‘Town’s getting multicultural and that’s good’: How Swindon views changes in its workforce
The arrival of the Victorian railway turned Swindon into one of the fastest-growing industrial towns in the UK.
Workers flocked to the thriving Wiltshire hub from all over Britain.
In more recent times, Swindon has been attracting people from further afield – so many, in fact, that one in five of the town’s population was born abroad.
In 2011, 26,911 people in Swindon were born outside the UK. By 2021, that figure had risen to 47,656. The British-born population, by comparison, had risen from 182,215 to 185,754.
On Manchester Road there are a host of shops, with signs boasting goods from all over Eastern Europe and South Asia. There are dozens of small businesses with diverse heritage.
Asher Graham, who owns a barber shop on the street and has lived in Swindon all his life, says he has seen a change over the last few years: “The town’s getting multicultural and that’s good.
“That’s what we need and like – everyone’s just getting to work.”
Mr Graham employs two foreign-born barbers – one, Gaja Sherlekar, 50, is from Goa. He tells us: “There are many opportunities here so people are coming from abroad.”
The barber shop is busy, and soon Mr Sherlekar finds himself cutting the hair of British-born Jamie Carash.
Mr Carash, 50, owns his own business, and declares: “A lot of foreigners [are] coming over and driving the prices down, but again I did end up taking two of them on as well…their work ethic is better than most of my guys.”
But Mr Carash insists that there are not enough controls on immigration.
“I just think it’s gone a bit too far,” he says, adding: “I mean some places you go to in England… you’re kind of an outsider in your own country.”
Across the UK there’s been a significant increase in the number of foreign-born workers.
From January to June this year, there were 6.8 million foreigners in employment across Britain – 20.7% of the UK workforce. In the same period in 2014, there were 4.6 million foreign workers – 15% of the working population.
Migrant men are more likely to be in work than their British-born counterparts – 82% of working-age men are employed, compared to 78% of UK men.
Foreign-born workers also lead in high-skilled jobs – 36% of those born outside the UK are in specialist employment, ahead of 33% of British workers.
These statistics are likely to reinforce views on both sides of the immigration debate.
Some will see them as evidence that migrants are essential to Britain’s economy, while others will claim that immigrants are taking the jobs of British workers.
In Swindon town centre, sheltering from a June downpour, we meet Jason who’s in his fifties, unemployed and looking for work.
He believes immigration is a big problem for him. “I can’t get a job. They come to this country, they can just get a job just like that,” he says.
Christine, shopping with her son Jack, said the UK has always taken in genuine refugees
He then reveals he has a criminal record and served time in prison for assault around three years ago, a reason why, he claims, some employers have refused his application. Even so, he insists immigrants are to blame for his joblessness.
Other people, however, say they welcome workers from abroad.
Christine, out shopping with her adult son Jack, tells us: “We’ve always been that sort of country that is taking in genuine refugees.
“At the end of the day we do need people from around the world to help with certain jobs.
“Where I live, near a farming community, they’re really struggling with trying to get people to come in.”
At a car wash near Swindon’s train station all the staff are recent migrants.
The manager, Fazlumenallah Azizi, 50, employs them and admits he came to the country on the back of a lorry as an Afghan asylum seeker back in 2001.
But he thinks immigration has now gone too far in Britain, putting pressure on public services. “If you’re going to the hospital now you have to wait three to four hours now, that’s an example,” he complains.
But Mr Azizi isn’t convinced by people who say that he could be giving jobs to UK-born workers instead.
“Yeah, they could say that, but I don’t know if you ask them to come and work in the car wash, I don’t think they would come.”
Emma George, 53, runs a law firm in Swindon’s Old Town with her husband, Francis.
She has repeatedly recruited foreign staff whose applications stand out. “I think our homegrown students or graduates aren’t really as driven as those coming from overseas,” she believes.
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Bianca Milea, 30, works at the firm as a paralegal. She came to the UK from Romania eight years ago with no plan and “wanted an adventure”. She worked as a waitress and in a call centre before studying for a law degree.
She rejects the idea that she has replaced a British worker: “I don’t think that I’m taking anyone’s place because I worked to be where I am today.”
Emma’s daughter, Stella, 19, is helping at the firm while home from university.
Both mother and daughter worry that immigration has become such a political battleground not just in the UK but across Europe.
Mrs George says: “It actually makes me feel quite sad and quite frightened, actually, for the future, because I fear it’s all very negative.”
Her daughter agrees: “I think the kind of narrative that they’re spreading at the moment that there’s all these negatives to immigration is just really dangerous for anyone who’s ever emigrated at all.
“That just turns into casual racism, I think, amongst the general population.”
For all the tough talk on migration by politicians, successive governments have allowed foreign workers to keep coming.
That’s because British industry argues it needs them – despite the concerns of those who feel their country is changing as a result.
Andrew always denied the allegations – but the repeated accusations would not go away.
And his associations risked real reputational damage to the royal family.
His friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, his dealings with an alleged Chinese spy, and then the posthumous publication of his accuser, Virginia Giuffre’s memoir.
Her family said she brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.
The piling pressure was starting to overshadow the work of Andrew’s wider family. And with the Prince of Wales soon heading to Brazil for his Earthshot award, enough was enough.
We understand the Royal Family, including Prince William backed the King’s leadership on this matter.
The King made the decisions, his family supported them.
Both Andrew, and former secretary of state Peter Mandelson’s public lives have been dismantled by their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: PA
Andrew will leave Royal Lodge, his large home on the Windsor estate. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who also lived there, will “make her own arrangements”.
