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Cameron to Cut Migration Levels in UK, Scrap Benefits for EU Jobseekers

© Fotobank.ru/Getty Images / Rebecca Naden - WPA PoolCameron stated that, if re-elected as British Prime Minister, he will impose further actions aimed at curbing migration, adding that he will seek legislation that requires EU jobseekers to find work within 6 months of their arrival, or they will be required to leave the United Kingdom.
Cameron stated that, if re-elected as British Prime Minister, he will impose further actions aimed at curbing migration, adding that he will seek legislation that requires EU jobseekers to find work within 6 months of their arrival, or they will be required to leave the United Kingdom. - Sputnik International
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David Cameron has said he is planning to return net migration in the UK to 1990s levels and to curb perks for migrants coming from the European Union.

The United Kingdom's membership in the European Union is subject to its ability to refuse welfare benefits to EU migrants in the country, Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to announce Friday. - Sputnik International
Cameron: No Economic Benefits to Migrants if Britain Stays in EU
MOSCOW, November 28 (Sputnik) — British Prime Minister David Cameron set out plans on Friday to return net migration in the United Kingdom to 1990s levels and to curb benefits for migrants from the European Union.

”So we set a clear target: to return net migration to 1990s levels when even though we had an open economy, proper immigration controls meant immigration was in the tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands…So we took action to cut numbers and tackle abuse on every visa route for those coming to Britain from outside Europe. We imposed an annual cap on economic migration of 20,700,” Cameron said in a televised speech on BBC.

Plans by the British government to cut in-work benefits, money paid to low wage workers to top up their salaries, for European migrants are discriminatory and will not curb the migration of Poles to the United Kingdom, Polish Ambassador to London Witold Sobkow said on Monday. - Sputnik International
UK Plans to Cut In-Work Benefits for EU Migrants ‘Discriminatory’: Warsaw
Cameron added that one of his major aims is to lower migration from the European Union by banning foreign jobseekers claiming benefits.

“We’ve scrapped housing benefit for EU jobseekers. And we have limited benefits claims to three months for those EU migrants who have no prospect of a job. But now we are going to go further,” he said.

Cameron stated that, if re-elected as British Prime Minister, he will impose further actions aimed at curbing migration, adding that he will seek legislation that requires EU jobseekers to find work within 6 months of their arrival, or they will be required to leave the United Kingdom.

Cameron acknowledged that the British economy largely depends on immigrants, as thousands of people from all over the world work in the UK banking and medical sectors, adding that “we have always understood that our national greatness is built on our openness.” He further stated that the United Kingdom now needs to educate and train young Britons to reduce the country’s dependency on immigrants.

The UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) discloses that out of 5.3 million people claiming working age benefits in February 2014, 395,000 were foreign nationals, almost half of whom came from the European Union. The DWP also noted that almost 12 percent of Jobseeker Allowance claimants were non-UK nationals, and just under half of those same claimants were from the European Union.

UK Should Not Leave EU, But Major Reforms in Bloc Needed

The United Kingdom should remain in the European Union, but London will push for reforms in the 28-member bloc, British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a televised speech on the BBC on Friday.

Cameron Promises to Challenge Extra Payment to EU Budget
"Those who say we would certainly be better off outside the EU only ever tell you part of the story… If you elect me as Prime Minister in May, I will negotiate to reform the European Union, and Britain's relationship with it. This issue of free movement will be a key part of that negotiation. If I succeed, I will, as I have said, campaign to keep this country in a reformed EU," Cameron stated.

Cameron added that if the United Kingdom decides to secede from the European Union, it would lose access to the single market instantly, as well as the right to live elsewhere in the bloc for the 1.3 million British citizens who currently live and work in other EU countries.

"It will be argued that freedom of movement is a holy principle – one of the four cardinal principles of the EU, alongside freedom of capital, of services and of goods – and that what we are suggesting is heresy. To which I say: hang on a moment. No one claims that the other three freedoms have yet been fully implemented. Far from it," he said.

"And freedom of movement itself is not absolute. There are rules for when new Member States join the EU precisely to cope with excessive numbers. So why can't there be steps to allow Member States a greater degree of control, in order to uphold a general and important principle, but one which is already qualified?" Cameron added.

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