David Cameron was warned today that he faces outright opposition in Europe to plans to slash the benefits claimed by thousands of low-paid migrants from the EU.
Poland’s ambassador to the UK Witold Sobkow said the idea was “discriminatory” against working taxpayers and would be blocked because it would break EU law. Conservative MPs, however, stepped up pressure on the PM to win a new deal in Europe, by saying he must threaten to quit the EU unless Britain regains control over borders.
Backbencher Bernard Jenkin said generous benefits had made Britain a “honeypot nation” for Europe’s poor.
The Prime Minister is due to spell out in a keynote speech shortly plans to curb migration levels, probably by reducing in-work tax credits paid to some 252,000 workers from the EU at a cost of £1.6 billion a year.
The Open Europe think tank estimates a single Pole can be £176.27 a week better off by moving to Britain.
But Mr Sobkow said targeting workers from other EU states would be unfair: “We pay the same taxes which pay for tax credits doing the same job. They live here, they pay taxes here. Why should you discriminate against the Spanish and the Polish worker?” He claimed it was a “wrong assumption” that EU migrants were low-skilled, adding: “They are attracted because the wages are higher, not by benefits.” He said Poland had lost 3,000 trained doctors to Britain’s health services.
But Mr Jenkin said: “One of the things that’s keeping low pay suppressed is the endless supply of cheap labour coming in.” He added: “Most people come to this country unaccompanied by their families but they’re able to claim benefits to support their families back home.”
Ex-chancellor Ken Clarke has dismissed the idea of benefit curbs as “totally discriminatory”.
Former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson will tonight urge Mr Cameron to begin moves to withdraw from the EU immediately after the election in order to put pressure on Europe’s most powerful leaders including Germany’s Angela Merkel to allow changes in the law.
Home Secretary Theresa May has effectively abandoned Mr Cameron’s pledge to cut net annual migration below 100,000 in this Parliament, saying it was “unlikely” unless EU laws were changed.
