0:00:03 > 0:00:05It's Christmas, 2013,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08and the nation is gripped by a mounting sense of anxiety.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13As working restrictions fall away from the first of January,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16there are predictions of a mass invasion of Romanians and Bulgarians.
0:00:21 > 0:00:22Why did you come today?
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Because today is the first day which you open the border.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Two, three, four... There are nine coaches lined up.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Will this be another wave of Eastern European immigrants
0:00:32 > 0:00:36following around half a million Poles who pitched up ten years ago?
0:00:36 > 0:00:38- You're going to Yeovil? - Yeah.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40Do you know where Yeovil is?
0:00:40 > 0:00:41No.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43- Which town? - Yeovil.- Yeovil.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44Yeovil.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46I'm Tim Samuels, and some of my ancestors -
0:00:46 > 0:00:48not this lot -
0:00:48 > 0:00:49came here from Romania,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53so the attention on Romanians, in particular, intrigues me.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54It used to be a nice town.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58You've been taken over, invaded, inundated, if you like.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00They create noise. They create a smell.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04I'm going to meet the Roma Gypsies sleeping on our posher streets...
0:01:04 > 0:01:05Hi. Morning.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10THE WOMEN SING
0:01:10 > 0:01:13..and join those who've come to earn more than they ever could back home.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16Would you drive a taxi?
0:01:16 > 0:01:18I'm not a very good driver.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Why would people want to move to a country
0:01:21 > 0:01:23that doesn't appear to want them?
0:01:23 > 0:01:25I want to go home.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29With the nation primed for invasion, are we right to panic?
0:01:39 > 0:01:41It's very easy to be a soppy liberal
0:01:41 > 0:01:44and welcome in anyone who wants to come to this country,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46if it doesn't affect your job or where you live.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49And there's a real fear from people
0:01:49 > 0:01:52that a lot of Romanians are going to come in here,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54and that's going to affect their jobs,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57it's going to affect their quality of life,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59it's going to affect getting kids into schools,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02getting to see your GP,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04just as pressures were put on the system
0:02:04 > 0:02:07when half a million Poles came in in a pretty short space of time,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10and there's a real fear that that's going to happen again.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18So, if you're a Romanian going to up sticks,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20why bother with Old Kent Road
0:02:20 > 0:02:22when you can advance straight to Park Lane -
0:02:22 > 0:02:24one of London's fancier streets?
0:02:25 > 0:02:27It's just a few weeks till the rules change,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29meaning any Romanian will be free to live and work here
0:02:29 > 0:02:31doing any job.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35Already there's a pre-invasion invasion,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38an advance party of Roma Gypsies from Romania,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41causing something of a stink.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43For many months, this patch of grass on the central
0:02:43 > 0:02:46reservation has been a place to sleep.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50It's like mole hills - every time we move a bunch of these people on,
0:02:50 > 0:02:52another bunch pop up.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Here, council workers clean a pavement which was used as a toilet.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01My hunch is that having a group of Roma Gypsies kipping outside
0:03:01 > 0:03:03isn't going to help shift the supercars
0:03:03 > 0:03:05that Daniel Forstener's trying to sell.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07What's the most expensive car here?
0:03:07 > 0:03:11I would say I've got the Pagani Zonda F Roadster.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15If, you know, I happen to want to pick up this,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17how much would I have to...?
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Well, it has an asking price at the moment of £850,000.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Yeah, Pagani is like a piece of art, as well, yeah?
0:03:24 > 0:03:27You can put it in your living room, and many people have done this.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30But would you have a, what, a drive-in, drive-out living room?
0:03:30 > 0:03:32- They have.- They have.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33They've knocked down the wall
0:03:33 > 0:03:36and then replaced it with a door, a gate, or...
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Do you think the presence of Roma has actually affected your business?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43It has affected us in a way, because it looks as an unpleasant way.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46The Romas, they come, they sit down,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48they create noise,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50they create a smell.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52What's the smell?
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Somebody who hasn't washed in a couple of days.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57If you get one person, that's all right,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00if you get ten or 20 people it's very difficult.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03If they repeatedly don't take up work
0:04:03 > 0:04:04and carry on sleeping here,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07should they, in the end, be sent back?
0:04:07 > 0:04:09I think in other countries, yeah,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12they would be exported at some point.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22I hear the Roma Gypsies won't talk to the media,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24but, no matter where you come from,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27who can resist an M&S mini mince pie?
0:04:31 > 0:04:32Hi, there.
0:04:32 > 0:04:33My name's Tim.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Can I give you... Happy Christmas.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49THEY SING:
0:04:54 > 0:04:56I leave them to their pies and carols
0:04:56 > 0:04:58and go to find some who've
0:04:58 > 0:05:00apparently been sleeping in the subways.
0:05:00 > 0:05:01Oh!
0:05:01 > 0:05:04As soon as you walk down, you're...
0:05:05 > 0:05:08..hit by a fairly strong stench of pee.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13What's the plan for today?
0:05:15 > 0:05:16To?
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Today?
0:05:22 > 0:05:24How long have you been here?
0:05:25 > 0:05:26Are you coming back here in January?
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Though they seem to be taking a break for Christmas,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35some of the Roma Gypsies have come here to beg for a living.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38But others are looking for jobs.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Since 2007, Romanians could come here legally,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43if self-employed or a skilled worker.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47One of the Roma Gypsies, Ion Crengache
0:05:47 > 0:05:49is seeking work as a labourer.
0:05:49 > 0:05:50OK, when did you come here?
0:05:52 > 0:05:54What work have you done?
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Do you think more people are going to come over?
0:06:04 > 0:06:07If we came to Romania, could we say hi to you and your family?
