The Great Big Romanian Invasion

It's Christmas, 2013,

and the nation is gripped by a mounting sense of anxiety.

As working restrictions fall away from the first of January,

there are predictions of a mass invasion of Romanians and Bulgarians.

Why did you come today?

Because today is the first day which you open the border.

Two, three, four... There are nine coaches lined up.

Will this be another wave of Eastern European immigrants

following around half a million Poles who pitched up ten years ago?

-You're going to Yeovil?

-Yeah.

Do you know where Yeovil is?

No.

-Which town?

-Yeovil.

-Yeovil.

Yeovil.

I'm Tim Samuels, and some of my ancestors -

not this lot -

came here from Romania,

so the attention on Romanians, in particular, intrigues me.

It used to be a nice town.

You've been taken over, invaded, inundated, if you like.

They create noise. They create a smell.

I'm going to meet the Roma Gypsies sleeping on our posher streets...

Hi. Morning.

THE WOMEN SING

..and join those who've come to earn more than they ever could back home.

Would you drive a taxi?

I'm not a very good driver.

Why would people want to move to a country

that doesn't appear to want them?

I want to go home.

With the nation primed for invasion, are we right to panic?

It's very easy to be a soppy liberal

and welcome in anyone who wants to come to this country,

if it doesn't affect your job or where you live.

And there's a real fear from people

that a lot of Romanians are going to come in here,

and that's going to affect their jobs,

it's going to affect their quality of life,

it's going to affect getting kids into schools,

getting to see your GP,

just as pressures were put on the system

when half a million Poles came in in a pretty short space of time,

and there's a real fear that that's going to happen again.

So, if you're a Romanian going to up sticks,

why bother with Old Kent Road

when you can advance straight to Park Lane -

one of London's fancier streets?

It's just a few weeks till the rules change,

meaning any Romanian will be free to live and work here

doing any job.

Already there's a pre-invasion invasion,

an advance party of Roma Gypsies from Romania,

causing something of a stink.

For many months, this patch of grass on the central

reservation has been a place to sleep.

It's like mole hills - every time we move a bunch of these people on,

another bunch pop up.

Here, council workers clean a pavement which was used as a toilet.

My hunch is that having a group of Roma Gypsies kipping outside

isn't going to help shift the supercars

that Daniel Forstener's trying to sell.

What's the most expensive car here?

I would say I've got the Pagani Zonda F Roadster.

If, you know, I happen to want to pick up this,

how much would I have to...?

Well, it has an asking price at the moment of £850,000.

Yeah, Pagani is like a piece of art, as well, yeah?

You can put it in your living room, and many people have done this.

But would you have a, what, a drive-in, drive-out living room?

-They have.

-They have.

They've knocked down the wall

and then replaced it with a door, a gate, or...

Do you think the presence of Roma has actually affected your business?

It has affected us in a way, because it looks as an unpleasant way.

The Romas, they come, they sit down,

they create noise,

they create a smell.

What's the smell?

Somebody who hasn't washed in a couple of days.

If you get one person, that's all right,

if you get ten or 20 people it's very difficult.

If they repeatedly don't take up work

and carry on sleeping here,

should they, in the end, be sent back?

I think in other countries, yeah,

they would be exported at some point.

I hear the Roma Gypsies won't talk to the media,

but, no matter where you come from,

who can resist an M&S mini mince pie?

Hi, there.

My name's Tim.

Can I give you... Happy Christmas.

THEY SING:

I leave them to their pies and carols

and go to find some who've

apparently been sleeping in the subways.

Oh!

As soon as you walk down, you're...

..hit by a fairly strong stench of pee.

What's the plan for today?

To?

Today?

How long have you been here?

Are you coming back here in January?

Though they seem to be taking a break for Christmas,

some of the Roma Gypsies have come here to beg for a living.

But others are looking for jobs.

Since 2007, Romanians could come here legally,

if self-employed or a skilled worker.

One of the Roma Gypsies, Ion Crengache

is seeking work as a labourer.

OK, when did you come here?

What work have you done?

Do you think more people are going to come over?

If we came to Romania, could we say hi to you and your family?

