CARLISLE’S Polish citizens are letting Brexit wash over them.

While much of the UK seems to be seized by panic and confusion over the current political battle, EU citizens who have made a life here realise there is nothing they can do to change the course of history.

“I’m just not bothered about it,” said Agata, a 24-year-old single mum who is currently a student nurse.

“I will not be bothered about it until a decision is made.

“We just don’t know what will happen yet and why worry about it until it actually happens?”

When she first came to the UK five years ago, Agata was warned that she may not be made welcome by everybody.

Thankfully, there has been no hostility, she said.

“I have felt welcomed,” she continued.

“People have always been kind.”

Whatever happens with Brexit, Agata intends to stay in the UK.

“My daughter is three years old and because she spends a lot of time in nursery English is her first language.”

Personal circumstances aside, her view is that there is no sign that the UK’s NHS can afford to turn away dedicated and qualified nurses, no matter what their country of origin.

A similar view was expressed by 40-year-old Cavaghan and Gray factory worker Adrian Diacoklu, who came to Carlisle from Poland two years ago.

“I don’t think about politics,” he said. “I do a good job at a good factory, get my wage, pay my taxes, and make friends at work. There’s no problem.”

In the Tastes of Poland store in Cecil Street, Carlisle, customers were busy getting on with their shopping, and their lives, but there was a sense that the UK is now at a crossroads, and a sadness that the country is now scrutinising its relationship with Europe.

Joanna and David - a working couple who been in the UK for a decade - have clearly been surprised by the intensity of the Brexit debate. As he clutched a basket full of groceries, David said: “I watched some of it on TV last night, I have absolutely no clue what’s happening.

“Nothing appeared to happen - no decision.

“The whole thing is very messy and I think it’s bad for the British people. It’s very difficult to know what will happen now. I suppose time will tell.”

Ironically, having come to the UK for a better life, the couple said they have been struck by how much Poland’s economy has improved. But they are adamant that they and other Polish people who have settled in Carlisle have been net contributors to the local economy.

Joanna said: “We struggle to understand what’s happening because we are both working. I work at McVite’s but we don’t know for how long we will be there.”

Izabela, 37, who runs a small business from home, described the EU as being like a big family. “I’d say Brexit will damage the UK. Some of the big supermarkets are using Brexit to put up prices. I can’t imagine the UK will want no deal. It would be like shooting themselves.”