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Ion heads home for Christmas.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23But, if he was pining for an East European high street,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27he could have joined me in Boston in Lincolnshire,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30a town radically transformed by the last wave of immigrants from
0:06:30 > 0:06:31Eastern Europe.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41Back in 1948, Boston was a quintessential English market town.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Morning, Mr Drew.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49How's the market today?
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Bit of a change from the old days, eh, Johnson?
0:06:52 > 0:06:53You're right, it is.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56But even then the locals were unhappy...
0:06:56 > 0:07:00about those Londoners coming here by train and taking their farm jobs.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07On job-stealing duty now are Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Around 7,000 Eastern Europeans have settled in the area.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15If the Bostonians weren't happy in '48,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18how will today's locals feel about their latest neighbours?
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It used to be a nice town.
0:07:23 > 0:07:24You could walk round
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and you could understand what everybody was saying.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Are you looking forward to the changes to immigration rules?
0:07:30 > 0:07:32And what that might bring?
0:07:32 > 0:07:35- Well, personally, I'm going to wait and see.- Yes, if it's...
0:07:35 > 0:07:37- Some of them are all right. - Well, yeah, they are.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39- If they work, I've no objection. - Mmm.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41What's your vision of Boston for January
0:07:41 > 0:07:44when the rules change and Romanians and Bulgarians
0:07:44 > 0:07:46can come and work, if they want to?
0:07:46 > 0:07:47I just hate the thought of it.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50I've tried to learn Lithuanian at colleges.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52- Have you? - Yeah.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56I've asked if there's any courses you can go on,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59because they've got the opportunity to learn English,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02but there's no opportunities at the colleges
0:08:02 > 0:08:04for English people to learn Lithuanian.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Do you genuinely want to learn Lithuanian?
0:08:08 > 0:08:11I did do, but now I'm more limited on my time
0:08:11 > 0:08:12because of family commitments.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14What would you use your Lithuanian for?
0:08:14 > 0:08:17I could just knock on the door and say, "Can you move your car, mate?"
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Is it... I'm trying to understand.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22- Did you want to learn Lithuanian... - Yeah, yeah.- ..to actually get to know them?
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Well, communicate more with them, yeah.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26I'll try and communicate with them. I do now.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I tell 'em when it's dustbin days.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Knock on the door, and it's pidgin English -
0:08:31 > 0:08:33"Blue bin, out. Green bin, out."
0:08:37 > 0:08:38The wrong bins,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41schools and doctors' surgeries put under more pressure,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43high streets going all Baltic,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46and understandable fears that there's more to come
0:08:46 > 0:08:49thanks to open EU borders.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51It's all helped UKIP surge in the polls
0:08:51 > 0:08:54and get Bob McAuley elected to the local council.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58It's not about race and nationality,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02it's about maintaining our own identity
0:09:02 > 0:09:07without it being completely taken over and lost.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09We are going to lose our identity,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11there's no doubt about it.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13We've got a Polish restaurant...
0:09:13 > 0:09:16I don't know what that is to be truthful.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18And, obviously, you've got the normal Indian and Chinese,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21that we've had for generations.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Have you been in here before?
0:09:25 > 0:09:28I only came in here once just to have a look round.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30- You don't do your shopping here? - Oh, no.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Well, I wouldn't understand what I was buying,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35cos I can't speak...read... whatever it says.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38The trouble is, people get a perception, by what they see,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41don't they, and they come down the street and they see, like,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44the bottom half of the street completely Eastern European.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48All of a sudden you feel that you've been taken over, invaded,
0:09:48 > 0:09:53inundated, if you like, as opposed to part and parcel of.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56It's like seeing a row of betting shops.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58You don't want to see a row of betting shops,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02because it's not indicative of a good society.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Any sausage catch your eye?
0:10:07 > 0:10:09That looks like a luncheon meat, doesn't it?
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Well, that's probably quite nice. I love garlic.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14You see? You can see how multiculturalism works.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16You're getting me going, aren't you!
0:10:16 > 0:10:18All of a sudden, I can see it now - UKIP counsellor has...
0:10:18 > 0:10:21- Garlic sausage! - ..Lithuanian garlic sausage.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Yeah, that's right, yeah.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25You wait till Farage hears about that.
0:10:25 > 0:10:26Hm. We won't go there.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Nigel Farage may be less worried by Bob's sausage
0:10:31 > 0:10:35than the fear that Britain's about to become a free-for-all again.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38And the political class who predicted
0:10:38 > 0:10:41a mere 13,000 Poles would come have again left us exposed -
0:10:41 > 0:10:46this time to a potential flood from even poorer countries
0:10:46 > 0:10:47like Romania.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50NIGEL FARAGE: 'We open the doors to up to 28 million people,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53'who, if they wish to come to this country, can.'
0:10:53 > 0:10:56'Ten days and counting until the lifting of restrictions,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58'which have caused a deepening row.'
0:10:58 > 0:10:59'..secure control of our borders...'
0:10:59 > 0:11:03'..business secretary, Vince Cable, accused Conservatives of being
0:11:03 > 0:11:04'in a panic because of UKIP...'
0:11:04 > 0:11:07'..the EU first envisaged the free movement of workers
0:11:07 > 0:11:09'ready to work hard and get on in life.'
0:11:09 > 0:11:12'..as a nation and say - "We want our country back."
0:11:12 > 0:11:13'Thank you very much indeed.'