Ion heads home for Christmas.

But, if he was pining for an East European high street,

he could have joined me in Boston in Lincolnshire,

a town radically transformed by the last wave of immigrants from

Eastern Europe.

Back in 1948, Boston was a quintessential English market town.

Morning, Mr Drew.

How's the market today?

Bit of a change from the old days, eh, Johnson?

You're right, it is.

But even then the locals were unhappy...

about those Londoners coming here by train and taking their farm jobs.

On job-stealing duty now are Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians.

Around 7,000 Eastern Europeans have settled in the area.

If the Bostonians weren't happy in '48,

how will today's locals feel about their latest neighbours?

It used to be a nice town.

You could walk round

and you could understand what everybody was saying.

Are you looking forward to the changes to immigration rules?

And what that might bring?

-Well, personally, I'm going to wait and see.

-Yes, if it's...

-Some of them are all right.

-Well, yeah, they are.

-If they work, I've no objection.

-Mmm.

What's your vision of Boston for January

when the rules change and Romanians and Bulgarians

can come and work, if they want to?

I just hate the thought of it.

I've tried to learn Lithuanian at colleges.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

I've asked if there's any courses you can go on,

because they've got the opportunity to learn English,

but there's no opportunities at the colleges

for English people to learn Lithuanian.

Do you genuinely want to learn Lithuanian?

I did do, but now I'm more limited on my time

because of family commitments.

What would you use your Lithuanian for?

I could just knock on the door and say, "Can you move your car, mate?"

Is it... I'm trying to understand.

-Did you want to learn Lithuanian...

-Yeah, yeah.

-..to actually get to know them?

Well, communicate more with them, yeah.

I'll try and communicate with them. I do now.

I tell 'em when it's dustbin days.

Knock on the door, and it's pidgin English -

"Blue bin, out. Green bin, out."

The wrong bins,

schools and doctors' surgeries put under more pressure,

high streets going all Baltic,

and understandable fears that there's more to come

thanks to open EU borders.

It's all helped UKIP surge in the polls

and get Bob McAuley elected to the local council.

It's not about race and nationality,

it's about maintaining our own identity

without it being completely taken over and lost.

We are going to lose our identity,

there's no doubt about it.

We've got a Polish restaurant...

I don't know what that is to be truthful.

And, obviously, you've got the normal Indian and Chinese,

that we've had for generations.

Have you been in here before?

I only came in here once just to have a look round.

-You don't do your shopping here?

-Oh, no.

Well, I wouldn't understand what I was buying,

cos I can't speak...read... whatever it says.

The trouble is, people get a perception, by what they see,

don't they, and they come down the street and they see, like,

the bottom half of the street completely Eastern European.

All of a sudden you feel that you've been taken over, invaded,

inundated, if you like, as opposed to part and parcel of.

It's like seeing a row of betting shops.

You don't want to see a row of betting shops,

because it's not indicative of a good society.

Any sausage catch your eye?

That looks like a luncheon meat, doesn't it?

Well, that's probably quite nice. I love garlic.

You see? You can see how multiculturalism works.

You're getting me going, aren't you!

All of a sudden, I can see it now - UKIP counsellor has...

-Garlic sausage!

-..Lithuanian garlic sausage.

Yeah, that's right, yeah.

You wait till Farage hears about that.

Hm. We won't go there.

Nigel Farage may be less worried by Bob's sausage

than the fear that Britain's about to become a free-for-all again.

And the political class who predicted

a mere 13,000 Poles would come have again left us exposed -

this time to a potential flood from even poorer countries

like Romania.

NIGEL FARAGE: 'We open the doors to up to 28 million people,

'who, if they wish to come to this country, can.'

'Ten days and counting until the lifting of restrictions,

'which have caused a deepening row.'

'..secure control of our borders...'

'..business secretary, Vince Cable, accused Conservatives of being

'in a panic because of UKIP...'

'..the EU first envisaged the free movement of workers

'ready to work hard and get on in life.'

'..as a nation and say - "We want our country back."

'Thank you very much indeed.'

BIG BEN STRIKES HOUR

New Year, and the nation takes to the streets to celebrate

that any Romanian or Bulgarian can now come here to work.

