Minister vows to fight on benefits

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30 May 2013

Iain Duncan Smith has vowed to fight the European Commission "every step of the way" after it demanded the easing of restrictions on immigrants' access to benefits.

The Commission has referred the UK to the EU's Court of Justice over the right-to-reside test imposed on nationals from member states.

The check is said to be discriminatory because it goes beyond the standard eligibility criteria for welfare payments.

But the Work and Pensions Secretary said: "People in this country expect me to protect the benefits system from abuse and protect the money of hardworking taxpayers. So I will not stand by while the European Commission tries to water down the valuable protections we've put in place.

"I will fight this every step of the way, I will not cave in and I will continue to work on strengthening our benefit system in the meantime to ensure it is not open to abuse by anyone."

In a statement on its website, the EC said: "UK nationals have a 'right to reside' in the UK solely on the basis of their UK citizenship, whereas other EU nationals have to meet additional conditions in order to pass this 'right to reside' test. This means that the UK discriminates unfairly against nationals from other Member States. This contravenes EU rules on the coordination of social security systems."

News of the legal challenge has drawn a sharp response from Eurosceptics, including Tory backbenchers who have been urging David Cameron to take a tougher line on Brussels.

Labour, which introduced the right-to-reside test, also backed the Government's stance. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Most people who come to Britain work and contribute. 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. Indeed Labour has called on the Government to strengthen the residence test not weaken it.

"The EU Commission are wrong to try to prevent member states having sensible checks like this as it will increase public concerns about migration and give member states an incentive to cut employment support for everyone, which is against everyone's interests in Britain and across Europe."

The EC statement said right-to-reside imposed greater restrictions than the standard EU "habitual residence" qualification, and meant nationals from member states were potentially missing out on payments including child benefit, child tax credit, and Jobseeker's Allowance.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions(Department for Work and Pensions)

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