London: Britain's economy is dependent on hundreds of thousands of migrants from east Europe and elsewhere because Britons are lazy, picky and ill-equipped to take on jobs, a top business leader said in London.
Digby Jones, former director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said Britain was increasingly relying on east European migrants to keep the nation's economy competitive.
Jones' remarks came within hours of the Home Office announcing that 427,000 east Europeans had come to Britain since 2004 when several east European nations such as Poland and Hungary joined the European Union (EU).
After the figures were announced, Jones told Channel Four news and other news outlets that the reality was quite different from what had been feared - the migrants were actually essential to the success of the British economy.
Jones said, "We are becoming lazier and more complacent and picky and are living in a world which has changed forever - where China wants your lunch and India wants your dinner.
"Poles come in and are more reliable, more dependable and prepared to work harder for less, they bring skills, frankly, we don't have enough of."
"If it was not for them we wouldn't get fruit picked, houses built or served in restaurants. We can't have it both ways - 'I don't want to work hard or do that sort of job, but we don't want Poles'.
"This is a wake-up call for Britain. The world does not owe us a living, the world is our living", he said.
Had it not been for migrants who were willing to do work harder and for less money, Britain would be in danger of losing out to cheaper producers overseas, Jones added.
Fears and anxieties over the influx of 427,000 east Europeans have been heightened by a further wave of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria when the two countries join the European Union in January 2007. Britain, Ireland and Sweden, are the only countries in the EU who have adopted an "open door" policy with no restrictions.
Jones supported the growing demand not to have the same open doors policy towards Bulgarians and Romanians.
"I think there's a worry about Romania and Bulgaria because they don't have the same skills as the Poles. And they have a history in their country of corruption, and our infrastructure like schools and roads are under a lot of pressure," he said.
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