UK main goals are to decrease migration within the European Union and show that "EU intervention in our national life" has passed the "high water mark," Hammond said after visiting all EU member states to canvas support for the United Kingdom's renegotiation of its EU membership, as quoted by The Telegraph.
"There's nothing magic about four years. That's where we've set our stall and I think if anyone's going to suggest that it needs to be less, they'd have to show us that there's some compensating mechanism that would have the same effect on migration — because in the end this is about the impact on migration," the secretary added.
Hammond stressed that the limit on access to welfare benefits is only one of the mechanisms that might be considered by the UK government during the renegotiation process.
