this "dirty" work to migrants. So what's there to complain? Get over yourselves, people.

- Paulina Smid, London, UK

These people pay taxes, work hard and don't claim benefits. What Cap and Jonny are extolling is just plain prejudice and xenophobia.

- Ed, London

This Government is continualy massaging the figures on immigration,we all know they will stay,we know the numbers have not decreased and will not,we hear them every day on the transport system,on the streets,in the work place,we see and hear them in the benefit offices as they claim child allowance etc and the latter is the main reason they will stay,benefits should only be paid to the ingenious British as it was the likes of our for fathers that brought the welfare state into being,and they didn't do that with the intention of giving it to ever tom dick or harry.

- Kev, London-UK

Any British person knows that we are saturated with foreigners. Whether it's a massive influx of Sudanese getting priority with council housing and help to claim all the benefits they are 'entiteld to'. Or, the Latvian au pair, who isn't paying any tax or NI but is quite happy to use the NHS when she has a health issue. The British taxpayer is being milked dry whilst Labour continues to lie to us.

- Jane, London

Well, then same rules should apply to Brits living in one of the A8 states!

- Anonymous, London

>Of course they'll stay.

>What other country in the EU (or the world), is as >generous with Benefits, Health care and housing ?

Just about all of them. Believe me, no European envies the poverty-level benefits or much else in this country. Maybe the reason they're staying is because employers are reluctant to sack such hard-working, loyal and honest workers, even in a recession, and therefore there's no reason for them to go back.

- Mark Jackson, London, UK

Mr Woolas just really sums up this government. as useful as a chocolate teapot.
of course their going to stay. this country is just one big piggy bank which they can dip into at my expense.
help yourself.............
i don't mind paying too send them home..tell me who to make the cheque to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Jonny, London

Of course they'll stay.

What other country in the EU (or the world), is as generous with Benefits, Health care and housing ?

It's about time we only gave Benefits to foreigners who have worked and paid Tax and NI in this country for at least 10 years.
....and even then it should be limited to getting them out of the country.

- Cap, London

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