There were consequences to that. In a typical film, it would have just been a throwaway sequence.
The sequel give a really sad, shocking look at how quickly Europe fell. In twenty years, there are more foreigners than Scots. The first movie was kind of an indictment of the welfare state. I like it when liberals unwittingly make a conservative film. Boyle does it a lot, with the Island being an indictment of socialist utopia.