Trish
Would they still be regarded as 'different' OK they might have spoken the same language but I have a feeling they would still be regarded with distrust!
Very possibly. Is there anything wrong with that? Why should people welcome stable established communties with high levels of social cohesion and low crime being undermined by massiv numbers of nwcomers? It is not a 'good thing'!
However you surely acknowledge, that if, let us say ,large numbers of Scots had moved to Lincoln rather than A8s, then they would far more readily assimilate. They would speak English, share the same habits and be keen to intermingle with the locals in a way most of the A8s are not. The smaller the cultural gulf, the easier it is bridged. I suggest that if the incomers were say Danes or Dutch, they would also assimilate far more easily. They tend to speak English well, and share the same religion or none.