Eu Migrants Would Wait Two Years For Jobless Benefits, Says Labour

[Quicken]

EU migrants would have to wait up to two years before claiming jobless benefits under new Labour plans to curb benefit tourism.

The move goes far beyond the current three month delay in claiming the dole, and would be a key demand from Ed Miliband for Brussels to give Britain tighter control of benefits spending.

In an exclusive article for MailOnline, Labour’s Rachel Reeves vowed to put the ‘fairness and responsibility at the heart of Britain’s welfare system’.

The plans, set out for the first time today, also include limiting access to tax credits which are used by employees to top-up incomes for low paid workers, and ending the ‘absurdity’ of child benefit being exported to families spread across Europe.

The plan will be seen as an attempt by Labour to address the loss of support to Ukip, particularly in its northern heartlands.

Strategists also hope to steal a march on David Cameron, who is expected to set out his plans to curb EU immigration in the next few weeks.

Ms Reeves, the shadow work and pensions secretary, warns that the current benefits system was ‘never designed for the levels of migration we are now seeing’.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2839327/Labour-ban-jobless-EU-migrants-claiming-benefits-TWO-YEARS-plan-curb-welfare-tourism.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11238587/Labour-says-EU-immigrants-should-be-banned-for-two-years-from-getting-jobless-benefits.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30102310

[AThirdWay]

UKIP have the lot of 'em jumping through hoops

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

Why should they have to wait? Would you have to wait if you moved to their country?

These things should be consolidated across the whole of Europe.

You do run into a problem that if you move abroad, lose your job and move back home you won;t be able to claim anything. I personally don;t think the system should be like that.

Anyway the whole thing is a distraction from the thriving shisters in Westminster and the banks who are really stealing all of the money,. What's a few million in benefits payments to anyone.

Let's start by reducing MP's expenses and capping bankers pay to 5x the lowest fulltime employee.

[papag]

Why should they have to wait? Would you have to wait if you moved to their country?

If you moved to Spain you would have to wait for ever no matter what the EU says

[renting til I die]

Why should they have to wait? Would you have to wait if you moved to their country?

These things should be consolidated across the whole of Europe.

You do run into a problem that if you move abroad, lose your job and move back home you won;t be able to claim anything. I personally don;t think the system should be like that.

Anyway the whole thing is a distraction from the thriving shisters in Westminster and the banks who are really stealing all of the money,. What's a few million in benefits payments to anyone.

Let's start by reducing MP's expenses and capping bankers pay to 5x the lowest fulltime employee.

Lets start by cutting the number of MPs!

[billybong]

EU migrants would have to wait up to two years before claiming jobless benefits under new Labour plans to curb benefit tourism.

The move goes far beyond the current three month delay in claiming the dole, and would be a key demand from Ed Miliband for Brussels to give Britain tighter control of benefits spending

It's matterless what Labour say they're now going to "demand".

UK people have already been told countless times that the eu won't allow that sort of stuff. Labour aren't even "promising" a referendum on the eu or on any eu concessions so if they were elected it would be "The eu won't allow it".

"Key demand"

At any rate seeing as eu migrants tend to be young they could easily wait a couple of years and then go on benefits - likely it would save next to nothing.

Promises promises.

Edited November 18, 2014 by billybong

[Uncle_Kenny]

My opinion (not that it counts for anything in our political system) is that EU migrants should wait forever for their benefits, and still not get them.

If your not a British citizen, then you don't get anything. Simple.

[oracle]

UKIP have the lot of 'em jumping through hoops

not necessarily the best solution,believe it or not.

if they come here and don't get benefits they will either beg or resort to crime.

it needs to be tougher all over.

1) ALL benefits system now contribution based.

2) lets say 12 months non-claim period for new entrants, and they must have a job.