I'm up early to see the floodgates open.

# No more champagne and the fireworks are through

# Here we are

# Me and you

# Feeling lost... #

The first plane from Romania is due to land,

and the nation's press are poised for the invasion.

First of January, 2014,

we don't know whether 27 million Romanians are about to arrive,

but we do know two members of the Home Affairs Select Committee

are probably on their way.

Finally, Keith Vaz and his entourage arrive.

First of January - what are we expecting?

Well, a happy new year.

Yes, and to you.

And, as you know, the reason why we're here is that

the select committee has a long-standing interest in

these issues, to do with the EU and migration.

Is this an exciting day for you?

Or are you thinking -

"Uh-oh, this could be the start of something out of control?"

January 1st is always an exciting day.

And when you're at Luton Airport

with the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee,

it's even more exciting.

What local language are you going to greet them with?

Well, I don't know how many Romanians are in the control tower.

-Right.

-But if there were I would certainly be wishing them

a buna dimineata.

I would have gone for bine ai venit myself, but, you know, that works.

OK. You've obviously got a bigger phrase book than me.

That was my phrase.

Mr Vaz gets to go airside as that first flight touches down.

Hi, where've you come from?

-From Italy.

-Italy.

Not Romanian.

OK, where've you come in from?

-Romania.

-And why have you come?

Visiting a friend.

OK. How long are you here for?

Four days.

You've come in from Romania?

Yeah, I have, but I'm British, I'm not...

-OK.

-Just vacation.

-Just a vacation? A holiday?

-Yes.

-Is this your first time here?

-No, I live here.

OK. Hi, is this your first time?

Hi, welcome to England.

-Have you been here before?

-Yes, I have.

It might be lead news today, but this much-heralded, mass influx

doesn't quite seem to be panning out.

-Hi, welcome.

-I'm Welsh, but, hiya.

Welsh.

After half an hour bothering tourists, workers and Welsh people,

we finally catch ourselves a newbie, Victor Spirescu,

a 29-year-old with conjunctivitis.

So why did you come today? Why on the first?

Because today is the first day you open the border

to work from this village.

This country.

He's been mobbed.

-Are you excited?

-Yes, God, a lot.

Do you have any friends in Romania looking to come to England, as well?

No.

SPEAKS ROMANIAN

I want to drink something because I speak a lot and...

After a quiet coffee with Keith, and the national media,

I finally get to speak to Victor,

a young farmer here to earn a better living.

You had an early morning, you got off the flight,

and then you were hit by all the media from Britain.

Yes, you see me, I lose maybe...

I have big emotion because, you know,

I want to cry because you are a lot of people

and you asking and put me some question.

What a crazy start to Britain for you.

No, maybe it's a good thing.

I have a good start in Britain, maybe.

And happy new year all the Britain and all the people...on this world.

OK. You are our Romanian immigrant.

# Happy new year, happy new year... #

As I leave our one man, sore-eyed influx,

I'm struck that most of the people getting off the plane,

apart from the Welsh fellow,

were Romanians who already live here.

Maybe we were so focused on the January invasion,

we didn't notice how many had already used their right to work here,

more than 100,000 in the last seven years.

But perhaps there will be more first-timers

arriving at this supermarket car park in North London,

where the first coach loads of the new year have just pulled in.

Another one. Another Romanian one.

Two, three, four... There are nine coaches lined up.

The question is, are the Romanians coming,

or actually have they been here for ages, anyway?

Do you live here already, then?

-Yes, from almost two years.

-OK.

What work do you do here?

I am team leader. I wash cars.

Does everyone live here already?

How long have these guys been here?

The same. Like one... One-year-and-a-half.

Yeah, self-employed.

So, Victor holds on to his title of sole Romanian invader,

an accolade that's made him something of a media sensation.

Victor Spirescu arrived in the UK on New Year's Day.

I see a little girl, she said my mum,

"Hey, this is the guy off television from airport."

But within ten days, Victor has gone from media darling

to public enemy number one.

He's had his personal life splattered across the tabloids,

been hounded out of his car-wash job, and gone into hiding.

