Britain not budging on EU welfare reforms - UK minister

  08 December 2015    Read: 708
Britain not budging on EU welfare reforms - UK minister
Britain will not relent in its demand for European Union welfare reforms to curb immigration, senior British minister Iain Duncan Smith said on Tuesday, issuing a punchy response to doubts voiced by senior officials in Brussels.
Concern over high levels of immigration is one of the key drivers behind Prime Minister David Cameron`s decision to try to renegotiate Britain`s ties to the EU and then hold a public referendum by the end of 2017 on whether to stay in the bloc.

On Monday, the man running negotiations between Britain and the EU, Donald Tusk, said a deal between the two could be struck in February, but warned there was no consensus over a British demand to limit welfare payments to migrants.

Asked whether he had any alternative suggestions to present to the EU in response to Tusk, Duncan Smith replied: "Yeah, that they agree with us."

One of the four key British proposals in the renegotiation is to deny benefits to workers from other EU states for four years after they arrive - a move that many in Brussels say would breach EU discrimination laws.

Tusk, in a letter setting out progress in the negotiations, said there was a strong will to satisfy British demands and suggested some welfare reforms were possible.

But the comments by Duncan Smith, the government`s Work and Pensions Secretary, indicate there is little British appetite for a compromise.

Duncan Smith said that allies in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark had all expressed sympathy with Britain`s case to limit welfare payments in order to stop migrants claiming benefits in a country where they have not paid taxes.

"As usual, of course, the British have to make the public case for this, but quietly behind closed doors I think every one of them thinks that this is an issue," he said. "It`s an issue in Bavaria as much as it is in Birmingham."

More about:


News Line