Nick Clegg mulls benefit ban for immigrants
Deputy Prime minister Nick Clegg is set to make way for a coalition crackdown on benefits to European Union migrants.
Clegg has organised a meeting with German vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel to discuss a way to find a middle ground between tackling so-called benefit tourism and keeping free movement in the EU.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the deputy prime minister criticised Prime Minister David Cameron’s rigid stance on EU immigration. Cameron has been accused of employing an aggressive stance on immigration in an effort to frantically win back supporters lost to Nigel Farage’s UKIP.
"If the prime minister asserts that a Tory government will introduce caps or overall quotas on the number of EU migrants coming here, we will find ourselves in the worst of all worlds,” said Clegg.
"UKIP will say it is not enough. Europe will say it is not possible. Once again the British people will be plunged into a cycle of wild overpromising and inevitable disappointment, their scepticism confirmed."
Alternatively, Clegg suggested that EU migrants should be prevented from claiming government benefits until they have "worked and contributed" to the UK economy.
Among the deputy’s proposals, Clegg suggested restricting migrant access to in-work benefits like tax credits. In accordance with Clegg’s plans, migrants would be required to work the equivalent of full-time hours on the minimum wage to qualify for such benefits.
The Lib Dem leader raised concerns over Cameron’s forthcoming speech in which the PM is expected to lay out a tough new stance on immigration. Clegg stated that the hostile measures set out by the PM could put the UK’s EU membership at risk and ultimately jeopardise the British economy.