Migration views: Billy Gallagher

EU IMMIGRATION Name: Billy Gallagher Nationality: British Age: 53 Lives: Liverpool Works: Builder Back to the migration panel

I have worked all my life, since I was 15. I have always been a self-employed builder either working on my own - mainly building small extensions, or employing sub-contractors.

It has not always been easy but I have managed to survive for 38 years.

Now though, with the arrival of a large number of cheap workers from Poland, the situation is very difficult. I haven't been able to find work since July. I don't know what to do.

I've thought about retraining, but I am 53, I am too old now. Ten years ago I went to college to get qualifications. I paid for it myself and it's now all wasted.

I have considered lowering my prices, but there is a limit. Workers from Poland are happy to work for a lot less money. Depending on who they are employed by, in some places they work for £5 an hour. They are even prepared to work for free just to get a reference.

There are so many of them - if you get the local paper, you'll find that all the adverts are in Polish. They live in crammed accommodation and their expenses are very low.

The Olympic village will be built not by the people of east London, but by the people of Eastern Europe

I have to cover my expenses before I can start making money. I have a van, petrol, insurance to pay for.

I don't blame the Polish lads for coming here. I don't blame people for wanting to have a better life. If I were younger, I would emigrate to Canada.

But the government should do something about the situation. Every builder should be registered and only qualified builders should be allowed to practice their skills.

A lot of the Polish workers haven't been to a construction site before. Many of them are not experienced. Yet they are preferred because they are cheap.

There is a lot of work to be done right now. Liverpool is like a big construction site - but I have tried to get work, but I can't.

What is quite worrying is if the majority of the workers are foreign, then the health and safety rules are easy to ignore. I heard of one dangerous incident on a site where work should have been suspended until the problem was solved. They didn't stop the work and the workers probably didn't even realise the danger.

Now that Bulgaria and Romania are getting into the European Union, should we allow them to come and work here too? Let them in, maybe they will undercut the Poles.

That will ensure that the Olympic village will be built not by the people of east London, but by the people of Eastern Europe.