Education secretary backs extending period Bulgarians and Romanians must reside in UK before claiming benefits
The education secretary, Michael Gove, has said it is practical politics to defy the EU by extending the period migrants from Bulgaria and Romania have to be in Britain before claiming benefits.
There had been reports on Saturday and Sunday that David Cameron is looking at increasing the length of time from three months to a year, but No 10 sources said such a long extended period was unlikely.
Ministers feel under pressure because of the January deadline that allows Bulgarians and Romanians to enter the country freely, so lifting the remaining transitional controls.
Both the Daily Mail and the Times published opinion polls last week showing overwhelming negativity towards further immigration from the two countries. Cameron is expected to set out his plans as early as this week, but a decision is fraught with legal and diplomatic arguments.
Cameron will be nervous of acting unilaterally without EU diplomatic support. There is growing EU backing for measures to limit the free movement of workers within member states, a measure introduced at a time the EU was much smaller and culturally more homogenous than now.
Cameron is also aware that Ukip's unique selling point in next year's European elections is its offer to quit the EU and so regain control of Britain's borders.
Theresa May, the home secretary, has also published an immigration bill to restrict access to benefits including housing welfare and healthcare.
On The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, Gove said: "I absolutely agree with [Cameron] and I do think it's practical politics. The prime minister has struck exactly the right note on migration which is to celebrate the achievements of people who have come here, to recognise that migration has to work for those who are already here."
He added: "When it comes to new migrants from accession countries in the EU, we need to look properly at the benefits system here to make sure people are coming here to work and contribute, not to take advantage of what is rightly a generous welfare system."
A cabinet minister told the Sunday Times that other EU member states had "also had enough" of the European commission's stance on the issue.
But the Scottish secretary, Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael, said the plans were still under consideration in government and said any approach should be discussed in Europe.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics show he could "see the need for robust transitional arrangements" but added: "I would need to be persuaded of that but I am prepared to look at the whole situation in the round."
He warned: "Potentially it might put us on the wrong side of the rest of the European Union. As a member state I don't want to find myself in that territory. It's something that we should be discussing with them, certainly."
The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, acknowledged that the "pace of immigration was too fast, the level of immigration was too high" under the previous Labour government.
She told The Andrew Marr Show: "We already said last year there were changes the government could make already within the existing rules and changes that they should argue for across Europe as well to make sure the system is fairer.
"I do think when people are coming to this country they should be contributing and so we have already said there are changes you could make to jobseeker's allowance so people can't come and claim jobseeker's allowance straight away.
"If the government had done that nine months ago when we suggested it, we could have had more progress made on this right now. It's important to recognise that most people who come to this country do come to work and to contribute."
In a speech last March to the Instiutute of Public Policy Research thinktank, Cooper said "The habitual residence test works in the vast majority of cases but one practical change within existing European rules would be to add a "presence test" to the habitual residence test to make it clear and to clarify for everyone that jobseeker's allowance cannot be claimed within a few days or weeks, and that people will be expected to be in the country for some time or to contribute before they get something back. That could be done swiftly."
She added: "Requiring countries to treat new migrants exactly the same as long-standing residents creates a risk that member states simply cut family support, housing or services for all citizens in order to avoid attracting too many migrant workers. That can't be good for anyone. So Europe should look again at the benefit rules and residence requirements that are in place." Reported by guardian.co.uk 15 hours ago.
The education secretary, Michael Gove, has said it is practical politics to defy the EU by extending the period migrants from Bulgaria and Romania have to be in Britain before claiming benefits.
There had been reports on Saturday and Sunday that David Cameron is looking at increasing the length of time from three months to a year, but No 10 sources said such a long extended period was unlikely.
Ministers feel under pressure because of the January deadline that allows Bulgarians and Romanians to enter the country freely, so lifting the remaining transitional controls.
Both the Daily Mail and the Times published opinion polls last week showing overwhelming negativity towards further immigration from the two countries. Cameron is expected to set out his plans as early as this week, but a decision is fraught with legal and diplomatic arguments.
Cameron will be nervous of acting unilaterally without EU diplomatic support. There is growing EU backing for measures to limit the free movement of workers within member states, a measure introduced at a time the EU was much smaller and culturally more homogenous than now.
Cameron is also aware that Ukip's unique selling point in next year's European elections is its offer to quit the EU and so regain control of Britain's borders.
Theresa May, the home secretary, has also published an immigration bill to restrict access to benefits including housing welfare and healthcare.
On The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, Gove said: "I absolutely agree with [Cameron] and I do think it's practical politics. The prime minister has struck exactly the right note on migration which is to celebrate the achievements of people who have come here, to recognise that migration has to work for those who are already here."
He added: "When it comes to new migrants from accession countries in the EU, we need to look properly at the benefits system here to make sure people are coming here to work and contribute, not to take advantage of what is rightly a generous welfare system."
A cabinet minister told the Sunday Times that other EU member states had "also had enough" of the European commission's stance on the issue.
But the Scottish secretary, Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael, said the plans were still under consideration in government and said any approach should be discussed in Europe.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics show he could "see the need for robust transitional arrangements" but added: "I would need to be persuaded of that but I am prepared to look at the whole situation in the round."
He warned: "Potentially it might put us on the wrong side of the rest of the European Union. As a member state I don't want to find myself in that territory. It's something that we should be discussing with them, certainly."
The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, acknowledged that the "pace of immigration was too fast, the level of immigration was too high" under the previous Labour government.
She told The Andrew Marr Show: "We already said last year there were changes the government could make already within the existing rules and changes that they should argue for across Europe as well to make sure the system is fairer.
"I do think when people are coming to this country they should be contributing and so we have already said there are changes you could make to jobseeker's allowance so people can't come and claim jobseeker's allowance straight away.
"If the government had done that nine months ago when we suggested it, we could have had more progress made on this right now. It's important to recognise that most people who come to this country do come to work and to contribute."
In a speech last March to the Instiutute of Public Policy Research thinktank, Cooper said "The habitual residence test works in the vast majority of cases but one practical change within existing European rules would be to add a "presence test" to the habitual residence test to make it clear and to clarify for everyone that jobseeker's allowance cannot be claimed within a few days or weeks, and that people will be expected to be in the country for some time or to contribute before they get something back. That could be done swiftly."
She added: "Requiring countries to treat new migrants exactly the same as long-standing residents creates a risk that member states simply cut family support, housing or services for all citizens in order to avoid attracting too many migrant workers. That can't be good for anyone. So Europe should look again at the benefit rules and residence requirements that are in place." Reported by guardian.co.uk 15 hours ago.