0:11:17 > 0:11:18BIG BEN STRIKES HOUR
0:11:21 > 0:11:25New Year, and the nation takes to the streets to celebrate
0:11:25 > 0:11:28that any Romanian or Bulgarian can now come here to work.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33I'm up early to see the floodgates open.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38# No more champagne and the fireworks are through
0:11:38 > 0:11:40# Here we are
0:11:40 > 0:11:42# Me and you
0:11:42 > 0:11:43# Feeling lost... #
0:11:43 > 0:11:46The first plane from Romania is due to land,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and the nation's press are poised for the invasion.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51First of January, 2014,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54we don't know whether 27 million Romanians are about to arrive,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57but we do know two members of the Home Affairs Select Committee
0:11:57 > 0:11:59are probably on their way.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Finally, Keith Vaz and his entourage arrive.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06First of January - what are we expecting?
0:12:06 > 0:12:08Well, a happy new year.
0:12:08 > 0:12:09Yes, and to you.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11And, as you know, the reason why we're here is that
0:12:11 > 0:12:15the select committee has a long-standing interest in
0:12:15 > 0:12:17these issues, to do with the EU and migration.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Is this an exciting day for you?
0:12:19 > 0:12:20Or are you thinking -
0:12:20 > 0:12:23"Uh-oh, this could be the start of something out of control?"
0:12:23 > 0:12:25January 1st is always an exciting day.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27And when you're at Luton Airport
0:12:27 > 0:12:29with the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee,
0:12:29 > 0:12:30it's even more exciting.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33What local language are you going to greet them with?
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Well, I don't know how many Romanians are in the control tower.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- Right.- But if there were I would certainly be wishing them
0:12:38 > 0:12:41a buna dimineata.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44I would have gone for bine ai venit myself, but, you know, that works.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47OK. You've obviously got a bigger phrase book than me.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49That was my phrase.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Mr Vaz gets to go airside as that first flight touches down.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Hi, where've you come from?
0:13:01 > 0:13:03- From Italy. - Italy.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04Not Romanian.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07OK, where've you come in from?
0:13:07 > 0:13:10- Romania. - And why have you come?
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Visiting a friend.
0:13:12 > 0:13:13OK. How long are you here for?
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Four days.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16You've come in from Romania?
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Yeah, I have, but I'm British, I'm not...
0:13:18 > 0:13:21- OK.- Just vacation. - Just a vacation? A holiday?- Yes.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24- Is this your first time here? - No, I live here.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26OK. Hi, is this your first time?
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Hi, welcome to England.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29- Have you been here before? - Yes, I have.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33It might be lead news today, but this much-heralded, mass influx
0:13:33 > 0:13:35doesn't quite seem to be panning out.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38- Hi, welcome. - I'm Welsh, but, hiya.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Welsh.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43After half an hour bothering tourists, workers and Welsh people,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46we finally catch ourselves a newbie, Victor Spirescu,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48a 29-year-old with conjunctivitis.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53So why did you come today? Why on the first?
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Because today is the first day you open the border
0:13:57 > 0:13:59to work from this village.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01This country.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03He's been mobbed.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08- Are you excited? - Yes, God, a lot.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Do you have any friends in Romania looking to come to England, as well?
0:14:12 > 0:14:13No.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21SPEAKS ROMANIAN
0:14:21 > 0:14:24I want to drink something because I speak a lot and...
0:14:24 > 0:14:28After a quiet coffee with Keith, and the national media,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I finally get to speak to Victor,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33a young farmer here to earn a better living.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35You had an early morning, you got off the flight,
0:14:35 > 0:14:39and then you were hit by all the media from Britain.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Yes, you see me, I lose maybe...
0:14:41 > 0:14:43I have big emotion because, you know,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46I want to cry because you are a lot of people
0:14:46 > 0:14:48and you asking and put me some question.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53What a crazy start to Britain for you.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55No, maybe it's a good thing.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58I have a good start in Britain, maybe.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03And happy new year all the Britain and all the people...on this world.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06OK. You are our Romanian immigrant.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10# Happy new year, happy new year... #
0:15:12 > 0:15:14As I leave our one man, sore-eyed influx,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17I'm struck that most of the people getting off the plane,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19apart from the Welsh fellow,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22were Romanians who already live here.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Maybe we were so focused on the January invasion,
0:15:25 > 0:15:29we didn't notice how many had already used their right to work here,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33more than 100,000 in the last seven years.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36But perhaps there will be more first-timers
0:15:36 > 0:15:39arriving at this supermarket car park in North London,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42where the first coach loads of the new year have just pulled in.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Another one. Another Romanian one.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Two, three, four... There are nine coaches lined up.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54The question is, are the Romanians coming,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56or actually have they been here for ages, anyway?
0:15:58 > 0:15:59Do you live here already, then?
0:15:59 > 0:16:01- Yes, from almost two years. - OK.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05What work do you do here?
0:16:05 > 0:16:08I am team leader. I wash cars.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Does everyone live here already?
0:16:10 > 0:16:12How long have these guys been here?
0:16:12 > 0:16:15The same. Like one... One-year-and-a-half.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Yeah, self-employed.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22So, Victor holds on to his title of sole Romanian invader,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26an accolade that's made him something of a media sensation.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Victor Spirescu arrived in the UK on New Year's Day.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34I see a little girl, she said my mum,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37"Hey, this is the guy off television from airport."
0:16:39 > 0:16:43But within ten days, Victor has gone from media darling
0:16:43 > 0:16:45to public enemy number one.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50He's had his personal life splattered across the tabloids,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53been hounded out of his car-wash job, and gone into hiding.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59He agrees to meet me in a greasy spoon.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Are you surprised that your private life
0:17:05 > 0:17:09is now making the newspapers in Britain?
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Yes, I don't believe the Britain people just...
0:17:12 > 0:17:14She must know my private life, you know?
