MP says immigration debate should focus on wages, not benefits
Today in the House of Commons, during Home Office questions, John Baron MP raised EU immigration with the Home Secretary, Rt Hon Theresa May MP.
In the Chamber, John asked,
“Given that the freedom of movement within the EU is the elephant in the room when it comes to immigration, what plans do the Government have to reform this principle, as 28 members at different points of the economic cycle clearly show it is past its sell-by date?”
The Home Secretary replied that the Government had raised the issue of free movement within the EU at various levels, and referred to the Prime Minister’s comments earlier this year about limiting free movement rules for future EU members until the country had reached certain economic benchmarks.
Afterwards, John said,
“There is little point trying to control immigration if we can not control the largest component, which comes from the EU. Freedom of movement might have been applicable for the founding members, when their standards of living were broadly similar, but today the UK’s average wage is far higher than in some Eastern European member states.”
“This discussion should no longer be couched in terms of benefits, but instead address the underlying issue of comparative wages.”
Ends
Word Count: 222
Date: 10th March 2014
John Baron will not post replies to any comments - to contact John please Click here or alternatively for a full list of contact details Click here