Mayor: Put limit on number of Bulgarians and Romanians or rough sleeping will rise

 
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Pippa Crerar31 January 2013

Boris Johnson today put pressure on the Government to limit the number of Bulgarians and Romanians arriving in Britain next year.

The Mayor warned that thousands of migrants from the new EU accession countries could lead to a huge rise in rough sleeping in London.

It comes as councils across London claimed that already over-stretched schools and housing services would struggle to cope with large numbers of new arrivals.

Mr Johnson said that although he welcomed “talented people” coming to the UK to work there was already a “significant” problem with homeless Eastern Europeans in the capital.

He urged ministers to renegotiate the deal over Romanians and Bulgarians who will be allowed to live and work in Britain from the start of next year.

At least 70,000 citizens from the two countries are expected to come to the UK over the next five years once EU controls are lifted and the majority are likely to stay in the capital.

Mr Johnson said: “It’s important that we look at the impact of the accession countries Romania and Bulgaria.

“We’ll be supporting immigration by talented people but I am concerned that immigration from Bulgaria and Romania, unless properly handled, will lead to an increase in rough sleeping of the kind we’ve seen from the previous accession countries.

“It may be sensible for us to consider what derogations or improvements we could make to the current deal on accession.”

Meanwhile, it appeared that national pride had been pricked as a Romanian newspaper hit back at the British campaign to put off would-be migrants by launching a campaign of its own.

Daily newspaper Gândul has launched a series of posters with the tagline “We may not like Britain, but you will love Romania”, in a bid to encourage more Britons to visit Romania instead.

It leads with the claim that “half of our women look like Kate. The other half like her sister,” and also refers to BBC show Top Gear.

British ministers have drawn up plans for an advertising campaign denouncing Britain as cold and wet and warning them they would face tough restrictions on the benefits they could claim.

It comes as councils across London appealed to the Government to help them fund the expected influx.

Westminster City Council — in charge of the point of arrival for thousands of EU migrants, Victoria bus station — warned it risked putting greater pressure on already over-stretched schools and housing waiting lists.

Councillor Nickie Aitken said: “Westminster is already a magnet for Eastern Europeans. There is clearly going to be extra strain on housing and social services. We are already spending thousands of pounds on coach tickets sending Romanian rough sleepers home and cleaning up impromptu camps.

“We need some firm answers from the Government both on numbers and whether we can expect any extra help for bulging school rolls and housing services already squeezed to the maximum.” It has emerged that east London councils, where many Eastern Europeans are expected to settle, are not prepared for the influx.

Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Redbridge, Havering, Lewisham, Bexley and Greenwich all said they had not done any work to get ready for new arrivals.

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