×
Loading in progress

The Day the Immigrants Left

8 members

Evan Davis presents a programme exploring the effects of immigration in the UK by focusing on Wisbech, a town in Cambridgeshire.

Since 2004 this once prosperous market town has received up to 9,000 immigrants seeking work - the majority from Eastern Europe. But with nearly 2,000 locals unemployed and claiming benefits, many of them blame the foreign workers for their predicament.

To test if the town needs so many foreign workers, immigrant employees are temporarily removed from their jobs, and the work given to the local unemployed. Now the town's British workers have a chance to prove they can do it.

Eleven British unemployed workers are recruited to go into a range of different Wisbech workplaces including a potato company, an asparagus farm, an Indian restaurant and a building site run by a local landlord.

Moving beyond the workplace, Evan Davis investigates how the town's local public services, such as schools and the NHS, are coping with the demands of the new arrivals.

As the British unemployed workers get to grips with their new jobs, this documentary examines the facts and dispels the myths around the subject of immigration.

Next episode
S2010E53 - Shanties and Sea Songs with Gareth Malone

Episodes (246)

Season 2010

Similar shows (10)

Channel 5 (UK) Documentaries
Channel 5 (UK) Documentaries
Timeshift
Timeshift
This World
This World
Surviving Disaster
Surviving Disaster
Drama Connections
Drama Connections
BT Sport Films
BT Sport Films
Our World (2007)
Our World (2007)
BBC Drama
BBC Drama
Planet Earth
Planet Earth
Wonderland
Wonderland