‘No arbitrary caps on EU immigration’

The plans by the Conservative government to restrict the numbers of immigrants coming into United Kingdom for work will not be accepted by the European Union (EU), and is not compatible with EU regulations, the outgoing president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso said in London on Sunday.

“In principle, arbitrary caps seem to me in contradiction with EU laws. That is quite clear from my point of view,” Mr. Barroso, who is demitting office next month, told on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

Cameron’s statement

He was responding to recent media reports quoting British Prime Minister David Cameron as saying that he would cut immigration from the EU by limiting the time period for national insurance numbers issued to migrants.

“The freedom of movement is a very important principle in the internal market … The British citizens have freedom of movement all over Europe. There are 700,000 living in Spain. So the principle of the freedom of movement is essential, we have to keep it,” Mr. Barroso said.

In the context of the in-out referendum on Europe in 2017 promised by the Conservative party, he added that the U.K. would have “zero” influence if it sought to quit the EU. Seen as having been a pro-U.K. incumbent, Mr. Barroso, amplified his criticism at a talk at Chatham House on Monday.

By hardening its anti-immigration policies on the ground while ratcheting up the rhetoric on the alleged perils of immigration, the Conservative Party leadership is seeking to respond to the threat from the right-wing United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

The UKIP is avowedly anti-immigration, and believes that the U.K. should leave the EU.

Eurosceptics in Britain Mr. Cameron is also appeasing the eurosceptics in his own party, worried that more of them will follow the path of Douglas Carswell, a Conservative Member of Parliament who recently quit the party to join UKIP and successfully re-contested the Clacton constituency on a UKIP ticket, becoming the its first MP.

The immigration debate has taken the centre stage of British mainstream politics in the last few months, with even sections of the Labour Party calling for greater immigration controls.

In fact, Labour also suffered a major erosion of its base in the recent election for the Heywood and Middleton parliamentary seat, where its candidate won by just 670 votes. Pressures from within the party resulted in Labour leader Ed Miliband caving in to the immigration hysteria. He made a statement which said that immigrants would have to “earn the right” to claim benefits and take English language competency tests. Stiffer border controls must stop illegal migration and the erosion in the wages of local workers, he added.