Now here’s something you do don’t hear often.

Under EU Law, anyone moving to another member state (Poland to France for example) has three months to find a job or prove that they have the necessary funds to live off. If they cannot find work and do not have funds (savings or a pension for instance) they can be legally returned the country of their original residence.

However, in the UK, successive governments have not implemented this law, presumably because the British economy is such that it requires more flexibility with regards to foreign workers than other EU nations. Either that, or the UK Government can’t be arsed to implement the law or, austerity means they do not have the resources to do so.

Whatever the case, this is a UK issue and not the fault of the EU who actually have put quite stringent measures in place to stop immigrants exploiting fellow EU nations.

I had a Twitter conversation the other day with a chap who claimed that a manufacturing company in Yorkshire told his son he would not be considered for a job because he wasn’t Polish. That sounds like bollocks to me.

I challenged him to take legal action, but he said the conversation was over the phone and there was no written evidence. He claimed that the Polish work for less money and are regarded as better workers but once again, I told him it was illegal to pay EU workers below the minimum wage. Employers could circumnavigate this by paying cash in the hand but that is very illegal and is regarded as human exploitation (slavery).

I know all this because I run a small employment agency and if I, or any of my clients, go down the route of paying people less, or indeed more, because of where they are from in the EU, we are deep in the shit. Paying more money to individuals can be achieved by falsifying qualifications but that is fraud, and in all likelihood, prison.

Anyway, it ended up that this chap’s son was struggling not because he wasn’t Polish a national, but because he was dyslexic and struggled with communication. I tried to explain that Rees-Mogg or Boris Johnson wouldn’t give a flying toss about his son’s dyslexia, but I am not sure I convinced him as he is one of the millions who are taking out their frustration armed with false information.

For example, our new Brexit secretary (Dominic Raab) thinks food banks are for people who don’t manage their money properly and that amongst a host of other things, Human Rights, Workers Rights and the minimum wage should be abolished. Imagine what would happen to that dyslexic boy then?

It is time that people woke up and realised that the surge towards an EU exit without any kind of deal is tailored towards mass deregulation that will deeply affect the lives of millions and millions of people and enhance the lives of the 1%. Deregulation is not just employment and civil rights, it is also health and safety standards, environmental laws (clean air and beaches) and food standards.

Going down the ‘No Deal’ route will, if we are not careful, make The Grenfell Tower disaster look like a picnic. I don’t want to live in an American style economy and nor should anyone who values the core strengths of Britain that set us apart from that increasingly ugly and bitter place.

Regulation may seem a pain in the arse sometimes, but you only need to look at the bridge in Italy to see what happens when it is ignored. I work in the M&E industry and without regulation in place, Grenfell would be a weekly event in ageing residential buildings and commercial premises.

A ‘No Deal’ Brexit leaves us closer to that ugly scenario.

The question I like to ask people is what exactly, in their lifetime, has the EU stopped them from doing? That question is generally danced around with all the clumsiness of Theresa May on a visit to South Africa.

For me personally, I partake in all the nice English things without EU interference. Walking my dog, playing cricket, drinking a bit too much beer and having the odd holiday in Europe. In the workplace, regulation makes me have to be a bit more responsible about qualifications, insurance and pay structures but fuck it, if it saves me from corporate manslaughter courtesy of an electrical failure, I am just dandy with that.

Ask the like of Aaron Banks and Jacob Rees-Mogg the same question about what effect the EU has on them and the honest answer but one you will never hear, would be, “Stopping us making more money by selling services and sending our money to offshore tax havens”. 

It’s got nothing to do with immigration as immigration (if it was a problem rather than an economic requirement) has no relevance to multi-millionaires who spend their time between gated mansions and offshore tax havens.

If immigration has a genuine problem with regards to the handing out of benefits and housing, there is simple answer.

Implement EU Law.