Rules strengthened against eastern Europeans
By politics.co.uk staff
The Home Office stepped up its efforts at keeping unwanted immigrants out of Britain today.
New powers removing Europeans who are not working, studying or self-sufficient were introduced meaning those ‘not playing by the rules’ will not be allowed to stay.
The deportation threshold for European criminals has been cut from 24 months imprisonment to 12 months for drugs, violent and sexual offences, meaning they will be automatically considered for deportation.
And the government has announced the worker registration scheme will be continued, meaning eastern Europeans will have to work and pay tax in the UK for 12 months before gaining full access to benefits.
“Migration only works if it benefits the British people, and we are determined to make sure that is what happens,” immigration minister Phil Woolas said.
“That is why I am delighted to announce that we are keeping in place restrictions which mean we can continue to count how many people are coming here, and which limit eastern Europeans’ access to benefits.”
Numbers of eastern European migrants is falling dramatically. The number of applications slipped to 29,000 in the final quarter of 2008 compared to 53,000 in the same period in 2007.
