Rumors are rife of over-generous state handouts, thieving and shoplifting binges. Almost no one has a good word to say about the Romanies here. When one of us goes up for benefits, we get thrown back time and time again. And it's all going to come out of our bloody taxes.
Local officials are equally angry.
Each Romany costs 250 each week, and Bruce-Lockhart wants the British government to provide the cash. The Romany influx is so huge it has become a national responsibility, he said. So far, the British government is refusing to pay. More than 100 asylum-seekers have already been returned to the French port of Calais, the British Home Office, which oversees immigration, reported Oct. 23. But Dover's local authority continues to house at least 800 asylum-seekers.