0:17:14 > 0:17:16You were in the newspaper again today.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19The Mail is saying that you've quit your job
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and, you know, the first Romanian who came has already
0:17:22 > 0:17:23finished his work.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Yeah, to make this... this news,
0:17:26 > 0:17:32only to show how Romanian people is so badly,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35and don't deserve to work from us.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37From British people, you know?
0:17:37 > 0:17:42Do you find it funny that you are the...wave of immigration
0:17:42 > 0:17:44that we were expecting? It's you?
0:17:44 > 0:17:49I was the only man who come in on the first of January to invade...
0:17:49 > 0:17:53The big invader, you know? I am only one.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55It's a funny thing, you know?
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Back to my favourite airport.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01But this time I'm heading to Romania,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04to try and find some people who are coming to the UK for the first time.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15It's also an excellent place to find work as a taxi driver in the UK.
0:18:16 > 0:18:23Derek Murray heads to Romania each month to recruit Eastern Europeans,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25to drive cabs in lower league football towns.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30We have Daventry, which is in Northamptonshire,
0:18:30 > 0:18:31Yeovil in Somerset,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33Stevenage, which is in Hertfordshire,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Brentwood, which is in Essex,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39Dudley, which is near Birmingham.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41So those are the available destinations.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44And driving standards are better in the UK,
0:18:44 > 0:18:46speed limits are observed,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48the roads are better.
0:18:48 > 0:18:49But don't forget, in the UK,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53our steering wheel is on the correct side of the vehicle,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56unlike in Romania, where it's on the wrong side.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59So it's important that you take on board what I'm saying about driving
0:18:59 > 0:19:02- you have to change the way you drive. OK?
0:19:02 > 0:19:05No more lazy driving, one hand on the steering wheel
0:19:05 > 0:19:07one hand on the gear stick,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10and if your hand is at this position on the steering wheel,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13it's going to come back into your face
0:19:13 > 0:19:14and you will die.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20The warning of airbag-induced threats to mortality
0:19:20 > 0:19:23doesn't seem to be putting off this group of Romanians -
0:19:23 > 0:19:25all keen to start a new life
0:19:25 > 0:19:27somewhere in the UK.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Which town did you get?
0:19:30 > 0:19:31Oh, Yeovil.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33- You're going to Yeovil. - Yes.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36- Have you heard of Yeovil? - Yeah.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Do you know where Yeovil is?
0:19:42 > 0:19:43- No.- No.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46- Which town? - Yeovil.- Yeovil.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Are you excited?
0:19:48 > 0:19:50Yes, I am very excited, yes.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I wish this from many, many years,
0:19:53 > 0:19:55- I dreamed it. - Really?
0:19:55 > 0:19:58- Yes.- Why? Why've you dreamed...? - I don't know. I don't know.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01How long will you stay for?
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Maybe one year, two years.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05We want to earn some money for...
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Older.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09..when we will be old.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10Pension.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12That needs £20-30,000.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Then that's all.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Last but not least, Chelmsford in Essex.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22It's in Great Lees.
0:20:22 > 0:20:23Before Dudley or Daventry beckons,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26the candidates have to pass a geography test
0:20:26 > 0:20:27about their chosen towns.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Um...
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Can you tell me where the Boreham Industrial Estate is?
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Er...I know.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Be calm, don't panic.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49North-east of the map.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54It's in Waltham Road in Boreham.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55In Boreham, yes.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57I am very...tired.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59- Yeah. Mentally tired. - Yes.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02- You're not ready yet. - Yes.- OK?
0:21:03 > 0:21:07As Adrian is left to rue Boreham Industrial Estate,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09I'm off for a cold Romanian lager,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12with the man keeping British cabs on the road.
0:21:12 > 0:21:17How many Romanians have you trained up and sent over to the UK?
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Just over 4,000.
0:21:19 > 0:21:20You personally have sent 4,000?
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Yeah. Since 2007.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26The taxi companies in the UK cannot find the drivers locally,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29so they ask me to find them for them.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33And if you want to grow...build a taxi company in the UK
0:21:33 > 0:21:36you can put all the adverts you like in the job centres,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40you can put them in the local newspapers, you won't find anyone.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Are you sort of pragmatically pro-immigration,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45because the jobs are needed and these guys can fill it?
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Or, for you, is it more about this wider principle
0:21:48 > 0:21:50of European integration?
0:21:50 > 0:21:52No, nothing to do with that.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55I'm in it for business.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Which is what the whole single market is all about really.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02But, perhaps those with most to gain from this unfettered freedom
0:22:02 > 0:22:05to now live and work across the EU
0:22:05 > 0:22:07are the Roma Gypsies -
0:22:07 > 0:22:10an ethnic group spread across Europe
0:22:10 > 0:22:12who've faced centuries of discrimination.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Hundreds of thousands live in Romania,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17often excluded from education and work.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21It's no wonder some might take their chances sleeping rough in London.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25When I met him on Park Lane before Christmas,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28I told Ion I'd drop by if I ever came to Romania.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31What could have driven him to leave his family behind
0:22:31 > 0:22:34and end up on our streets?
0:22:34 > 0:22:36On my way to see Ion in his village,
0:22:36 > 0:22:3860 miles outside Bucharest,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41I bump into some of his neighbours.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Does anyone know anyone who is going to Britain?
0:22:44 > 0:22:46No, no, no.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56The guy's called Victor?
0:22:58 > 0:23:02What do you think of Victor, this famous Romanian?
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Amazing, even here the fame of Victor has reached them.
0:23:12 > 0:23:13Victor.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22If, by being lucky, you mean becoming tabloid fodder.