He agrees to meet me in a greasy spoon.

Are you surprised that your private life

is now making the newspapers in Britain?

Yes, I don't believe the Britain people just...

She must know my private life, you know?

You were in the newspaper again today.

The Mail is saying that you've quit your job

and, you know, the first Romanian who came has already

finished his work.

Yeah, to make this... this news,

only to show how Romanian people is so badly,

and don't deserve to work from us.

From British people, you know?

Do you find it funny that you are the...wave of immigration

that we were expecting? It's you?

I was the only man who come in on the first of January to invade...

The big invader, you know? I am only one.

It's a funny thing, you know?

Back to my favourite airport.

But this time I'm heading to Romania,

to try and find some people who are coming to the UK for the first time.

Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

It's also an excellent place to find work as a taxi driver in the UK.

Derek Murray heads to Romania each month to recruit Eastern Europeans,

to drive cabs in lower league football towns.

We have Daventry, which is in Northamptonshire,

Yeovil in Somerset,

Stevenage, which is in Hertfordshire,

Brentwood, which is in Essex,

Dudley, which is near Birmingham.

So those are the available destinations.

And driving standards are better in the UK,

speed limits are observed,

the roads are better.

But don't forget, in the UK,

our steering wheel is on the correct side of the vehicle,

unlike in Romania, where it's on the wrong side.

So it's important that you take on board what I'm saying about driving

- you have to change the way you drive. OK?

No more lazy driving, one hand on the steering wheel

one hand on the gear stick,

and if your hand is at this position on the steering wheel,

it's going to come back into your face

and you will die.

The warning of airbag-induced threats to mortality

doesn't seem to be putting off this group of Romanians -

all keen to start a new life

somewhere in the UK.

Which town did you get?

Oh, Yeovil.

-You're going to Yeovil.

-Yes.

-Have you heard of Yeovil?

-Yeah.

Do you know where Yeovil is?

-No.

-No.

-Which town?

-Yeovil.

-Yeovil.

Are you excited?

Yes, I am very excited, yes.

I wish this from many, many years,

-I dreamed it.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Why? Why've you dreamed...?

-I don't know. I don't know.

How long will you stay for?

Maybe one year, two years.

We want to earn some money for...

Older.

..when we will be old.

Pension.

That needs £20-30,000.

Then that's all.

Last but not least, Chelmsford in Essex.

It's in Great Lees.

Before Dudley or Daventry beckons,

the candidates have to pass a geography test

about their chosen towns.

Um...

Can you tell me where the Boreham Industrial Estate is?

Er...I know.

Be calm, don't panic.

North-east of the map.

It's in Waltham Road in Boreham.

In Boreham, yes.

I am very...tired.

-Yeah. Mentally tired.

-Yes.

-You're not ready yet.

-Yes.

-OK?

As Adrian is left to rue Boreham Industrial Estate,

I'm off for a cold Romanian lager,

with the man keeping British cabs on the road.

How many Romanians have you trained up and sent over to the UK?

Just over 4,000.

You personally have sent 4,000?

Yeah. Since 2007.

The taxi companies in the UK cannot find the drivers locally,

so they ask me to find them for them.

And if you want to grow...build a taxi company in the UK

you can put all the adverts you like in the job centres,

you can put them in the local newspapers, you won't find anyone.

Are you sort of pragmatically pro-immigration,

because the jobs are needed and these guys can fill it?

Or, for you, is it more about this wider principle

of European integration?

No, nothing to do with that.

I'm in it for business.

Which is what the whole single market is all about really.

But, perhaps those with most to gain from this unfettered freedom

to now live and work across the EU

are the Roma Gypsies -

an ethnic group spread across Europe

who've faced centuries of discrimination.

Hundreds of thousands live in Romania,

often excluded from education and work.

It's no wonder some might take their chances sleeping rough in London.

When I met him on Park Lane before Christmas,

I told Ion I'd drop by if I ever came to Romania.

What could have driven him to leave his family behind

and end up on our streets?

On my way to see Ion in his village,

60 miles outside Bucharest,

I bump into some of his neighbours.