3)only provisional citizenship applied as right of abode for the 1st 10 years, operating 3 strikes and out for minor offences(like begging)

.....conviction of an offence warranting 12 months+ sentence during probation is IMMEDIATE expulsion from the country...like....you will be taken from this place to dover police terminal, have your dna, facial scan etc taken and be out on the morning ferry.

for temps like farm workers, a 90 day validity work visa is quite sufficient, with letter of invite/contract of employment submitted by employer to the authorities.the application process for employers needs to be sufficiently expensive and laborious to deter all but those with exceptional talent.

FWIW it's not just this country having these type of problems,most of europe is., so we can find some common ground between like minded countries.

Edited November 18, 2014 by oracle

[Corruption]

The benefits system should be privatised and not in the Tory party way of privatisation where they tax you then give the contract to their mates.

in that you have your own insurance for times when you are out of work and needing to claim. Much in the same way someone who is self employed has this cover in case of injury or illness.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Corruption

[olde guto]

The benefits system should be privatised and not in the Tory party way of privatisation where they tax you then give the contract to their mates.

in that you have your own insurance for times when you are out of work and needing to claim. Much in the same way someone who is self employed has this cover in case of injury or illness.

Because the insurance sector never does anything wrong...

Based on current insurance company shenanigans I foresee the following:

* You've never made a claim but because your neighbour gets made redundant your premium goes up.

* You're made redundant but because you didn't hang around in the office after 5pm just to make yourself look like a hard worker you don't get a penny.

* Failed to tell them about your pay rise or Christmas bonus, you don't get a penny.

* When you do call them to tell them about your £50 Christmas bonus they charge you a £20 admin fee.

* You get sold a policy that'll never pay out.

* Live in an unemployment risk area your premium will be £££ or you won't get insured.

* Some clever people in Bradford or wherever will figure out a way of fiddling the system (and we'll be outraged but will continue to pay through the nose)

As the saying goes an insurance company's job is to not pay out. Remember the Lloyd's Names who took them to court when massive payouts had to be made?

The financial sector in the UK is rotten to the core that includes banks and their mates in the insurance sector. I wouldn't trust them to clean my bog. Our current NI system is flawed without a doubt but the only thing that could make it worse is get financial sector halfwits involved. If there was a recession I wouldn't be surprised to see some of them nearly go bankrupt and then the state will bail them out because there would be riots on the street if the insurance companies didn't pay out.

[@contradevian]

I'm guessing that landlords won't have to wait two years for their rent (housing benefits)

[sf-02]

OMG, Labour are actually actively discussing, wait for it, TAX CREDITS!!!!

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/18/labour-clamp-down-in-work-tax-credits-eu-migrants

Believe it or not I think Miliband may actually get some of the issues given a few things I've read and heard from him. Then Balls pipes up and I sigh. He hasn't a clue.

As for the person saying would we have to wait if we move to other EU countries - then yes! The UK is alone in having a fundamentally non-contributory welfare system so a person can claim shortly after arriving without ever having paid in. Try that across the EU and you'll be told to bugger off, which is fair enough.

Edited November 18, 2014 by sf-02

[FedupTeddiBear]

Edit: sf-02 has said it already, so repetition deleted. But the link below gives evidence.

http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefingPaper/document/284

The table at the end (annex D) summarises it all.

This is not the only issue. A friend in the NHS has mentioned to me that there is now a real problem with huge numbers of non-English speakers turning up at hospitals for treatment and in maternity wards with no history of care and no fixed UK address. As it is considered unethical to deny treatment, they are admitted. In many countries, if you have no ID or no credit card, you are not admitted to the hospital for treatment, or are offered only the most basic care. In some maternity wards, foreign patients are outnumbering locals, costing the NHS a fortune and forcing temporary ward closures due to there being no beds available. It seems that the NHS is fast becoming the WHS (World Health Service.)

Edited November 18, 2014 by FedupTeddiBear

[billybong]

For sure they know the issues that's why they're so quick to announce possible "changes" to current policies when they find they have political competition. They do a massive amount of research on those things as power is so important to them.

