My friend Jan Mokrzycki, who has died aged 91, was the innovative president of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain for 10 years. He campaigned for the country’s entry into the EU and for the rights of Polish people in the UK once that had been achieved. Through the pressure group Poland Comes Home, which Jan co-founded in 1995, he persuaded British politicians and business of the need for Poland to join the European community.
In 2000, Jan wrote a letter to each of the 600 or so British MPs, urging them to support the signing of the Nice treaty, which would pave the way for EU entry. The then foreign secretary Robin Cook quoted approvingly from Jan’s letter during the subsequent parliamentary debate.