0:23:29 > 0:23:30I eventually find Ion.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34Hey, how are you doing? I said we'd come.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36- I'd come and see you in your village.- Yes.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40He's been back in his village since Christmas.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Undeterred by his last experience, he wants to get the money together
0:23:44 > 0:23:45to come back to London.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49He's invited me to see his one-room hut.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Which he shares with his wife and three children.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01So how old's your son?
0:24:16 > 0:24:18And where do you live?
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Where do you sleep?
0:24:23 > 0:24:25You all sleep and live in this one room?
0:24:32 > 0:24:35How long have you lived in the room for?
0:24:38 > 0:24:43Ion's uncle, Alin, lives next door, along with five others in his hut.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47You speak a bit of English? Have you been?
0:24:47 > 0:24:50- A little bit speak. Have you been to England?- Yes.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52Have you lived there? Or travelled?
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Oh, one month I live in England.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59No have job, no have nothing, and they coming for me.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Ideally, how long would you stay in England for?
0:25:04 > 0:25:07I don't know, maybe...
0:25:07 > 0:25:11I don't know. I find work maybe too much. Very much.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28- Would you want to move the whole family to England, as well?- Yes.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Although Alin wants to move to the UK for good,
0:25:37 > 0:25:43Ion dreams of building a better home for his family here, in the village.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46If you go to Britain and you come back with enough money
0:25:46 > 0:25:48to buy this land,
0:25:48 > 0:25:49and to afford to build on it,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52what will your family house look like?
0:26:03 > 0:26:05How much will it cost to build the house, do you think?
0:26:11 > 0:26:13What will he make it from?
0:26:13 > 0:26:14Like this.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Like...breeze blocks?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Yeah. I have much friends will help me.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29You can see why a father would grab any opportunity
0:26:29 > 0:26:31to change things for his family,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35and it just so happens that we, the UK,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38offer Ion the newest, tantalising chance
0:26:38 > 0:26:40to make that life-changing eight grand.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42In theory.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45But, his lack of English and work skills
0:26:45 > 0:26:47isn't going to make it easy.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57It's early February and I'm back in the UK.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59It's been four weeks since I last saw Victor.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02- Oh, hello.- The press storm seems to have passed,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04and he's found a new place to live.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Very nice. So this is your new place?
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Yeah, this is my new place.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09This I live.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12- It's nice.- Nice.- Yeah. - It's warm as well, today.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Yeah, yeah.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16This is your drinks cabinet.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Because today is my birthday.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20- Your birthday? Today? - Yes, man. It's my birthday today.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23- How old are you? - Three-zero.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25- It's your 30th today? - Yes.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Oh, happy birthday. Come on.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29- Thank you. - Pat on the shoulder.
0:27:29 > 0:27:30- Happy birthday. - Thank you.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35Victor shares the house with five others, paying £300 a month in rent.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Despite his turbulent start to life in the UK,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41he seems to be getting the hang of it.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44You see, my look now, it's very different.
0:27:44 > 0:27:45You're looking very East London now.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48When I last saw you, you'd just been in the car wash
0:27:48 > 0:27:50and you left after the newspaper attacked you.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55Yeah, because I have only £30 from a day,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58and now I work from 100.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01OK, so what job did you do after the car wash?
0:28:01 > 0:28:10I going on a site and I work there, as labour...
0:28:10 > 0:28:13and she pay me with £60,
0:28:13 > 0:28:18and after I go in other job she pay me with £80,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20and now I have £100.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Is this the most money you've ever earned in a day?
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Yeah. Much money.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29How much...remind me, how much were you getting a day in Romania?
0:28:29 > 0:28:34In one day from Romania I give £10, maybe, for a day.
0:28:34 > 0:28:35So do you feel rich now?
0:28:37 > 0:28:41It's not... I don't feel very rich, because, you know, here,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44the life is very expensive to live here, you know?
0:28:46 > 0:28:48MEN SINGING
0:28:57 > 0:28:59Seemingly, like many a Romanian,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Victor's friends have been in the UK for a while.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05His housemate, Mihai, has been living and working here
0:29:05 > 0:29:07for the last two years.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10I put the advertise for that room upstairs for a room,
0:29:10 > 0:29:12for Victor room,
0:29:12 > 0:29:14and he call me and he told me,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17"OK, my name is Victor Spirescu,
0:29:17 > 0:29:21"I've came in London, I'm the first Romanian guy who came here."
0:29:21 > 0:29:23- You have a Romanian celebrity in your house.- Yeah.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27But why do you think we made so much fuss about Romanians
0:29:27 > 0:29:29on the first of January?
0:29:29 > 0:29:33I don't know, probably because we have the Gypsies in our country.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35And come here not for job.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37I don't know, to...
0:29:37 > 0:29:39For something totally different to find a job.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Maybe for benefits. Yeah. I don't know.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46Have the Gypsies given Romanians a bad reputation?
0:29:46 > 0:29:50Yes. Gypsy give us a bad reputation, yeah.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54In my opinion, is better to do a different identity card, OK?
0:29:54 > 0:29:59Something like this one is Gypsy, is not Romanian.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03- You think Gypsies should have separate identity cards?- Yes.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05- To Romanians?- Yes. That's my opinion.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07- That will be quite controversial. - Yes.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10But it will be better, in my opinion.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14The English would not have a lot of problems with the Romanians,
0:30:14 > 0:30:19and with the Gypsy in the same time think that they are Romanians.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22Does it annoy you that people put Romanians and Gypsies together?
