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Cameron announces sweeping crackdown on immigration
| Published: | 28 Mar at 6 PM |
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British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to announce a widespread crackdown on immigration aimed at discouraging migrants from Bulgaria and Romania.
The new measures follow weeks of alarmist UK media coverage predicting the arrival of a huge number of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria after travel and work restrictions are lifted next year. Reports suggest that changes will include restricting access to the NHS, a five-year wait before applying for social housing and heavy fines for those who employ illegals.
The development represents a major shift in political mainstream thought, ending years of bipartisan ignoring of the problems caused by unchecked immigration. The issue is now recognised as one of voters’ main concerns, with the coalition government well aware that election as looming in 2015.
Cameron is expected to state that the UK is no longer a ‘soft touch’ for immigrants, with access to core benefits needing to be earned, not given. Net migration, he believes, must be drastically reduced from its present hundreds of thousands every year to a maximum of tens of thousands.
The measures are expected to include EU nationals as well as migrants from outside the EU, with plans to toughen up on benefits including income-related allowances. A government requirement that migrants purchase a health insurance plan may be a plank in the new rules.
Given that Romania and Bulgaria are becoming popular destinations for those emigrating from the UK, it remains to be seen whether the two governments see fit to reply in kind. The southern parts of both countries’ cheap house prices, laid-back lifestyle and attractive surroundings have drawn a good number of British expats over the last several years.
The new measures follow weeks of alarmist UK media coverage predicting the arrival of a huge number of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria after travel and work restrictions are lifted next year. Reports suggest that changes will include restricting access to the NHS, a five-year wait before applying for social housing and heavy fines for those who employ illegals.
The development represents a major shift in political mainstream thought, ending years of bipartisan ignoring of the problems caused by unchecked immigration. The issue is now recognised as one of voters’ main concerns, with the coalition government well aware that election as looming in 2015.
Cameron is expected to state that the UK is no longer a ‘soft touch’ for immigrants, with access to core benefits needing to be earned, not given. Net migration, he believes, must be drastically reduced from its present hundreds of thousands every year to a maximum of tens of thousands.
The measures are expected to include EU nationals as well as migrants from outside the EU, with plans to toughen up on benefits including income-related allowances. A government requirement that migrants purchase a health insurance plan may be a plank in the new rules.
Given that Romania and Bulgaria are becoming popular destinations for those emigrating from the UK, it remains to be seen whether the two governments see fit to reply in kind. The southern parts of both countries’ cheap house prices, laid-back lifestyle and attractive surroundings have drawn a good number of British expats over the last several years.
Comments » There is 1 comment
Maggie O'brien wrote 11
years ago:
Living in rural Ireland for 17 years but with strong roots in the Uk (father a Dubliner, mother Bristolian) I hav returned for a week's break to Bristol only to find that , whereas most articulate Brits were hitherto 'tolerant' in respect of race and creed and immigration, now the general belief seems to be that this island (UK) is too small to absorb any more population...regardless of race or creed. The NHS ( National Health Service) is crumbling under the sheer weight of numbers as is the public transport system, the road network and the housing stock. The deterioration in the amount of social security afforded to those genuine Brits who can't find work suitable to their qualifications and intelligence bracket is causing real consternation with many of my friends and contacts frustrated at the burgeoning population demands. Not one of my friends is racist or a bigot or a scrounger but to a man they feel as if their wishes and feelings are NOT being taken seriously- and that they are condemned outright as all 3 of the above if they even so much as express an honest opinion. On a broader remit...over population in the world is the 'elephant in the room'. Everyone knows resources and space are finite and that population has to be controlled somehow..but when one country so much as mentions it? OUTRAGE! 64,000,000 people on a small island??? come on...do the maths. Health tourism, unpaid health bills by overseas visitors, more and more houses needed, more and more traffic jams, pollution, cancer, asthma .....someone HAS to speak out and start a sensible conversation going...don't they?
