http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22712569

The timing of this is strange as it’s an old bit of legislation.
The conspiracy theorist in me makes me think it may be a Tory ploy so that if/when the government “win” this case they can proclaim to be in Europe not ruled by Europe and kick UKIP up the electoral behind.

I think it may in fact be an EU plot to make sure we definitely vote ‘out’ in any future referendum.

Its the only feasible explanation, other than that the EU is in fact run* by completely incompetent half wits, so totally detached from reality that they couldn’t see how this would play out

* The word is used figuratively in this instance, and in no way denotes any organisational skill whatsoever other than the observance of chaos theory

*drums fingers and waits for Junkyard to turn up* 😀

Been googling for ten minutes and still can’t find any sort of original source document that clearly identifies what is happening. All the media reports are just rehashings of the same (presumably) press release. http://www.airecentre.org/news.php/100/aire-centre-welcomes-european-commission-action-to-ensure-that-vulnerable-eu-citizens-can-receive-ba

Whatever … I am voting out.

🙄

Manna from heaven for UKIP

And yet this story actually goes some considerable way in exposing as nonsense UKIP’s claim of the existence of “benefit tourism”.

According to the link Britain has for the last 9 years been denying benefit claims from people from other EU countries who have been living and working in the UK :

Labour, which introduced the right-to-reside rules in 2004 in response to concerns about EU enlargement, said the residence test should be strengthened.

“Most people who come to Britain work and contribute,” shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said. “But it is right that we should have checks in place to make sure people contribute or show commitment to this country before they benefit.”

Earlier this month during the county elections UKIP’s policies included :

• Prioritising services for local people We must end benefit and health tourism and give priority to local people for housing, education, health and social services.

It seems that UKIP’s Daily Mail-rousing bollox doesn’t quite reflect actual reality. So I’m not entirely sure why it would be manna from heaven for them.

because they’ll now say:

“Eurocrats demand that the UK make it even EASIER for imigrants to get free money”

or something like that…

So it’s not a problem right now ?* …… despite UKIP claiming that it is.

How embarrassing for UKIP 🙂

* Benefit tourism that is.

I think because some ‘migrants’ have been excluded benefits they are perfectly entitled to after working here (and paying taxes) – such as maternity pay.

So either someone with connections has been excluded, or there are enough now to raise a ‘stink’.

ernie_lynch – Member

How embarrassing for UKIP

lots of things should be are embarrassing for UKIP; their policies, their candidates, etc.

it doesn’t seem to discourage them..

If you take the ‘benefits tourism’ story along with the one about the EU investigation into Spanish hospitals asking UK tourists to pay for medical care they are entitled to get free you find that the EU is implementing a fair policy in an even handed manner. It’ll never catch on in this country. 🙂

it doesn’t seem to discourage them..

That, sadly, is more a reflection on the poor quality of the opposition to them, imo.

So, why shouldn’t people from other EU countries get benefits here?

So lets place the boot on the other foot.

What if someone who sold up and moved to an eastern EU country, one which has migration restrictions placed upon it’s citizens from residing in the UK permanently, is now a non tax paying UK citizen, claims pensions, disability living allowance, higher rate mobility allowance, winter fuel allowance, and free prescriptions for their extensive medical problems from the UK. They also get free medical care in the said country, due to being a UK citizen.

How is that “fair”? The migrant workers who have paid tax here should be allowed to claim benefits if they have contributed the prescribed amount.

“Eurocrats demand that the UK make it even EASIER for imigrants to get free money”

Surely that’s way too timid, I’m expecting UKIP leaflets to be more like:

EU fatcats force hard working brits to subsidise 16 billion illegal immigrants with free council houses and sky TV plus up to £800 spending money each week whilst unemployed Brits starve

It is odd that we as a people seem to have absolutely no use for the idea that we might re-locate within the EU.

I think there’ll a bit of focus on skiving edinburgh students in the next ukip leaflets

Chubbyblokeinlycra the final draft of ukips Aberdeen by-election leaflet might look like this

‘hard working brits to subsidise 16 billion illegal immigrant Edinburgh students’

It is odd that we as a people seem to have absolutely no use for the idea that we might re-locate within the EU

apart from the tens of thousands that relocate to france, spain and portugal usually spouting some reactionary nonsense as the reason for the move.

only to end up living totally outside of the local culture and returning home when they get totally strung out by withdrawal from hp sauce, mellow birds coffee and being told who to hate next by their favourite newspaper.

