David Cameron defends bid to curb migrant benefits insisting it's not discriminatory
DAVID CAMERON has defended his bid to crack down on migrants’ benefits arguing that they should only come to Britain to find work.
David Cameron insisted that that his plans to curb in-work benefits was not discriminatory
The Prime Minister insisted that his proposals for a four-year ban on claims from EU citizens was not discriminatory.
Mr Cameron is hoping his renegotiation of Britain's ties with Brussels will help reduce the number of EU nationals moving to the UK under the bloc’s freedom of movement rules.
He said: “Originally free movement of workers meant that it was the freedom to go and take a job and hold that job in another country.”
"60% of the people coming to Britain from the European Union now are job seekers. They're coming because we're creating lots of jobs.”
EU Referendum: What we know
Before taking office in 2010, Mr Cameron had promised to reduce net migration to the UK to the "tens of thousands".
But figures released last month revealed annual net migration had reached a new record high of 336,000, including 180,000 people from the EU.
The Prime Minister called on the Angela Merkel to help keep Britain in the EU
Stressing that he did not want to undermine the principle of freedom of movement, Mr Cameron said: "We're a country that has welcomed migrants, not just from Europe, but from all over the world.
”We don't want to change that, but we do need to address this excessive pressure that we've got at the moment.”
Mr Cameron is hoping his renegotiation with Brussels will reduce net migration to
Mr Cameron’s comments came after a meeting with Angela Merkel in Bavaria in which he called on the German Chancellor to help keep Britain in the EU.
Writing in German paper Bild, the Prime Minister warned that support for the EU among the UK public had "declined over many years".
Figures released last month revealed annual net migration had reached a new record high of 336,000