Prime Minister bars EU immigrants from claiming benefits for four years
He also intends to stop unemployed immigrants from receiving benefits and wishes to strengthen rules on removing them from the country. There is also the promise to end payment of child benefits to youngsters living abroad.
The government were surprised at new figures revealing a huge rise in net annual migration to more than a quarter of a million, which is attributed to a wave of new arrivals from the EU.
This sharp increase means the Prime Minister’s pledge to cut immigration from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands by next year’s general election will be harder than envisioned.
In his speech Cameron outlined details in the Tory Manifesto where the four year ban on in-work benefits will include tax credits, housing benefits and entitlement to social housing. Migrants unemployed for six months may be removed from the UK, these procedures are intended to reduce the “pull factor” of Britain’s economy which minsters believe is attracting immigrants. It is also to change Britain’s reputation for being a “soft touch” on the issue of immigration.
Although the prime minister hopes to gain support from other EU nations some Tory officials have argued his changes may require EU treaty alteration. He also intends to announce plans to limit movement within the EU arguing that Britain has carried the burden of population shifts for too long.
Official figures reveal net migration rose to 260,000 in the 12 months to June, compared with 182,000 the previous year.
The majority of the new arrivals are economic migrants from the EU, mainly from Eastern Europe as well as Mediterranean countries, who are fully eligible to work in Britain. Though there were also a number of arrivals from outside the EU.