*drums fingers and waits for Junkyard to turn up*

you were disappointed then

It was on Radio 4 where a dutch woman who spent 40 years in South Africa wanted to get a pension here – she has been in holland for a few years and gets a pension there which is more than here FWIW but her family is here.
She went to S Africa when it was racist and then returned here [EU] presumably for a free pension when she never paid taxes in the EU.
I am inclined to not give her a pension tbh
Not really the kind of person I feel like helping tbh

As for the wider context as to whethe rit i within the rules I dont know tbh

PS they are also taking Spain to court for not providing health to EU citizens with the E11 card – that wont get much coverage though.

Intereesting JY (I have been driving up and down the M40 all day) the news coverage on different radio channels have been covering both stories one after another throughout the day (albeit no surprises which came first), but the potential irony was missed by the channels themselves! I appreciate that the stories are different but there is at least a slight hint of double standards that was missed by all!!

well the double standards has been missed by me what is it?

trailmonkey – Member

“It is odd that we as a people seem to have absolutely no use for the idea that we might re-locate within the EU”

apart from the tens of thousands that relocate to france, spain and portugal usually spouting some reactionary nonsense as the reason for the move.

only to end up living totally outside of the local culture and returning home when they get totally strung out by withdrawal from hp sauce, mellow birds coffee and being told who to hate next by their favourite newspaper.

Posted 2 hours ago

The best post I’ve read in a while…..concise, highly amusing, truthful, and scores a direct hit on the target.

Nice work trailmonkey ….. you should do STW a favour and post more often.

apart from the tens of thousands that relocate to france, spain and portugal usually spouting some reactionary nonsense as the reason for the move.

only to end up living totally outside of the local culture and returning home when they get totally strung out by withdrawal from hp sauce, mellow birds coffee and being told who to hate next by their favourite newspaper.
I concur.These “Daily Mail ghettos” are anathema to me too.
But how many receive means tested benefits paid by the country in which they reside?

Nick, trailmonkey was purely responding to the claim : “It is odd that we as a people seem to have absolutely no use for the idea that we might re-locate within the EU” there was no mention of “means tested benefits”.

I have no idea what level of social assistance the rather aging expat populations in France, Spain, and Portugal, receive, I don’t know if it’s a known/measured quantity. Certainly my sister living in Madrid speaks very highly of Spanish healthcare provisions which she uses extensively for her bewildering assortment of ailments, and I suspect that when my parents retired to the Costa Blanca they likewise made use of Spain’s healthcare provisions for their age related medical issues.

I have no idea what level of social assistance the rather aging expat populations in France, Spain, and Portugal, receive, I don’t know if it’s a known/measured quantity

ernie
Healthcare is a seperate issue.

ChubbyBlokeInLycra – Member
I think there’ll a bit of focus on skiving edinburgh students in the next ukip leaflets

But aren’t they all English?

ChubbyBlokeInLycra – Member
I think there’ll a bit of focus on skiving edinburgh students in the next ukip leaflets

But aren’t they all English?
They may sound English but that just confirms that they’re from Scottish gentry stock 🙂
Either way they gave it to Farage like so many of us want to.

ernie
Healthcare is a seperate issue.

Well according to the link which you provided, in your OP, healthcare is part of the same issue we are discussing. From your link :

“The government recently announced plans for additional curbs on what migrants to the UK should be allowed to access.

The Queen’s Speech included a bill to make short-term migrants pay for NHS care”

ernie
Pedantic I know but that clearly says …Plans..More electioneering by the Tories to win over any UKIP defectors maybe but it is a coalition policy so maybe not.
What is being challenged by the EU commission presently is what is already in place.

28 posts after the OP: plenty of opinions, no primary source information about who is doing what to whom and on what legal basis! 😀

This took me less than 1 minute to find – does no-one use google?

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-475_en.htm?locale=en

Easy fix is they make everyone do the right to reside test.

Jonathan Portes, from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said studies suggested migrants to the UK are “significantly less likely” to claim benefits than British nationals.

He said EU migrants pay at least 30% more in taxes than they take out in benefits, according to research by University College London.

So despite all the frothing, some actual science suggests benefits tourism is not really a problem at all.

We are in parts an incredibly arrogant, insular and isolated people and UKIP and the Tories just seek to encourage/exploit that to their advantage.

As I understand it’s not that we withold bebefits it’s the selection criteria the EU objects to. From what I picked up from the radio many other European countries benefits systems are based upon contribution before hand where as ours at the moment is basedon residency wich the EU finds discriminatory. Well kill two birds withone stone and make our system work as other European countries do, contribute before you receive, would sort out the migrants and home grown scroungers. Sometimes the answer isn’t to fight the EU head on but to embrace some of the continental ideas.

“28 posts after the OP: plenty of opinions, no primary source information about who is doing what to whom and on what legal basis!”

konabunny earlier