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Yeah. It's annoying me, yeah.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Annoying me that the English people think about Romanian
0:30:29 > 0:30:31that all are Gypsy, or something like that.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34In history, it's been very problematic
0:30:34 > 0:30:36to say that one group of people are like this,
0:30:36 > 0:30:38or one group of people are like that, you know.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42Identity cards and separation feels kind of...1930s Germany.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Yeah, something like that, yeah.
0:30:44 > 0:30:45Like Hitler.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Yeah, and the Gypsies were put into concentration camps, as well.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51No, that's my opinion. I don't say that we should do that.
0:30:51 > 0:30:52No, I don't... No.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55But it would be better for us,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58these things should happen, I don't know.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Talk of singling out groups to give them identity cards?
0:31:05 > 0:31:07It's pretty disturbing to hear.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Especially if you're Jewish.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13And your relatives had to flee Romania
0:31:13 > 0:31:16100-odd years ago to escape persecution.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24My family came to Manchester in the 1890s.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27But we've never really talked about why they came
0:31:27 > 0:31:28or how they were received.
0:31:30 > 0:31:31Hi, Dad.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35My dad, Sefton, told me he'd donated some old family photos
0:31:35 > 0:31:37to the national archives, years ago.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39And I've come with him to meet Alex Grime,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42the curator of the Jewish Museum,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44to hopefully fill in the blanks.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46It's all a bit of a mystery to me, the whole thing.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49I know the family turned up about 1890-odd.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Probably fleeing some degree of persecution.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56I mean, I don't think they came here for the weather, so...
0:31:56 > 0:31:58LAUGHTER
0:31:58 > 0:32:00But beyond that it's a real mystery,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02so it'll be fascinating to find out
0:32:02 > 0:32:05- where we came from and why. - Yes.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Well, the family came across in 1899,
0:32:08 > 0:32:09as far as we know.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13The political situation in Romania is changing a lot,
0:32:13 > 0:32:16and the position of the Jews in Romania is questioned a lot
0:32:16 > 0:32:18in this late 19th century period.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Their lives were made very difficult.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22They weren't allowed to go to certain schools -
0:32:22 > 0:32:24to the state schools, they were prevented,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27and that went up to secondary school level, as well.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30It was persecution in as much as you can't have that job,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32you can't go to that school.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35From the late 18th century period,
0:32:35 > 0:32:40about 70,000 Jews left in those two decade periods.
0:32:40 > 0:32:4270 thou? Good Lord!
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Fresh off the boat, my great grandfather opened a hat shop
0:32:45 > 0:32:48in Manchester's Strangeways.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Most of them actually wanted to get to America.
0:32:50 > 0:32:51America was the Promised Land.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53America's where your new life could start off.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55So why did they end up in Strangeways?
0:32:55 > 0:32:59Maybe you stopped here to earn a bit more money for the rest of your journey to America,
0:32:59 > 0:33:00and ended up staying around.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02Would you have preferred New York?
0:33:02 > 0:33:05- Yeah, I think the opportunities might have been better.- Yeah.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Maybe better weather, as well.
0:33:07 > 0:33:08Better weather, yeah.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11- Better jazz, you know? - Good for you and your music, yeah.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13We missed the boat, so...
0:33:15 > 0:33:19Newspaper articles from the time my family came to Manchester
0:33:19 > 0:33:22labelled the new immigrants as the dregs of Europe,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25blaming them for taking British jobs, crime,
0:33:25 > 0:33:27and all manner of social ills.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30"One, it's as morally and socially hurtful
0:33:30 > 0:33:33"to those among whom the aliens make their home.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36"Two, that it results in unfair competition in the English labour market.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39"Three, that it lowers the wage of unskilled workers.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42"Four, that it brings about increase in the rents of houses
0:33:42 > 0:33:43"inhabited by the working classes."
0:33:45 > 0:33:48It's fascinating to see the newspaper articles from 1892,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51which almost word for word,
0:33:51 > 0:33:54or, at least, concern by concern,
0:33:54 > 0:33:58are identical to today's immigration headlines
0:33:58 > 0:34:00and articles in the papers.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03It's almost as if there's something universal around
0:34:03 > 0:34:06our attitudes to immigration which just doesn't change -
0:34:06 > 0:34:09that fear of the other coming into our society
0:34:09 > 0:34:11and whether they're going to make things worse
0:34:11 > 0:34:13for those of us that live here.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15And are they going to fit in,
0:34:15 > 0:34:18and issues around cleanliness and morality.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Just hasn't seemed to have changed over time.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28Despite the lack of welcome here,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31I learn that Ion has returned to London,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33still chasing the dream of building his family home.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35But there's no sign of a job,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38and with no address and too fresh to the UK,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41claiming benefits is virtually impossible.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43Nice to see you.
0:34:43 > 0:34:44Thank you.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46- Welcome back. - Yeah.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49- How are you? - OK.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51I'm Tim.
0:34:51 > 0:34:52Where've you been?
0:34:55 > 0:34:57So, when did you come back to England?
0:35:07 > 0:35:09So, Ion is taking us to the place
0:35:09 > 0:35:12where he's been staying for the last couple of weeks.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15Under a blanket, I think.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27And where do you sleep at night?
0:35:33 > 0:35:35Does it feel safe?
0:35:39 > 0:35:43And do you manage to keep in touch with your family whilst you're here?
0:35:48 > 0:35:50OK.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00What does this say, Ion?
0:36:09 > 0:36:13When I first met you, you were sleeping under Marble Arch.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16You've gone home, you've come back,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19the laws have changed and you're still sleeping homeless.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21But are you still full of hope
0:36:21 > 0:36:24that you might be able to turn this around?