Does anyone know anyone who is going to Britain?

No, no, no.

The guy's called Victor?

What do you think of Victor, this famous Romanian?

Amazing, even here the fame of Victor has reached them.

Victor.

If, by being lucky, you mean becoming tabloid fodder.

I eventually find Ion.

Hey, how are you doing? I said we'd come.

-I'd come and see you in your village.

-Yes.

He's been back in his village since Christmas.

Undeterred by his last experience, he wants to get the money together

to come back to London.

He's invited me to see his one-room hut.

Which he shares with his wife and three children.

So how old's your son?

And where do you live?

Where do you sleep?

You all sleep and live in this one room?

How long have you lived in the room for?

Ion's uncle, Alin, lives next door, along with five others in his hut.

You speak a bit of English? Have you been?

-A little bit speak. Have you been to England?

-Yes.

Have you lived there? Or travelled?

Oh, one month I live in England.

No have job, no have nothing, and they coming for me.

Ideally, how long would you stay in England for?

I don't know, maybe...

I don't know. I find work maybe too much. Very much.

-Would you want to move the whole family to England, as well?

-Yes.

Although Alin wants to move to the UK for good,

Ion dreams of building a better home for his family here, in the village.

If you go to Britain and you come back with enough money

to buy this land,

and to afford to build on it,

what will your family house look like?

How much will it cost to build the house, do you think?

What will he make it from?

Like this.

Like...breeze blocks?

Yeah. I have much friends will help me.

You can see why a father would grab any opportunity

to change things for his family,

and it just so happens that we, the UK,

offer Ion the newest, tantalising chance

to make that life-changing eight grand.

In theory.

But, his lack of English and work skills

isn't going to make it easy.

It's early February and I'm back in the UK.

It's been four weeks since I last saw Victor.

-Oh, hello.

-The press storm seems to have passed,

and he's found a new place to live.

Very nice. So this is your new place?

Yeah, this is my new place.

This I live.

-It's nice.

-Nice.

-Yeah.

-It's warm as well, today.

Yeah, yeah.

This is your drinks cabinet.

Because today is my birthday.

-Your birthday? Today?

-Yes, man. It's my birthday today.

-How old are you?

-Three-zero.

-It's your 30th today?

-Yes.

Oh, happy birthday. Come on.

-Thank you.

-Pat on the shoulder.

-Happy birthday.

-Thank you.

Victor shares the house with five others, paying £300 a month in rent.

Despite his turbulent start to life in the UK,

he seems to be getting the hang of it.

You see, my look now, it's very different.

You're looking very East London now.

When I last saw you, you'd just been in the car wash

and you left after the newspaper attacked you.

Yeah, because I have only £30 from a day,

and now I work from 100.

OK, so what job did you do after the car wash?

I going on a site and I work there, as labour...

and she pay me with £60,

and after I go in other job she pay me with £80,

and now I have £100.

Is this the most money you've ever earned in a day?

Yeah. Much money.

How much...remind me, how much were you getting a day in Romania?

In one day from Romania I give £10, maybe, for a day.

So do you feel rich now?

It's not... I don't feel very rich, because, you know, here,

the life is very expensive to live here, you know?

MEN SINGING

Seemingly, like many a Romanian,

Victor's friends have been in the UK for a while.

His housemate, Mihai, has been living and working here

for the last two years.

I put the advertise for that room upstairs for a room,

for Victor room,

and he call me and he told me,

"OK, my name is Victor Spirescu,

"I've came in London, I'm the first Romanian guy who came here."

-You have a Romanian celebrity in your house.

-Yeah.

But why do you think we made so much fuss about Romanians

on the first of January?

I don't know, probably because we have the Gypsies in our country.

And come here not for job.

I don't know, to...

For something totally different to find a job.

Maybe for benefits. Yeah. I don't know.

Have the Gypsies given Romanians a bad reputation?

Yes. Gypsy give us a bad reputation, yeah.

In my opinion, is better to do a different identity card, OK?

Something like this one is Gypsy, is not Romanian.

-You think Gypsies should have separate identity cards?

-Yes.

-To Romanians?

-Yes. That's my opinion.

