Britain Panic Stricken over Bulgarian, Romanian Immigrants

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | December 28, 2013, Saturday // 12:02
Britain Panic Stricken over Bulgarian, Romanian Immigrants: Britain Panic Stricken over Bulgarian, Romanian Immigrants Panic in Great Britain grows as the day to lift labor market restrictions for Bulgarians and Romanians approaches. File photo

In four days' time the UK's borders will open to as many Romanians and Bulgarians as decide they'd rather be there than in their home countries.

When the UK last opened its borders in similar fashion in 2004 the then Labor government insisted that there would be no more than 15,000 Poles and other eastern Europeans who would take advantage of the new freedom to move there, British Daily Express wrote.

Anyone who suggested that this was a ludicrous underestimate was dismissed as a racist scaremonger. Even on the official figures, which always undercount, the total so far has been more than 700,000, the newspaper continued.

This time the coalition may be refusing to make anything more than token gestures in response to the issue - but there is at least a basic acceptance that there is a problem. Local communities will not be able to cope with an influx of new immigrants, which will put pressure on housing and schools, local leaders warned.

Even worse there's the social disorder that also arrives, from people trafficking and prostitution to pickpocketing. New rules pushed through by David Cameron mean that immigrants will be able to claim in-work benefits only when they've been in Britain for over three months. But that barely even scratches the surface of the issue. No wonder 82% of people said in a poll that they don't think the Government's measures go far enough, Daily Express argued.

Too little is being done to sort out Britain's gaping borders, according to the local Daily Star's exclusive poll. More readers named immigration as the biggest political problem than any other issue.

One third said cutting the number of newcomers should be the Government's top priority. The cost of living was highlighted as the second biggest issue – ranked first by 21% of respondents.

The emphatic result comes just one week before the UK opens its borders to migrants from Romania and Bulgaria. Thousands are expected to flock there from the two countries when restrictions are lifted under EU freedom of movement rules.

Daily Star's survey shows that more than two-thirds of the public think David Cameron should break Euro laws and keep restrictions in place. Nearly 70% agreed that "Britain should prevent Romanian and Bulgarian migrants coming to the UK to protect our country".

Fewer than one in 10 thought the new influx would be good for Britain. The result shows a large majority of people reckon the Government is doing too little to protect Britain's welfare system and jobs from those coming from overseas.

Conservative modernizers have urged PM David Cameron to tone down his harsh language on immigration and welfare because they believe it is alienating voters, the Independent informed.

The Bright Blue group, a cheerleader for PM Cameron's drive to detoxify the Conservative brand, is worried that his modernizing project has stalled and has called for a "more balanced" message that does not stigmatize immigrants or benefit claimants, the edition continued.

The appeal to the Prime Minister comes after he rushed through curbs on EU migrants claiming benefits in Britain before Romanians and Bulgarians get the right to work in the UK on 1 January, and George Osborne signaled a further GBP 12B of welfare cuts after the 2015 election.

The group warned that ministers' pledges to "clamp down on benefit tourists" would not help the Tories but would make the public think the problem was bigger than it really is. It said squeezing the welfare budget was not changing voters' attitudes and would backfire by building sympathy for the unemployed.

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Tags: UK, Bulgarians, Romanians, immigration, PM David Cameron

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