Migrant benefit rules to be tightened says Cameron

Restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians coming to the UK will be lifted at the end of this year
David Cameron has announced a crackdown on so-called "benefit tourism", saying EU migrants will not be able to claim taxpayer-funded support indefinitely.

Eligibility rules for out-of-work benefits will be tightened and access to housing benefit will be curbed.

The prime minister said people were "deeply concerned" about levels of migration from Bulgaria and Romania.

He also questioned the principle of free movement inside the EU, saying this right could not be "unqualified".

He suggested a future Conservative government after 2015 may press for major changes to limit the number of migrants to the UK from current and future EU members.

Transitional controls limiting Bulgarian and Romanian workers' access to the UK labour market - in place since the two countries joined the EU in 2007 - will expire at the end of the year.

'Monumental mistake'
There have been warnings of an "influx" of low-skilled workers from the two countries and calls from across the political spectrum for a review of migrants' access to the health service and welfare system.

In an article published in the Financial Times, the prime minister said the last Labour government had made a "monumental mistake" in not restricting access to the UK labour market when Poland and nine other countries joined the EU in 2004 - which resulted in much larger numbers coming than expected.

He announced a series of measures to address what he said were public concerns about the impact of current and future immigration from eastern Europe on the UK economy and public services:

New migrants will not get out-of-work benefits for the first three months
Payments will be stopped after six months unless the claimant has a "genuine" chance of a job
The "habitual residency test" to determine eligibility for benefits will be tightened up
An earnings threshold will be introduced
New migrants will not be able to claim housing benefit immediately
Those not seeking work will be removed and will not able to return for 12 months
Fines for employers not paying the minimum wage will be quadrupled
"We are changing the rules so that no-one can come to this country and expect to get out-of-work benefits immediately," he told the newspaper.

The Lib Dems said the "sensible" changes would "restore confidence" in the immigration system and "ensure that the right to work does not automatically mean the right to claim".

"Other countries in the EU already have similar policies and are considering the case for going further," said deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

"Unfettered access to benefits across the member states does not exist."

But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the prime minister was "playing catch up" and copying a Labour idea.

"After Labour proposed this change in March, the government said it was all fine and nothing needed to change. Yet now, rather than following a coherent plan, they are flailing around."

She added: "The government should also be beefing up enforcement of dodgy gangmasters and targeting sectors that are reliant on migrant labour to ensure they are working to train employees."

'Population movements'
The UK has been embroiled in a long-running legal battle with the European Commission about EU nationals' eligibility for benefits and UKIP has said this cannot be stopped unless the UK leaves the EU.

MigrationWatch UK has said it expects 50,000 people to come from Bulgaria and Romania to the UK in each of the next five years but the Bulgarian ambassador has said he believes the figure will be much lower - predicting levels of about 8,000.

Mr Cameron said the issue would continue to fester as other countries with income levels below the EU average aspired to join the EU.

He said it was time for people to recognise that the principle of free movement, a fundamental tenet of the European Union, had "become a trigger for vast population movements" and must be recalibrated.

He suggested a future Conservative government, as part of its pledge to renegotiate EU membership, could seek more discretion over migration policy. It might introduce a cap if annual arrivals exceeded a certain level, or only allow full access if a country met a certain income threshold, he suggested.

"It is time for a new settlement which recognises that free movement is a central principle of the EU, but it cannot be a completely unqualified one," he added.

"We are not the only country to see free movement as a qualified right: interior ministers from Austria, Germany and the Netherlands have also said this to the Commission.

"So Britain, as part of our plan to reform the EU, will now work with others to return the concept of free movement to a more sensible basis."