-That will be quite controversial.

-Yes.

But it will be better, in my opinion.

The English would not have a lot of problems with the Romanians,

and with the Gypsy in the same time think that they are Romanians.

Does it annoy you that people put Romanians and Gypsies together?

Yeah. It's annoying me, yeah.

Annoying me that the English people think about Romanian

that all are Gypsy, or something like that.

In history, it's been very problematic

to say that one group of people are like this,

or one group of people are like that, you know.

Identity cards and separation feels kind of...1930s Germany.

Yeah, something like that, yeah.

Like Hitler.

Yeah, and the Gypsies were put into concentration camps, as well.

No, that's my opinion. I don't say that we should do that.

No, I don't... No.

But it would be better for us,

these things should happen, I don't know.

Talk of singling out groups to give them identity cards?

It's pretty disturbing to hear.

Especially if you're Jewish.

And your relatives had to flee Romania

100-odd years ago to escape persecution.

My family came to Manchester in the 1890s.

But we've never really talked about why they came

or how they were received.

Hi, Dad.

My dad, Sefton, told me he'd donated some old family photos

to the national archives, years ago.

And I've come with him to meet Alex Grime,

the curator of the Jewish Museum,

to hopefully fill in the blanks.

It's all a bit of a mystery to me, the whole thing.

I know the family turned up about 1890-odd.

Probably fleeing some degree of persecution.

I mean, I don't think they came here for the weather, so...

LAUGHTER

But beyond that it's a real mystery,

so it'll be fascinating to find out

-where we came from and why.

-Yes.

Well, the family came across in 1899,

as far as we know.

The political situation in Romania is changing a lot,

and the position of the Jews in Romania is questioned a lot

in this late 19th century period.

Their lives were made very difficult.

They weren't allowed to go to certain schools -

to the state schools, they were prevented,

and that went up to secondary school level, as well.

It was persecution in as much as you can't have that job,

you can't go to that school.

From the late 18th century period,

about 70,000 Jews left in those two decade periods.

70 thou? Good Lord!

Fresh off the boat, my great grandfather opened a hat shop

in Manchester's Strangeways.

Most of them actually wanted to get to America.

America was the Promised Land.

America's where your new life could start off.

So why did they end up in Strangeways?

Maybe you stopped here to earn a bit more money for the rest of your journey to America,

and ended up staying around.

Would you have preferred New York?

-Yeah, I think the opportunities might have been better.

-Yeah.

Maybe better weather, as well.

Better weather, yeah.

-Better jazz, you know?

-Good for you and your music, yeah.

We missed the boat, so...

Newspaper articles from the time my family came to Manchester

labelled the new immigrants as the dregs of Europe,

blaming them for taking British jobs, crime,

and all manner of social ills.

"One, it's as morally and socially hurtful

"to those among whom the aliens make their home.

"Two, that it results in unfair competition in the English labour market.

"Three, that it lowers the wage of unskilled workers.

"Four, that it brings about increase in the rents of houses

"inhabited by the working classes."

It's fascinating to see the newspaper articles from 1892,

which almost word for word,

or, at least, concern by concern,

are identical to today's immigration headlines

and articles in the papers.

It's almost as if there's something universal around

our attitudes to immigration which just doesn't change -

that fear of the other coming into our society

and whether they're going to make things worse

for those of us that live here.

And are they going to fit in,

and issues around cleanliness and morality.

Just hasn't seemed to have changed over time.

Despite the lack of welcome here,

I learn that Ion has returned to London,

still chasing the dream of building his family home.

But there's no sign of a job,

and with no address and too fresh to the UK,

claiming benefits is virtually impossible.

Nice to see you.

Thank you.

-Welcome back.

-Yeah.

-How are you?

-OK.

I'm Tim.

Where've you been?

So, when did you come back to England?

So, Ion is taking us to the place

where he's been staying for the last couple of weeks.

Under a blanket, I think.

And where do you sleep at night?

Does it feel safe?

And do you manage to keep in touch with your family whilst you're here?

OK.

What does this say, Ion?

When I first met you, you were sleeping under Marble Arch.

