It really should come as no suprise that a Rochdale woman (described univerally and emotively as a 'granny') expressed somewhat bigoted views on immigration from the EU, or that Gordon Brown is sick and fed up of hearing this sort of rubbish from 'Labour supporters'


To quote one critic of the Mail and Express

'It's become an anti-immigration pissing competition in the middle-market papers to see who can muster the most outrage and fear'

just a couple of weeks ago the Mail once again printed an old anti immigrant urban myth in a new location probably based on the original myth going back to 2003 **

"Last month, it was revealed migrant workers in Peterborough are killing swans to eat and are also preying illegally on fish.
Local anglers claimed ' legally-protected swans' were being 'butchered' by immigrants who are 'raping' the city's waterways by snaring the birds, battering them to death with iron bars and roasting them on open fires on the bank of the River Nene."


Anton Vowl, a Bristol based writer, in his on line 'The enemies of reason' blog has examined the 'reports' quoted in the linked story above pointing out that there has never been a shred of proof or prosecutions and querying the apparently conflicting 'reports'
"immigrants' living in tents 'as they try to find somewhere else to live'.
I'd been led to believe that they were all scroungers at the front of the council house queue, taking our money!
And guess who's paying?!?!? Oh, maybe not."

oh yes, the recent Daily Mail article also describes
'Each day at 1pm, when the Inland Revenue Office at Hereward House opens, a queue of girls speaking foreign tongues snakes down the road.
Their buggies and prams crowd the pavement as they wait to sign on for tax credits and child benefits as they are entitled to under EU law.'

while simultaneously pointing out that

'According to EU rules, foreigners can live in other member countries for up to three months, but can only remain if they are financially independent, working or registered as students.'


**
19 December 2003
"Independent media watchdog the Presswise Trust has accused The Sun of urban myth-making by printing a story that alleged asylum-seekers were stealing and eating swans."