Working migrants could be able to claim benefits after Cameron wavers on EU deal
EVEN working migrants could be free to claim UK benefits on moving to Britain, after David Cameron started to waver on his strongest EU deal policy.
The Prime Minister indicated he was willing to compromise on his controversial suggestion that anyone relocating to Britain would be banned from claiming on the state for four years.
The proposal mooted by the Tories has been met with overwhelming opposition from 27 EU member nations, according to warnings from Brussels.
And in order to save his negotiations on the membership of Britain in the EU, the PM showed he was willing to give ground during a visit to Warsaw
Asked at a press conference in Warsaw whether it was time for him to compromise on the benefit ban, Cameron supplied a politician's answer saying: "There is real engagement with the agenda that we have set out, a lot of common ground, a lot of agreement on the very significant proposals that we have made. Some of them are difficult and they need further work. Everyone is committed to doing that further work and, I think, reaching agreement."
We want to find a solution that is acceptable to the United Kingdom
Last month he indicated that he might be prepared to show some flexibility when he outlined his four-point EU reform plan to the European council president, Donald Tusk.
Cameron is planning to make a final push for the policy at an EU summit next week.
But the ban on in-work benefits would require a treaty change because EU citizens are entitled to be treated in the same way as UK citizens in the workplace, including top-ups to their wages through tax credits.
In February, Tusk is to give a decision on the whole proposed reform package, and the PM is pushing for an agreement from other leaders that show his concerns about high levels of EU migration have been addressed.
But the fourth element of the reform plan, the one covering welfare and benefits will be presented as one which has multiple elements designed to give the UK better control over migration from the EU.
The four-year-ban proposed was one of nine specific proposals in the immigration section of his letter, including a demand that EU migrants working in the UK should not be allowed to send child benefit to children back home. Tusk has indicated that he might be able to find agreement on child benefit.
Polish PM Beata Szydlo warned Cameron that the "basic principles" of the EU's rules on freedom of movement must be respected.
Poland, Britain clash on welfare benefits amid EU reform talks
Poland and other eastern European countries, whose citizens would be hit harder than citizens from wealthier member states, believe the ban breaks the EU's laws on discrimination.
And Cameron came out signalling a more flexible approach.
Szydlo from the strongly nationalist and conservative Law and Justice party said: "Of course, there are discussions and issues where we do not see eye to eye today. Among those issues are welfare and benefits.
"We fully accept the right of the United Kingdom to take sovereign decisions with regard to welfare policy. We want to find a solution that is acceptable to the United Kingdom."
Rob Oxley, media officer of the Vote Leave group, said of signs that No 10 was prepared to compromise on the four-year ban: "David Cameron's renegotiation has amounted to a trivial set of demands that won't bring powers back to the UK and, as the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] have admitted, won't impact immigration flows.
"Smoke and mirrors from No 10 won't hide the fact that any compromise with intransigent EU leaders would only further water down the renegotiation."
Will Straw, executive director of Stronger In, said: "British prime ministers from Harold Wilson to Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair have a strong track record of delivering reforms which benefit Britain and David Cameron is right to continue pursuing the best deal for Britain. Being at the table gives us the best chance of delivering reforms now and into the future."
The other proposals in the reform package are restricting free movement to citizens from future EU states, tougher re-entry bans, stronger deportation for criminals, restricted access to social housing and addressing the way in which it is easier for an EU citizen to bring a non-EU spouse to Britain than it is for a UK citizen to do the same.