EU hits out at PM’s ‘knee-jerk’ immigration rhetoric
David Cameron has been accused of "knee-jerk xenophobia' in his toughened stance on immigration from within the EU.
László Andor, the commissioner responsible for employment, social affairs and inclusion, attacked the British prime minister for his rhetoric against the impact EU migrants could have on the UK's benefits bill.
"Blaming poor people or migrants for hardships at the time of economic crisis is not entirely unknown, but it is not intelligent politics in my view," he told the Observer newspaper.
"I think it would be more responsible to confront mistaken perceptions about immigration from other EU countries and so-called 'benefit tourism', and instead to explain the facts.
"The reality is that migrants from other EU countries are very beneficial to the UK's economy, notably because they help to address skills shortages and pay more tax and social security contributions per head, and get fewer benefits, than UK workers; that free movement of workers is a key part of the EU's single market; that hundreds of thousands of UK nationals work in other EU countries."
Cameron's immigration speech last week announced a series of steps making life in Britain harder for new arrivals from elsewhere in the EU.
"You put into Britain – you don't just take out," the prime minister told an audience in Ipswich, Suffolk, on March 25th.
"And if you put in – we will stand with you."
From early 2014 EU nationals who cannot prove they looked for work six months after arriving in the UK will lose jobseekers' allowance and other benefits. A loophole allowing them to continue to receive benefits under their previous national insurance will be closed and the 'habitual residence test' will be toughened up.
Local councils will also introduce a new residency test for social housing and NHS services will be charged on a stricter basis for non-EU nationals.
"My view is simple," Cameron added. "Ending the something-for-nothing culture needs to apply to immigration as well as welfare."
Andor, a Hungarian economist, said the UK government's complaints about 'benefit tourism' had been received by the European Commission for a couple of years.
"But whenever we have asked them for proof about the phenomenon they have been unable to provide it, despite repeated requests," he added.
"People come to the UK from other EU countries to work, not to claim benefits."
Immigration has emerged as a hot topic in British politics ahead of May 2nd's local elections because of anxiety about the impact of a fresh wave of arrivals from Europe in 2014.
The five-year bar on Romanian and Bulgarian migrants agreed when the two countries joined the EU runs out on January 1st next year.
"We do not expect this pattern to change after January 1st, from when Romanian and Bulgarian nationals will also be free to work anywhere in the EU," Andor said.
"Terms such as a 'something for nothing culture' are misleading and very unfortunate."
Pressure from the right of the Conservative party is unlikely to shift the prime minister's hardline approach to the issue, however.
Last week a poll by YouGov put Ukip ahead of the Tories on immigration. It found 24% of members of the public trust Nigel Farage's party the most on the issue, compared to 19% for the Conservatives.
That gap closed significantly because of Cameron's speech, however. Before the prime minister's announcements about restricting migrants' access to benefits the five-point gap between the two parties was as wide as 13%.