It was their family home for many years. Both daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who grew up there, will keep their titles.
Andrew’s ex-wife has continued to live at the Royal Lodge estate but will now be left to make her own housing arrangements. Pic: PA
As for Andrew, he will soon move to Sandringham – the King’s private Norfolk estate – where the family traditionally gathers for Christmas; and he will be funded privately by the King.
Read more:
Andrew allegations should be examined in ‘fullest ways’
This is all a formal process carried out in consultation with official authorities, but the government supports the decision taken.
This will not have been easy for the King, but he knew he could not ignore public opinion. The criticism and anger directed at Andrew was never going to stop – and only he had the power to take the ultimate action against his own brother.
For years, Andrew enjoyed the perks and privileges of his powerful position, but his birthright could not withstand withering public disdain.
And now he’s paid the ultimate price.
Corridor care in Britain’s hospitals is a “crisis in plain sight”, a charity has warned, with patients complaining of long waits and warzone-like conditions.
An Age UK report describes “truly shocking” incidents of elderly people waiting days for care, including them hearing and seeing others dying as they wait.
According to the latest figures for England, 75% of patients were seen within four hours in A&Es in September.
But the number of people waiting more than 12 hours from the decision to admit to actually being admitted – known as “corridor care” – stood at 44,765, a jump from 35,909 in August.
Describing her experience, a 79-year-old woman from south London told Age UK: “The corridors were lined with patients on trolleys, hooked up to drips, some moaning in pain.
“It reminded me of war films, with queues of stretchers and people suffering.”
Others spoke of “puddles of urine” on the floor as immobile patients are unable to go to the toilet – and patients being forced to use bedpans in corridors.
The report raises concerns that poor quality care “is now almost expected” in some A&E departments and warns the situation could “get worse” as the NHS heads into winter.
One person said her friend’s mother was left waiting “ages when she was having a heart attack, and died before receiving any care”.
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Age UK said many patients are now unwilling to go to A&E, even if they are in a life-threatening situation.
It called on the government to “urgently” tackle corridor care, with specific deadlines for ending long waits, as it warned older people have been disproportionately affected.
Responding to the criticism, health minister Karin Smyth told Sky News: “The stories in this report are heartbreaking.
“No one should receive care in a corridor – it’s unacceptable, undignified, and we are determined to end it.
“To tackle a problem, you’ve got to be honest about it. For the first time, the NHS will measure and publish the number of patients waiting in corridors.”
The government is investing £450m to build same-day urgent and emergency care centres, buy 500 new ambulances, build 40 new mental health crisis centres, and give NHS leaders on the ground more power to deliver local solutions.
Ms Smyth also urged people to get vaccinated, as flu season has arrived weeks earlier than usual.
“I’ll be at that gate with my kilt,” says Inverness protester Thomas.
He was one of the first people Sky News met as we visited the Highland city preparing to welcome 300 male asylum seekers at a 150-year-old army barracks just minutes from the High Street.
But if our experience testing the temperature is anything to go by, it seems the welcome will be far from the traditional hospitality this part of the world is famous for.
The Scottish Highlands currently has no asylum seekers, according to the latest Home Office data. It makes it a unique part of Britain as other communities witness rising numbers of arrivals.
The UK government is planning drastic changes in the coming weeks. It announced plans to bring 309 male asylum seekers to Cameron army barracks in Inverness.
The military base was built in 1876 and now looks set to become Britain’s most northern migrant centre as officials aim to cut the use of costly asylum seeker hotels.
An aerial view of the barracks being earmarked by the government
Thomas, who did not want to share his full name, said he had signed a petition against the proposals and hinted he was ready to campaign against it.
He said: “I’ll be at that gate with my kilt on.
“I’ll be there with posters and shouting ‘get tae’. I think we are more scared. I think it’s more invasion.”
Fellow protester Chloe said: “Everyone is scared. I am worried for my child.”
She cited the recent conviction of migrant Deng Chol Majek, who stabbed hotel worker Rhiannon Whyte to death with a screwdriver in the West Midlands.
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Asylum seeker found guilty of murder
Another man, who did not want to provide his name, told Sky News he was previously homeless.
“It’s disgusting. It’s a shambles. I wouldn’t want to say what I’d do to them (migrants) but I wouldn’t be putting them in the barracks,” he told us.
He concluded: “We should ship them back to their own country. They don’t deserve to be in this country.”
‘Extreme views’
I also met offshore wind engineer Kai Fraser, who said: “I have no problem with them being here. There are a few people who have got really big problems with it which are unfounded. They need to go somewhere.
“It is peddled by Farage and his ilk. It is exposing quite a few folks’ extreme views that were traditionally hidden behind closed doors.”
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Since the announcement was made by the Home Office, it has emerged Cameron Barracks requires a £1m revamp, including new boilers and the possible removal of asbestos.
Contract tender documents seen by The Times suggested the work was due to begin in January, weeks after the asylum seekers were supposed to be moving in.
There are questions over whether the arrivals could be delayed over fears of a legal challenge from migrants over the conditions. Councillors in Inverness are set to meet in the coming days amid suggestions they could use planning laws to block the plans.
Swinney: It’s a mess
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said UK ministers, who are responsible for the asylum system, had made “another mess”.
He said: “What will be the availability of healthcare services? What will be the availability of support services? We have no answers to these questions. The Home Office has given no answers whatsoever.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.
“This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities.
“We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across government so that we can accelerate delivery.”
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