Writing in the Telegraph, David Cameron announces further measures to curb immigration including EU benefits restrictions
Prime Minister David Cameron wrote in the Daily Telegraph yesterday that the Government is creating "an immigration system that puts Britain first" and announced a new set of measures to curb immigration.
Cameron said achieving the Government's aims on immigration means doing three things: "clamping down on abuses of the system; making sure the right people are coming here for the right reasons; and ensuring the British people get a fair deal."
He highlighted that the Government has shut down more than 750 'bogus colleges' and announced a further step whereby if 10 per cent of students recruited by colleges are refused visas, the college will lose its licence. The new measure will be introduced in November, a Home Office press release said.
Cameron also wrote in the Telegraph that some key measures of the Immigration Act 2014 were now in force, notably the policy of "deport first, appeal later".
"This means that where there is no risk of serious harm, we will deport foreign criminals first and hear their appeal once they're back in their home country," Cameron wrote.
For more on the new out of country deportation appeal provisions of the Immigration Act, see Colin Yeo's posts - Serious and irreversible harm and deportation appeals and Out of country deportation appeal certificates and existing appeals - on the Free Movement blog.
The Home Office yesterday published new guidance for non EEA and EEA deportation cases.
Cameron's announcement that the UK is to cut the amount of time EU migrants can claim benefits caught the attention of media, with most focusing on this.
BBC News led with this, noting that Cameron announced EU migrants without realistic job prospects will have the time they can claim benefits cut from six to three months.
Cameron wrote: "And we are announcing today that we are cutting the time people can claim these benefits for. It used to be that European arrivals could claim Jobseeker's Allowance or child benefit for a maximum of six months before their benefits would be cut off, unless they had very clear job prospects. I can tell Telegraph readers today that we will be reducing that cut-off point to three months, saying very clearly: you cannot expect to come to Britain and get something for nothing."
In concluding, Cameron said that the measures announced aim to ensure Britain is "a country that is not a soft touch, but a place to play your part, a nation where those who work hard can get on."
For the Spectator, Cameron's not so subtle message was aimed at Ukip sympathisers and sought to contrast the Conservative's tough stance on immigration with 'soft touch' Labour.