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UK won't see mass Romanian and Bulgarian immigration, minister says UK won't see mass Romanian and Bulgarian immigration, minister says
(about 11 hours later)
Romanians and Bulgarians won't mirror the mass influx of Poles seen a decade ago when they are free to work in the United Kingdom in the new year, the immigration minister has said. There will be no mass migration of Romanians and Bulgarians, coming to the UK for work in the new year when labour market restrictions are lifted, the immigration minister has said.
In the first official assessment of the likely flow of Romanians and Bulgarians to Britain when the remaining labour market restrictions are lifted on January 1, Mark Harper insisted it would be different this time. In the first official assessment of the likely flow of Romanians and Bulgarians to Britain when the curbs are removed on 1 January, the minister, Mark Harper, said the situation this time would not replicate the mass arrival of Poles to the UK 10 years ago.
The immigration minister said the government was not complacent about the arrival of the new migrants but suggested they were more likely to go to Germany, Italy and Spain than come to Britain. He said the government was not complacent about the arrival of new migrants but said it would be different this time and suggested that people were more likely to go to Germany, Italy and Spain than Britain.
Harper also slapped down Tory right-wingers who are demanding that the 7-year "transitional controls" on Romanians and Bulgarians be extended when they end in January. He told a Home Office press briefing: "It is simply not legally possible." Harper also criticised Tory rightwingers who have been demanding that the seven-year "transitional controls" on Romanians and Bulgarians be extended after January. He told a Home Office press briefing: "It is simply not legally possible."
The immigration minister said it was "a fool's errand" to get into the business of predicting the numbers that would come. He called it "a fool's errand" to try to predict the numbers that would go to the UK.
He said that the former home secretary, Jack Straw, admitted last week that a "spectacular mistake" had been made in 2004 when academic estimates suggested that only 15,000 Polish and other east European migrants would come a decade ago. The former home secretary Jack Straw had said last week, he added, that a "spectacular mistake" was made in 2004 when academic estimates suggested that only 15,000 Polish and other east European migrants at that time would go to Britain.
Harper said he had every intention of avoiding a similar mistake this time: "There is a big difference with 2004 when we were the only major country not to have transitional controls and all the other big countries did. Anybody who wanted to work here legally came to the UK," he said. Harper said he had every intention of avoiding a similar mistake this time. "There is a big difference with 2004 when we were the only major country not to have transitional controls and all the other big countries did. Anybody who wanted to work here legally came to the UK."
He said there were now eight other countries also removing their controls: "We are therefore not in the same position as previously, when we were the only country that was an option for those wishing to migrate. There are now a range of other European countries in the eurozone, including Germany, which is an economic powerhouse that is generating jobs and creating economic growth," he said. He said there were now eight other countries also removing their controls. "We are therefore not in the same position as previously, when we were the only country that was an option for those wishing to migrate. There are now a range of other European countries in the eurozone, including Germany, which is an economic powerhouse that is generating jobs and creating economic growth."
The original estimate by University College, London, that only 15,000 Poles and others would come each year, was based on an assumption that all the other European Union countries would open their borders when ex-Communist states joined in 2004. In the event, only Britain, Ireland and Sweden opened their borders immediately to allow them to work. The rest of the EU, including Germany, imposed the 7-year transitional controls which only came to an end two years ago. The original estimate by University College, London, which calculated that 15,000 Poles and others would arrive each year, was based on an assumption that all the other EU countries would open their borders when former communist states joined in 2004.
Harper said there were also other countries with very significant populations of Romanians and Bulgarians already, such as Italy and Spain. In the event, only Britain, Ireland and Sweden opened their borders immediately to allow migrants to work. The rest of the EU, including Germany, imposed the seven-year transitional controls, which came to an end only two years ago.
The eight countries that will open their borders to Romanian and Bulgarian labour migrants as well as Britain in January are Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and France. Harper said there were also other countries which already had significant populations of Romanians and Bulgarians, including Italy and Spain.
More than 3m Romanians went to work abroad when Romania joined the EU in 2007 – the overwhelming majority went to Italy and Spain, which have already opened their labour markets to them. The eight countries, besides the UK, due to open their borders to Romanian and Bulgarian labour migrants are Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and France.
"The comparisons are different. That doesn't mean that we don't have concerns," said the immigration minister, pointing to the tightening of restrictions on EU migrants claiming unemployment benefits, getting access to social housing and an increase in enforcement action against employers which used the migrant labour market to undercut wage rates. More than three million Romanians went to work abroad when Romania joined the EU in 2007; the majority went toItaly and Spain, which have already opened their labour markets to them.
Harper also slapped down right-wing Tory MPs who have been pressing him to extend the transitional controls on Romanians and Bulgarians, telling them that it was not legally possible under the European accession treaties. "The comparisons are different. That doesn't mean that we don't have concerns," said the immigration minister, pointing to the tightening of restrictions on EU migrants, including aspects such as unemployment benefits and social housing, alongside enforcement action being intensified against employers who use the migrant labour market to undercut wage rates.
He told journalists that Britain's domestic courts would rule that doing so would not comply with the treaties. Harper criticised rightwing Tory MPs who have been pressing him to extend the transitional controls on Romanians and Bulgarians, telling them it was not legally possible under the European accession treaties. He said Britain's domestic courts would rule that an extension of controls would not comply with the treaties.
Harper's assessment came as the chief inspector of borders and immigration, John Vine, published a critical report showing that only one in four smugglers caught by Border Force officers are being fined or prosecuted.
Vine also criticises the searching priorities of the Border Force and HM Revenues and Customs by highlighting that 68% of freight consignments targeted for checks at the border are actually undergoing a physical examination while 43,000 low-risk cargoes were being checked.
The report on the state of customs and border checks on the 311m tonnes of freight coming into Britain each also confirms previous warnings that immigration staff have been switched from looking for drugs and smuggled tobacco to carry out 100% passport checks on passengers.
Vine's report says that only 2,971 out of 11,839 seizures of smuggled goods made by Border Force officials – one in four – were being referred to HMRC for financial penalty or possible prosecution because of a breakdown of communication: "I also found that large quantities of cigarettes and alcohol were not being investigated or prosecuted," said Vine.
Harper responded by saying that work was already underway to ensure that more cases were referred to prosecution but added that there had been a shift in focus to prosecuting cases where larger quantities were involved and there was a reasonable chance of prosecution.
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