Legal News

David Cameron has pledged to introduce new measures to reduce net migration, after the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a record number of migrants came to the UK in 2014.

Last year more than 600,000 new migrants arrived in the UK, with 291,000 new migrants coming from outside the EU. Net migration stands at a record high of 318,000 – the difference between the number of people who leave the UK and those who arrive.

At a meeting with EU leaders in Riga, Latvia today (22/05/15), Mr Cameron is expected to tell Angela Merkel not to block EU reform – it is expected that Mr Cameron will tell the German Chancellor and the French President Fran?ois Holland that his proposal for a four-year ban on migrants claiming benefits is an “absolute requirement” for keeping Britain in the European Union, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

Mr Cameron has also outlined plans for stricter controls on illegal immigration – in 2009 before the coalition government came to power, a report by the London School of Economics estimated there were around one million (947,000) illegal immigrants in the UK. The figure was more than double the previous Home Office estimate under New Labour.

Mr Cameron has also announced plans to confiscate any earnings from illegal migrants who work in the UK.

“While a strong country isn't one that pulls up the drawbridge, it is one that properly controls immigration,” Mr Cameron said.

Figures from the ONS show that a total of 641,000 immigrants came to the UK in 2014 – an increase of more than 100,000 since figures for 2013 –
net migration in 2013 was 209,000.

ONS figures also show that less than half of all new migrants in 2014 were from EU member states.

Freedom of movement across borders and the right to work anywhere in the EU is a founding principle of the European Union.

However, the UK is opposing closer political union and a shared currency.
The Daily Mail reports that leaked documents reveal Britain is pressing for an amendment to EU documents, which would remove references to the euro as “the single currency of the EU”.

Officials believe that this phrase suggests an EU super-state is inevitable – as does the reference to “ever closer union”, which the UK is also challenging.

The Conservative Party pledged to give the UK an in-out referendum on EU membership in 2017 if it won the General Election.

However, the business sector has called for the UK to vote to remain in the EU because of the benefits membership brings to UK businesses and the wider UK economy. The UK’s booming economy is thought to be one reason why so many migrants come to Britain to work and start new lives.

Mr Cameron has said that the EU reforms he is proposing before the UK’s referendum is held would also benefit the EU:

“Working together, we can find solutions that will address the concerns of British people and improve the EU as a whole,” Mr Cameron said.

He added that his drive to change welfare rules to make the UK “less attractive” to EU migrants would be at the centre of his demands before the referendum.

As well as plans to bar migrants from claiming benefits for four years, Mr Cameron is also proposing to remove jobless migrants from the UK after six months – and prevent migrants from being given a council house for at least four years.

It is reported that some Eastern European countries have responded by saying they would not accept a deal which was discriminatory and gave other EU nationals fewer rights than British workers.

Duncan Lewis Immigration Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of immigration solicitors and can advise migrants from the EU and non-EU countries on a wide range of immigration matters, including:

• Asylum and asylum appeals
• British citizenship
• Entrepreneur visas
• Fast track detention
• Five-year work permit
• Housing Benefit
• Illegal entry to the UK
• Marriage in the UK
• Right to work in the UK
• Student visas
• Spouse visas
• Visa overstays.

For expert legal advice on all UK immigration matters, call Duncan Lewis immigration solicitors on 020 7923 4020.