Bright Blue welcomes the Prime Minister’s progress on restricting EU migrant access to in-work benefits.

Our Senior Research Fellow, David Kirkby said:

“The Prime Minister appears to be winning support in Europe for restricting EU migrant access to in-work benefits, which is a key plank of his renegotiation strategy. 

This is encouraging and is an important step towards an immigration system that enjoys greater public support. For this reason, securing this change is likely to be significant for the EU referendum outcome.

Public concern about immigration – including immigration from within Europe - is driven in part by the perception that immigrants do not sufficiently contribute to Britain’s economy. Restricting migrant access to state benefits is one of the key ways of addressing this, helping to allay concerns about Europe migration. This may boost support for remaining in Europe.”

Bright Blue called for a more contributory immigration system in its reports: A centre-right plan on immigration from decision makers and opinion formers and A manifesto for immigration