The juxtaposition of two items in my English language French newspaper suggests there are some things that the Brits can learn from France.
The first item is about immigrants parked on the French coast on their way, they hope, to England. The item cites an Afghan couple, he 25 she 18, who have a small baby living with them in an unofficial camp nicknamed The Jungle. The husband tells us that there is nothing for them in France, while the wife speaks of her dream of having a nice, warm apartment in London. They clearly know that if they manage to enter England they will be given money and accommodation. Meanwhile, in France, their camp was raided by the CRS and cleared of occupants. The only concession to this couple was they were allowed to stay where they are, because of the baby. In France they are supported entirely by volunteers and have no claim on the French state.
The second item was a letter from an Englishman warning anyone planning a return to the UK to think twice. He has several reasons for saying this, but the one that struck me most forcefully concerned prices charged by public utilities, those parts of the infrastructure that were once publicly owned, but were sold off to the private sector. He specifies electricity, pointing out that whereas EDF is allowed only modest increases in France, its price increases in the UK are far in excess of these limits. This corresponds with the tales I read of gas prices, rail fares and so on. Privatisation appears to have been no more than a licence to rip people off.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Yes, we should not be providing any illegal immigrants, with or without baby, with any sort of accommodation in England. We should be expecting that France follow the EU rules (sorry, do roll about laughing if you wish) and expel back to the country of origin any illegals or “clandestins” who do not accept asylum in the first country they reach.
As regards the prices charged by electricity and gas companies in Britain, there is always the option of changing your utility company, which in fact stops any price rise your original company was planning. This option is not available in France, where they don’t like people using their initiative.
We both cook and heat water by electricity, oil CH. And the bill is only just under $90 per month.
ie £60ish. Very reasonable considering the usage it gets and a damn sight cheaper than the house in Pembs to run.
To be fair I do not think the repatriation of illegals would have too much to do with making the utility bills cheaper!
Tom – Don’t even get me started on these subjects – Suffice it to say they will carry me paws-upwards off this Portuguese hillside one day and return to bury my cinders up here alongside A Zangada’s.
OZ
No, CO, I don’t think the two questions actually have any connection with each other. Of course the illegals probably get their utility bills paid by the tax payer, so it comes to the same thing anyway.
The two issues are not related. The people trying to get into the UK refuse to seek asylum, in which case France would consider them, because they expect a better deal in the UK. Using your initiative works if there is genuine competition, but that isn’t always the case. Train companies effectively have a monopoly on a route, as do bus companies.