You've gone home, you've come back,

the laws have changed and you're still sleeping homeless.

But are you still full of hope

that you might be able to turn this around?

While Ion clings onto some sort of hope,

I head to meet three of the drivers from Romania,

who finally passed Derek's taxi test.

They've ended up not in Yeovil, but Maidstone.

At least Adrian's found this industrial estate.

Hi, there. Hello.

Hello.

-Looks who's here!

-Hello.

-Nice to see you.

-Nice to see you.

-Nice to see you, too.

-Again.

Is anyone left in Romania? Have you all come?

Now I've read in the morning that Kent is like England's garden.

-Yes, the Garden of England.

-Yes.

Does England seem like the country that you had imagined?

Yes, yes.

-It does.

-Ah, Midsomer Murder.

-Midsomer, OK.

-Yes, Midsomer Murder.

-It reminds you of Midsomer Murders.

-Pride And Prejudice.

-Ooh.

-Jane Austen.

-It does?

-Yes.

-It really reminds you of that?

-Yes, yes.

-Wow.

Well, this is about as Jane Austen as Maidstone gets.

I mean, is this all just about earning some money?

Or could you actually see yourself calling this country home?

I want to make this country my home country,

because, as I said, they treat very good old people.

I'm scared to go back in Romania as an old woman.

I'm scared, really.

For me it's a little problem because I want to go back after a few years.

She don't want to go back.

You know, life has taken you in a strange direction.

You grew up under communism,

and now you're living in Kent.

Yes.

I even thought a year ago

that I will be here in this time.

I just dreamed about this.

Seduced by the prospects of growing old in the Garden of England,

Liliana and Decibel are about to find out

if the reality matches the idyllic dream.

CAR SPEEDS PAST

That's what we call a "boy racer".

-This is boy racer?

-Yeah.

I'm joining Decebal for his first Friday night shift,

where he'll come face-to-face with the British public.

One of his first jobs is to pick up a young couple

on their way out for the night.

-It's OK for the bingo, yeah?

-Yeah.

Are you off to the bingo then, guys?

-No.

-Bingo? Gosh, never been to bingo before.

Strawberry Moons.

-What's that?

-It's a club in Maidstone.

So, Decebal's come over from Romania.

Invaded!

Invaded, yeah.

So, what's the reason for coming over, then?

We are too old to work in Romania.

They don't need us.

So better standard of living over here, then?

-Yeah.

-Oh, OK.

I guess it's in the, like, newspapers and the news quite a lot

about Romanians, Bulgarians coming over.

And all we hear is negative,

and it's nice to see someone working.

Because all we're told about is, you know,

people coming over that aren't working,

and just want benefits and stuff, but...

-Yeah.

-I think it's...

-I don't need benefits.

Exactly, that's what's great about it!

I've got no problem, if you're working.

So far it's a warm, sober welcome.

But the booze is starting to flow.

Well, this is mad.

Hello.

I've been abducted by aliens.

So what have you been doing tonight?

Uh, working, really.

-Yeah?

-Yeah. Shitty old job.

-What do you do?

-Building.

Without immigrants coming to this country,

could we have a building industry?

Oh, yeah. We could, yeah, yeah. You know, just as good.

Do we not need immigrants to take the jobs to cover all this?

Do we need immigrants? Do we need...

Not in the construction, no.

Don't need them in the construction industry.

Decebal's here because the company can't get enough taxi drivers here,

so they've gone to recruit in Romania.

Well, I think his job is worth more than my job.

Wages.

He'd get more wages than I do.

Would you drive a taxi?

I'm not a very good driver.

I don't blame Mr Polish or Mr Romanian

coming to this country trying to make a bit of money,

but I don't think this country needs them people,

to make my wages lower.

Have your wages got lower?

-Yes.

-In construction?

-Yeah.

How much have they got lower?

Well, they don't go any higher, you understand?

You might not have got a taxi home tonight, if it wasn't for...

-Well, yes.

-Decebal coming here from Romania.

I'd be OK, like, if his taxi was half the price of normal taxis.

It's not... It's not though, is it? Same price.

Yeah, well, it's got to be the same price.

