It is no good the Prime Minister trying to wriggle out of his comments about "British jobs for British workers".

There was nothing ambiguous about what he said, although now he is desperately attempting to pretend he was saying something else.

But the words were always a fiction. Under the rules of the European Union, the United Kingdom can do nothing about workers coming into this country from EU member states.

So while thousands of jobs are being lost, on almost a daily basis as a result of the economic downturn, cheap labour is being imported from Italy and Portugal.

No wonder workers in Lincolnshire, and elsewhere, are indulging in wildcat strikes.

Ministers – including the Prime Minister – are saying that this is not the right way to tackle this problem. Some have said that strikes and demonstrations achieve nothing.

Well, all I can say is that they must have very short memories.

Remember the row and violence over the poll tax? It was the mob on that occasion which forced the then Conservative Government to abandon that policy, although I suspect that if Margaret Thatcher had remained in power at that point, she would not have surrendered to the protestations.

And how many times have strikes led to employers offering the workers increased pay to get them back to work? I agree, strikes are certainly not to be encouraged. They amount to a form of industrial intimidation.

All I would say is that Ministers should not be surprised when they do take place, especially in the current circumstances.

The only way to stop these immigrant workers coming to Britain is to withdraw from the European Union.

And that is not going to happen. So we are stuck with this totally unsatisfactory situation.