0:36:41 > 0:36:44While Ion clings onto some sort of hope,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47I head to meet three of the drivers from Romania,
0:36:47 > 0:36:49who finally passed Derek's taxi test.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52They've ended up not in Yeovil, but Maidstone.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56At least Adrian's found this industrial estate.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58Hi, there. Hello.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Hello.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02- Looks who's here! - Hello.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04- Nice to see you. - Nice to see you.
0:37:04 > 0:37:05- Nice to see you, too. - Again.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08Is anyone left in Romania? Have you all come?
0:37:08 > 0:37:14Now I've read in the morning that Kent is like England's garden.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17- Yes, the Garden of England. - Yes.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19Does England seem like the country that you had imagined?
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Yes, yes.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23- It does. - Ah, Midsomer Murder.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25- Midsomer, OK. - Yes, Midsomer Murder.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28- It reminds you of Midsomer Murders. - Pride And Prejudice.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31- Ooh.- Jane Austen. - It does?- Yes.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33- It really reminds you of that? - Yes, yes.- Wow.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42Well, this is about as Jane Austen as Maidstone gets.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I mean, is this all just about earning some money?
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Or could you actually see yourself calling this country home?
0:37:52 > 0:37:58I want to make this country my home country,
0:37:58 > 0:38:04because, as I said, they treat very good old people.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07I'm scared to go back in Romania as an old woman.
0:38:09 > 0:38:10I'm scared, really.
0:38:10 > 0:38:17For me it's a little problem because I want to go back after a few years.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20She don't want to go back.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23You know, life has taken you in a strange direction.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25You grew up under communism,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28and now you're living in Kent.
0:38:29 > 0:38:30Yes.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32I even thought a year ago
0:38:32 > 0:38:35that I will be here in this time.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39I just dreamed about this.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47Seduced by the prospects of growing old in the Garden of England,
0:38:47 > 0:38:51Liliana and Decibel are about to find out
0:38:51 > 0:38:55if the reality matches the idyllic dream.
0:38:55 > 0:38:56CAR SPEEDS PAST
0:38:57 > 0:38:59That's what we call a "boy racer".
0:38:59 > 0:39:01- This is boy racer? - Yeah.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06I'm joining Decebal for his first Friday night shift,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09where he'll come face-to-face with the British public.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14One of his first jobs is to pick up a young couple
0:39:14 > 0:39:16on their way out for the night.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19- It's OK for the bingo, yeah? - Yeah.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21Are you off to the bingo then, guys?
0:39:21 > 0:39:23- No.- Bingo? Gosh, never been to bingo before.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25Strawberry Moons.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27- What's that? - It's a club in Maidstone.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33So, Decebal's come over from Romania.
0:39:33 > 0:39:34Invaded!
0:39:34 > 0:39:36Invaded, yeah.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38So, what's the reason for coming over, then?
0:39:38 > 0:39:41We are too old to work in Romania.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43They don't need us.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46So better standard of living over here, then?
0:39:46 > 0:39:47- Yeah.- Oh, OK.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50I guess it's in the, like, newspapers and the news quite a lot
0:39:50 > 0:39:54about Romanians, Bulgarians coming over.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56And all we hear is negative,
0:39:56 > 0:39:58and it's nice to see someone working.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Because all we're told about is, you know,
0:40:00 > 0:40:02people coming over that aren't working,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04and just want benefits and stuff, but...
0:40:04 > 0:40:06- Yeah.- I think it's... - I don't need benefits.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08Exactly, that's what's great about it!
0:40:08 > 0:40:10I've got no problem, if you're working.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17So far it's a warm, sober welcome.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19But the booze is starting to flow.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21Well, this is mad.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Hello.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25I've been abducted by aliens.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28So what have you been doing tonight?
0:40:28 > 0:40:30Uh, working, really.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33- Yeah?- Yeah. Shitty old job.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35- What do you do? - Building.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37Without immigrants coming to this country,
0:40:37 > 0:40:39could we have a building industry?
0:40:39 > 0:40:41Oh, yeah. We could, yeah, yeah. You know, just as good.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44Do we not need immigrants to take the jobs to cover all this?
0:40:44 > 0:40:46Do we need immigrants? Do we need...
0:40:46 > 0:40:49Not in the construction, no.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53Don't need them in the construction industry.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56Decebal's here because the company can't get enough taxi drivers here,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59so they've gone to recruit in Romania.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03Well, I think his job is worth more than my job.
0:41:03 > 0:41:04Wages.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06He'd get more wages than I do.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Would you drive a taxi?
0:41:08 > 0:41:11I'm not a very good driver.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15I don't blame Mr Polish or Mr Romanian
0:41:15 > 0:41:18coming to this country trying to make a bit of money,
0:41:18 > 0:41:23but I don't think this country needs them people,
0:41:23 > 0:41:25to make my wages lower.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28Have your wages got lower?
0:41:28 > 0:41:31- Yes.- In construction? - Yeah.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33How much have they got lower?
0:41:33 > 0:41:36Well, they don't go any higher, you understand?
0:41:36 > 0:41:39You might not have got a taxi home tonight, if it wasn't for...
0:41:39 > 0:41:41- Well, yes. - Decebal coming here from Romania.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45I'd be OK, like, if his taxi was half the price of normal taxis.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48It's not... It's not though, is it? Same price.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Yeah, well, it's got to be the same price.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Exactly, so, like, no benefit to me.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57You won't ever, ever, ever believe what's happened to me!
0:41:57 > 0:42:00How do you feel about what he was saying about Romanians?
0:42:02 > 0:42:04Nobody wants Romanian.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06Nobody wants Poland.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08Nobody wants Russian, or Ukrainian
0:42:08 > 0:42:11to come in their country to work.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Because they think we work cheaper
0:42:15 > 0:42:19and they think we take their jobs.