Exactly, so, like, no benefit to me.

You won't ever, ever, ever believe what's happened to me!

How do you feel about what he was saying about Romanians?

Nobody wants Romanian.

Nobody wants Poland.

Nobody wants Russian, or Ukrainian

to come in their country to work.

Because they think we work cheaper

and they think we take their jobs.

But I think they don't want to work many hour, night shift,

Sunday, Saturday... Don't understand.

Well, Decebal's having his full induction

into a British Friday night.

Come to pick up somebody from a pub, and we go outside the pub

and there were two women inside having a fight,

by the looks of it.

Some blood splattered around.

And now the police are here, so, erm...

Welcome to Britain.

By 3am the shift's over,

and Decebal's only had four jobs all night.

As he's paid by the job, it's not a great start to the pension plan.

What's your impression of your first Friday night in Maidstone?

I want to go home!

Is not normal.

They fight for nothing, I think.

For nothing.

Does it make you see Britain in a different way?

I have a...

A not good taste, after this night.

When you go back, will you say to your wife

"Why have you brought me to this country?"

I must make something.

I know what I want to make.

When I realise it, I go home.

Five months after those New Year restrictions were lifted,

the latest statistics on Romanians in the UK have just come in.

Since January, the number of Romanian workers here

has actually fallen.

The employment of Romanians actually went down in the first three months of this year.

There has been a lot of scaremongering,

and the figures today should reassure people that...

-REPORTER:

-Do you remember the day when Victor was first to arrive?

Do you remember the warnings

that he'd be the first of tens of thousands to make Britain their home?

Well, guess what? They didn't.

With regard to Romanians and Bulgarians, were you wrong?

No.

And, though National Insurance registrations by Romanians

have risen substantially,

it's thought this mainly refers to those who were here

before the rules changed.

If there has been an invasion,

it's been a quiet one over the last seven years,

when more than 100,000 Romanians moved here,

a not insignificant number, working as doctors, builders,

and in all types of self-employed or skilled jobs.

Perhaps we just thought they were Polish.

And as for that one-man immigration wave,

well, Victor's coming back to the UK again.

He's nipped home to bring his girlfriend here for the first time.

How are you doing? Good to see you.

-Yes. Hi.

-Hi, I'm Tim.

-Catalina.

-Nice to see you, too.

Hi, Catalina.

Can you ask her what her first impressions are?

She have a good impression, she tell me.

Would you like to stay? Would you like to move?

-Hmm...

-No.

She doesn't.

OK. Have I just ruined the plan?

Yeah. Maybe it's the first time when she coming,

and she see the same thing I see when I coming.

Victor, since I last saw you, what jobs have you been doing?

I'm working from two kind of jobs,

and I work now from a big company from Romania

and I have a big salary now.

£1,800 for a month.

I go at home to take my girlfriend to make money together.

Maybe with time, maybe I make a little business,

because it's very, very good, the cheese in Romania is very good.

Maybe I make a little shop.

What would you call it?

-Victor Cheese Shop.

-Did you bring any back?

-Yes.

-You've got some cheese?

-You want to try?

-You speak so well of it.

Yeah, I give you.

Smells like a Romanian meadow,

it's got a soft texture.

Yeah, it's new.

Have only four days.

You like it?

It's like, erm,...

A bit like feta cheese.

Salty. It's nice. Very nice.

In this country you can make here a big business.

And you can be a rich guy - very, very easy.

But you must have a big idea how to make the money.

You know, Victor's Cheese Shop - I can see this in London.

-You see now, yeah?

-Yeah.

Because it's a good... I have good stuff.

I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

-It's been nothing if not eventful meeting you.

-Yeah.

My time with the UK's newest arrivals has come to an end.

And while those I've met seem to be striving for a better life,

I think it's the threatened scale of immigration,

not the individuals,

that tends to whip us into a national frenzy.

We'll always be wary about sudden influxes of newcomers.

That's how we, as a country, have reacted to every wave of immigration

in the last century, and well beyond,

and we're not alone in that.

But it feels that the language and the hysteria

around this great Romanian non-invasion...

Well, ultimately, it might say more about us than them.