Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Tory MPs to press Theresa May on Bulgarian and Romanian migrants

Tory backbenchers will raise concerns about the government’s preparations for the lifting of controls on Bulgarian and Romanian migrants at a meeting with the Home Secretary in the next few weeks, I understand. Conservative MPs are becoming increasingly nervous about the situation, fearing that if handled poorly, it could have a particularly bad impact on the party’s performance in the 2014 European elections, as the transitional controls end on 31 December 2013.

One of those worried backbenchers is former ministerial aide Stewart Jackson, who tells me he is considering introducing a modified version of the 10-Minute Rule Bill that he brought before the House in October. The European Union Free Movement Directive 2004 (Disapplication) Bill would have limited the right of EU citizens to move to Britain. Jackson accuses ministers of ‘institutional lethargy’ on the issue, adding:

‘My view is that the Prime Minister needs to oversee this issue because it is a potential catastrophe in the run-up to the European elections, combining immigration and Europe. We have got to convince people who are worried. There has been institutional lethargy: no-one has really taken ownership of it, whether it’s Eric Pickles, Theresa May, or Iain Duncan Smith: everyone assumes that someone else is looking after it and no-one is.’

The Home Office told Coffee House last week that work had already begun on a response to the end of the controls, with particular focus on reducing the ‘pull factor’ for migrants. Immigration Minister Mark Harper is leading a ministerial group on the matter.

For some ideas of what the government could do, it’s also worth looking at the proposals published last week by the Fresh Start group of Conservative MPs. The proposals on immigration in the ‘Manifesto for Change’ would not require treaty change, which clearly makes them a little more attractive than other demands.

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