The changes are always proposed as elections approach (Rochester and Strood next Thursday and the general election next May) then if they're successful they renege on the "promises". It's happened time after time after time.

Vote UKIP and have a laugh for a change (plus it brings an eu referendum nearer).

Edited November 18, 2014 by billybong

[moesasji]

My opinion (not that it counts for anything in our political system) is that EU migrants should wait forever for their benefits, and still not get them.

If your not a British citizen, then you don't get anything. Simple.

So people have to pay tax, but can't actually rely on the safety-net that is supported by paying tax. While those that don't pay tax can (as long as they are British) ....the logic evades me.

The much more practical approach is to simply fix this by having a contribution based benefit system that is very common in many Northern European countries. If you haven't paid tax the support by the state is pretty rudimentary and makes the system both fairer to everyone as well as working more attractive. That is a pretty easy way in which you discourage some of the excesses that you see happening in the UK.....

However doing something this obvious, that is compatible with EU-regulations, clearly is too difficult for the average politician. Much easier to shout random ideas without thinking about HOW you are going to implement them. This "Labour sound bite" being one of those again in my opinion.

[campervanman]

Why should they have to wait? Would you have to wait if you moved to their country?

These things should be consolidated across the whole of Europe.

You do run into a problem that if you move abroad, lose your job and move back home you won;t be able to claim anything. I personally don;t think the system should be like that.

Anyway the whole thing is a distraction from the thriving shisters in Westminster and the banks who are really stealing all of the money,. What's a few million in benefits payments to anyone.

Let's start by reducing MP's expenses and capping bankers pay to 5x the lowest fulltime employee.

r

Certainly in France ,benefits are linked to the amount of contributions made and for access to the health system a continuous period of residence is needed or, if not, being able to demonstrate you will not be a drain on the system through a minimum contribution level. Milliband is on the right lines in looking at bringing the UK into line with the rest of Europe.

[olde guto]

IIRC the basic rule is that EU citizens should be treated as per your own nationals. The problem is fixed (today, now) very easily by having no benefits unless you have paid in (as it used to be in UK and as it is in France today) be you a UK or EU citizen ... same for housing benefit etc. There is no will to fix the problem, same with building houses, these problems can be solved but there is more 'capital' to be made by politicians pretending to argue with each other about these 'difficult' problems.

Exactly, problem solved, but they don't want to as it'll remove two bogeymen for the government of the day to blame - the unemployed and of course the EU/immigrants (a bit of divide and conquer anyone?). If remove the bogeymen people might actually wake-up and see what is really going on in the uk.

Edit: sf-02 has said it already, so repetition deleted. But the link below gives evidence.

http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefingPaper/document/284

The table at the end (annex D) summarises it all.

This is not the only issue. A friend in the NHS has mentioned to me that there is now a real problem with huge numbers of non-English speakers turning up at hospitals for treatment and in maternity wards with no history of care and no fixed UK address. As it is considered unethical to deny treatment, they are admitted. In many countries, if you have no ID or no credit card, you are not admitted to the hospital for treatment, or are offered only the most basic care. In some maternity wards, foreign patients are outnumbering locals, costing the NHS a fortune and forcing temporary ward closures due to there being no beds available. It seems that the NHS is fast becoming the WHS (World Health Service.)

So request ID/address or EHIC card for EU visitors and if they don't have one take a credit/debit card imprint and charge them - problem solved (or do whatever the French or Germans do). However, as above it'll remove someone else to blame for NHS problems. I wonder did the same friend bother to tell you just how much the NHS actually depends on "johnny foreigner" to keep it running?

[TheCountOfNowhere]

TPTB don't get it do they.

The British want an END ( and maybe now a reversal ) to immigration. The countries infrastructure/finances are at breaking point. Not a problem if you are a public sector trougher or massively wealthy flying round the country in your helicopter but for the other 60 Million people who live here TPTB really need to start running the country for the benefit of the British people before more and more people turn to right wing parties. It can and it will happen.