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  "path": "/opinion/poland-economy-marek-tatala-migrants-leave-uk-2677101706",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-25T08:56:13.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Membership",
    "The police keep caving in to Muslims and I think I've found the reason why - Peter Bleksley",
    "Children are being brainwashed with anti-British propaganda and Labour's doing nothing – Laura Trott",
    "'Red Ed Miliband' as Chancellor would be a disaster for Britain – Kwasi Kwarteng",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nIn March this year, Poland overtook Switzerland to become the 20th largest economy in the world.\n\nNow, at current growth levels, Poland is on track to overtake the United Kingdom on GDP per capita.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAfter his huge win in Makerfield, Britain's presumptive next Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, must resist the soft left and learn lessons from Poland on economic growth.\n\nPoland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, recently suggested that the gap with Britain could close within six years.\n\nThe fact that such comparisons are now being made says something remarkable about not just Poland but also the weaknesses of the UK economy.\n\nEven the UK’s own Polish diaspora is now beginning to return to Poland in growing numbers, attracted by economic opportunities which they see as superior to those provided by the UK.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSo, what explains Poland’s rise? And what lessons could the UK take from it? Firstly, Poland’s success begins, unsurprisingly, with the fall of Communism and the rejection of state-planned socialism.\n\nFollowing communism’s fall in 1989, the country embraced a rapid transition to a market economy – often described as “shock therapy” – under the Balcerowicz Plan, named after then-Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz.\n\nThis period saw Poland embrace market liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation; introduce a competitive corporate tax system; and, of course, join the European Union and the Single Market in 2004.\n\nThese early years were painful, as they exposed the social costs of socialism.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nBut the long-term results of the Balcerowicz Plan paved the path for Poland’s current trajectory, earning Margaret Thatcher’s praise for the “bold and brilliant” Minister Balcerowicz in 1991.\n\nThanks to these reforms, productivity rose rapidly, inefficient state enterprises were replaced by private ownership, and labour shifted away from agriculture into more productive sectors.\n\nEU accession in 2004 accelerated this process. While European funds helped modernise infrastructure, the most important effect came from access to the Single Market, which allowed Poland to become deeply integrated into European economic networks.\n\nIt certainly helped that Poland joined the EU at a time when the EU was still focused more on economic harmonisation rather than top-down regulatory intervention, as is unfortunately the case today.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * The police keep caving in to Muslims and I think I've found the reason why - Peter Bleksley\n  * Children are being brainwashed with anti-British propaganda and Labour's doing nothing – Laura Trott\n  * 'Red Ed Miliband' as Chancellor would be a disaster for Britain – Kwasi Kwarteng\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThis is why Polish policymakers should now leverage their growing economic clout and push Brussels to improve the EU’s competitiveness and strengthen the Single Market.\n\nNonetheless, Poland’s rise should be understood as an unequivocal free-market success story.\n\nSecondly, and quite pertinently for the UK, immigration has been a critical part of Poland’s growth – but not without key qualifications.\n\nPoland has, in fact, become a country of large-scale immigration, especially after the arrival of millions of Ukrainians following Russia’s attacks on Ukraine since 2014.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nCrucially, Poland has integrated these newcomers with vastly more success than peer nations, as seen with the United Kingdom’s own post-Brexit immigration struggles.\n\nOf course, it helps that Ukrainians are relatively similar to Poles, both culturally and linguistically.\n\nHowever, crucially, Poland has avoided the policy pitfalls that other Western European countries have made, which opened up to migration while simultaneously creating disincentives to work.\n\nA growing economy, a relatively open labour market, and a less generous welfare state – particularly for newcomers from Asia, Africa and Latin America – have helped integrate migrants into employment.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nParticipation in the labour market, in turn, supports integration, language acquisition, and everyday interaction with Poles.\n\nThus, Poland has remained open to the economic benefits of immigration while mitigating its economic and cultural risks.\n\nThis leaves us where we are today: Poland rapidly catching up to the UK. Ultimately, much of this success rests on openness for investments, trade and migration, relatively liberal economic policies, and the avoidance of major policy mistakes.\n\nBy contrast, Britain faces significant challenges, and the pace of convergence will partly depend on growth here.\n\nPerhaps Poland’s rise will serve as a reminder that prosperity is underpinned by economic liberalism, dynamic labour market, productivity growth, and proper incentives to work.\n\nIf Poland does eventually catch up with the UK, it will certainly be a moment worth celebrating for us – especially if it reflects Poland’s own strength, rather than Britain’s decline.\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Poland's migrants came, worked, and left — The real reason should worry Britain"
}