According to new plans proposed by Labour last week
and unveiled by the Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, in fact, sensible action
will be taken to stop migrants making claims as soon as they arrive.
She has also addressed fears about a possible influx
of Romanians and Bulgarians when restrictions are lifted next January.
Work and Pensions Secretary Ian Duncan Smith had
already declared that he wants “rules
around the habitual residence test tightened to ensure immigrants are making a commitment
to the UK before getting welfare benefits”.
However, Ms Cooper has insisted that a ‘presence test’
could be added to the usual residence test to let people prove they have been
in the country for at least three months before being eligible for Government’s
help.
Calling for a more fundamental review of EU benefit
rules and residence requirements, the Shadow Home Secretary also said the
loophole allowing foreign workers in Britain to get child tax credits for
offspring back in their home country, could be eventually closed.
Meanwhile the Home Secretary Theresa May is
considering several immigration-limiting measures, including the possibility,
for non-EU immigrants, to pay a cash bond to enter the UK. It would be repaid if
they left without either overstaying their visa or wrongly claiming from the
Government.
All comments and speeches followed Labour leader Ed
Miliband’s admission that his party had got it wrong on immigration when it was
in power.
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