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| The shadow work and pensions secretary, Rachel Reeves. Photograph: David Gadd/Allstar Picture Library |
Labour would clamp down on tax credits claimed by working EU
migrants, it announced on Tuesday, as the main parties scramble to prove
they are tough on immigration.
The shadow work and pensions secretary, Rachel Reeves, said the UK social security system “was never designed for the levels of migration we are now seeing”.
Reeves also said Labour would extend the period for which EU migrants are prevented from claiming out-of-work benefits from three months to two years, a move that might deter some coming to the country even if they had a job offer.
The plans take Labour further than proposals so far announced by the Conservatives. The government currently requires out-of-work EU migrants to be in Britain for three months, and imposes a new requirement to show they have a genuine chance of finding work if they are to continue to receive jobseeker’s allowance after six months on the dole.
Reeves said she had gathered support among European social democrats for her plans, adding that she was prepared for a fight with the European commission.
She put the Treasury cost of paying in-work tax credits to about 252,000 EU migrant households at £1.6bn a year, but did not spell out whether she wanted to remove tax credits from all EU migrants, or just those on short-term contracts.
Along with the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, Reeves represents a northern seat and believes the party has to do more to recognise key Labour voters’ concerns about immigration and welfare.
The Conservatives are known to be looking at how in-work credits for EU migrants could be reduced, but the issue is made more complex because many of the payments will by 2017-18 be merged with universal credit – a new benefit that is due to combine in- and out-of-work benefits.
Reeves made her proposal on Mail Online, the website of one of the newspapers that has campaigned hardest against migrants’ perceived abuse of the welfare system.
In a keynote speech last week, Ed Miliband vowed he would not pander to a rightwing Eurosceptic agenda. A Labour official justified floating the plans in the Mail because it was important to speak to key swing voters, but the decision is bound to prove controversial with those who fear Miliband is weakened by sending out mixed messages on migration.
In her article, timed to appear two days before the Rochester byelection – which Ukip is expected to win – Reeves insists her plans are designed to end exploitation in the labour market and prevent employers using tax credits as a way of subsidising inadequate wages.
She insisted it is the Tories who “look increasingly like they are desperately attempting to out-Ukip Ukip”.
She added: “I will never pander to those who would deny the positive contribution that immigrants have always made to our country or the economic benefits we gain from our membership of the EU … but I also believe that we have to listen to the real concerns that people have about how immigration is being managed.”
She insisted her proposed reforms would be achievable inside a reformed EU and could be negotiated with Brussels, a claim that was challenged by Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader.
She wrote: “We don’t need to walk away from Europe to put the principles of work and contribution at the heart of our system. We can deliver these changes through negotiation and reform and we will.”
She did not say exactly how she would deprive EU migrants of in-work tax credits, but wrote she was determined to find a mechanism. “It is far too easy for employers in Britain to undercut wages and working conditions by recruiting temporary workers from elsewhere in Europe on very low pay and with no job security, knowing that the benefit system will top up their income. There are 252,000 working households from the EU now receiving tax credits, including 12% of all single, childless people receiving working tax credit.
“Our country’s social security system was never intended to subsidise and perpetuate low-paid and insecure work.
“The European single market should not be about a race to the bottom on working conditions. So while some have said that we cannot negotiate changes to benefits paid to people in work, I am determined to look at how we can deliver reform in this area too.”
Reeves said Labour would end “the absurdity of child benefit and child tax credits being claimed for children living in other countries”. She said David Cameron appeared to have given up the fight on the issue, although access to child benefit and housing benefit for EU migrants has already been reduced.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has also vowed to act on what he regards as an anomaly. He has suggested EU claimants should only receive the level of benefit paid by their own country.
The shadow work and pensions secretary, Rachel Reeves, said the UK social security system “was never designed for the levels of migration we are now seeing”.
Reeves also said Labour would extend the period for which EU migrants are prevented from claiming out-of-work benefits from three months to two years, a move that might deter some coming to the country even if they had a job offer.
The plans take Labour further than proposals so far announced by the Conservatives. The government currently requires out-of-work EU migrants to be in Britain for three months, and imposes a new requirement to show they have a genuine chance of finding work if they are to continue to receive jobseeker’s allowance after six months on the dole.
Reeves said she had gathered support among European social democrats for her plans, adding that she was prepared for a fight with the European commission.
She put the Treasury cost of paying in-work tax credits to about 252,000 EU migrant households at £1.6bn a year, but did not spell out whether she wanted to remove tax credits from all EU migrants, or just those on short-term contracts.
Along with the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, Reeves represents a northern seat and believes the party has to do more to recognise key Labour voters’ concerns about immigration and welfare.
The Conservatives are known to be looking at how in-work credits for EU migrants could be reduced, but the issue is made more complex because many of the payments will by 2017-18 be merged with universal credit – a new benefit that is due to combine in- and out-of-work benefits.
Reeves made her proposal on Mail Online, the website of one of the newspapers that has campaigned hardest against migrants’ perceived abuse of the welfare system.
In a keynote speech last week, Ed Miliband vowed he would not pander to a rightwing Eurosceptic agenda. A Labour official justified floating the plans in the Mail because it was important to speak to key swing voters, but the decision is bound to prove controversial with those who fear Miliband is weakened by sending out mixed messages on migration.
In her article, timed to appear two days before the Rochester byelection – which Ukip is expected to win – Reeves insists her plans are designed to end exploitation in the labour market and prevent employers using tax credits as a way of subsidising inadequate wages.
She insisted it is the Tories who “look increasingly like they are desperately attempting to out-Ukip Ukip”.
She added: “I will never pander to those who would deny the positive contribution that immigrants have always made to our country or the economic benefits we gain from our membership of the EU … but I also believe that we have to listen to the real concerns that people have about how immigration is being managed.”
She insisted her proposed reforms would be achievable inside a reformed EU and could be negotiated with Brussels, a claim that was challenged by Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader.
She wrote: “We don’t need to walk away from Europe to put the principles of work and contribution at the heart of our system. We can deliver these changes through negotiation and reform and we will.”
She did not say exactly how she would deprive EU migrants of in-work tax credits, but wrote she was determined to find a mechanism. “It is far too easy for employers in Britain to undercut wages and working conditions by recruiting temporary workers from elsewhere in Europe on very low pay and with no job security, knowing that the benefit system will top up their income. There are 252,000 working households from the EU now receiving tax credits, including 12% of all single, childless people receiving working tax credit.
“Our country’s social security system was never intended to subsidise and perpetuate low-paid and insecure work.
“The European single market should not be about a race to the bottom on working conditions. So while some have said that we cannot negotiate changes to benefits paid to people in work, I am determined to look at how we can deliver reform in this area too.”
Reeves said Labour would end “the absurdity of child benefit and child tax credits being claimed for children living in other countries”. She said David Cameron appeared to have given up the fight on the issue, although access to child benefit and housing benefit for EU migrants has already been reduced.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has also vowed to act on what he regards as an anomaly. He has suggested EU claimants should only receive the level of benefit paid by their own country.
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