0:42:19 > 0:42:24But I think they don't want to work many hour, night shift,
0:42:26 > 0:42:30Sunday, Saturday... Don't understand.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Well, Decebal's having his full induction
0:42:41 > 0:42:44into a British Friday night.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49Come to pick up somebody from a pub, and we go outside the pub
0:42:49 > 0:42:52and there were two women inside having a fight,
0:42:52 > 0:42:53by the looks of it.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56Some blood splattered around.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59And now the police are here, so, erm...
0:43:00 > 0:43:02Welcome to Britain.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05By 3am the shift's over,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08and Decebal's only had four jobs all night.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12As he's paid by the job, it's not a great start to the pension plan.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17What's your impression of your first Friday night in Maidstone?
0:43:17 > 0:43:19I want to go home!
0:43:19 > 0:43:21Is not normal.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23They fight for nothing, I think.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26For nothing.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30Does it make you see Britain in a different way?
0:43:30 > 0:43:31I have a...
0:43:33 > 0:43:36A not good taste, after this night.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40When you go back, will you say to your wife
0:43:40 > 0:43:42"Why have you brought me to this country?"
0:43:42 > 0:43:44I must make something.
0:43:44 > 0:43:46I know what I want to make.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48When I realise it, I go home.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58Five months after those New Year restrictions were lifted,
0:43:58 > 0:44:02the latest statistics on Romanians in the UK have just come in.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06Since January, the number of Romanian workers here
0:44:06 > 0:44:07has actually fallen.
0:44:07 > 0:44:12The employment of Romanians actually went down in the first three months of this year.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14There has been a lot of scaremongering,
0:44:14 > 0:44:17and the figures today should reassure people that...
0:44:17 > 0:44:20- REPORTER:- Do you remember the day when Victor was first to arrive?
0:44:20 > 0:44:22Do you remember the warnings
0:44:22 > 0:44:25that he'd be the first of tens of thousands to make Britain their home?
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Well, guess what? They didn't.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30With regard to Romanians and Bulgarians, were you wrong?
0:44:30 > 0:44:32No.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35And, though National Insurance registrations by Romanians
0:44:35 > 0:44:37have risen substantially,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40it's thought this mainly refers to those who were here
0:44:40 > 0:44:43before the rules changed.
0:44:43 > 0:44:44If there has been an invasion,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47it's been a quiet one over the last seven years,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50when more than 100,000 Romanians moved here,
0:44:50 > 0:44:54a not insignificant number, working as doctors, builders,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57and in all types of self-employed or skilled jobs.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Perhaps we just thought they were Polish.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05And as for that one-man immigration wave,
0:45:05 > 0:45:07well, Victor's coming back to the UK again.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11He's nipped home to bring his girlfriend here for the first time.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13How are you doing? Good to see you.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15- Yes. Hi.- Hi, I'm Tim.- Catalina. - Nice to see you, too.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Hi, Catalina.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22Can you ask her what her first impressions are?
0:45:28 > 0:45:30She have a good impression, she tell me.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Would you like to stay? Would you like to move?
0:45:33 > 0:45:36- Hmm... - No.
0:45:36 > 0:45:37She doesn't.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39OK. Have I just ruined the plan?
0:45:39 > 0:45:41Yeah. Maybe it's the first time when she coming,
0:45:41 > 0:45:45and she see the same thing I see when I coming.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49Victor, since I last saw you, what jobs have you been doing?
0:45:49 > 0:45:53I'm working from two kind of jobs,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55and I work now from a big company from Romania
0:45:55 > 0:45:57and I have a big salary now.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59£1,800 for a month.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04I go at home to take my girlfriend to make money together.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07Maybe with time, maybe I make a little business,
0:46:07 > 0:46:10because it's very, very good, the cheese in Romania is very good.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Maybe I make a little shop.
0:46:12 > 0:46:13What would you call it?
0:46:15 > 0:46:18- Victor Cheese Shop. - Did you bring any back?
0:46:18 > 0:46:19- Yes.- You've got some cheese?
0:46:19 > 0:46:22- You want to try? - You speak so well of it.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24Yeah, I give you.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41Smells like a Romanian meadow,
0:46:41 > 0:46:43it's got a soft texture.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45Yeah, it's new.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47Have only four days.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51You like it?
0:46:51 > 0:46:53It's like, erm,...
0:46:53 > 0:46:54A bit like feta cheese.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57Salty. It's nice. Very nice.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01In this country you can make here a big business.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05And you can be a rich guy - very, very easy.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10But you must have a big idea how to make the money.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14You know, Victor's Cheese Shop - I can see this in London.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18- You see now, yeah? - Yeah.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20Because it's a good... I have good stuff.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23I wish you the best of luck.
0:47:23 > 0:47:24Thank you.
0:47:24 > 0:47:25Thank you very much.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28- It's been nothing if not eventful meeting you.- Yeah.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36My time with the UK's newest arrivals has come to an end.
0:47:36 > 0:47:41And while those I've met seem to be striving for a better life,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44I think it's the threatened scale of immigration,
0:47:44 > 0:47:45not the individuals,
0:47:45 > 0:47:48that tends to whip us into a national frenzy.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52We'll always be wary about sudden influxes of newcomers.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55That's how we, as a country, have reacted to every wave of immigration
0:47:55 > 0:47:57in the last century, and well beyond,
0:47:57 > 0:47:59and we're not alone in that.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03But it feels that the language and the hysteria
0:48:03 > 0:48:06around this great Romanian non-invasion...
0:48:06 > 0:48:11Well, ultimately, it might say more about us than them.