Burnham’s call for EU ‘free movement’ overhaul is to be welcomed

Last Updated: June 9, 2016By
Burnham will urge voters not to use the referendum as a “protest vote” [Image: Getty].

Burnham will urge voters not to use the referendum as a “protest vote” [Image: Getty].

If Andy Burnham is saying free movement between EU countries should be delayed where economic migration is likely, he is echoing This Blog and should be applauded for it.

Vox Political has spent years calling for movement restrictions to remain in place until EU programmes improve the economies of new members to a point at which emigration in order to achieve a better standard of living becomes pointless.

The current rule is the cause of much of the resentment that underlies the EU referendum campaign at the moment.

David Cameron’s silly, pretend “renegotiation” should have included a change as its headline requirement, but he had his own priorities and immigration wasn’t one of them.

The European Union is doomed unless Brussels overhauls free movement rules across the continent, Labour’s Andy Burnham warns today.

The Shadow Home Secretary says “there will have to be changes” to EU rules which have let eastern Europeans­ flood to the UK.

“The EU won’t survive if it won’t make them,” he will warn in a break from Jeremy Corbyn ’s official position.

Mr Burnham will urge voters not to use the referendum­ as a “protest vote” on immigration, but to think long-term and back Remain.

Source: European Union ‘doomed’ unless Brussels overhauls free movement across continent, warns Andy Burnham – Mirror Online

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5 Comments

  1. David Woods June 9, 2016 at 11:59 am - Reply

    If they’re going to have to wait for europes economic policies to bear fruition they may as well chip in to buy the Devil a fur coat, for it will be a very cold day in Hell when that happens!

  2. roybeiley June 9, 2016 at 12:58 pm - Reply

    Fine in principle. Problem is making it happen in practice. Already razor wire fences are replacing red and white poles at an increasing number of European border crossings but these are in breach of Schengun rules. Are razor wire fences along whole borders the answer?

  3. Brian June 9, 2016 at 1:37 pm - Reply

    A licensing agreement would also be welcome. 10 year conditional residence for long term visa. Any imprisionable offence and automatic deportation.

  4. Zippi June 9, 2016 at 4:51 pm - Reply

    The problem , as I understand it, is that the free movement of labour is one of the 4 Freedoms of the E.U. that will NOT be changed, weakened, altered, or compromised. This is why both Norway and Switzerland had to accept it, as part of their trade deals.
    It is obvious, to anybody with a brain that more people came here than could be sustained, because of the time frame in which they came. Were this cell division, it would be called cancer. Nobody is saying that immigration is bad, or that immigrants are at fault; if we were in their position, we would do exactly the same thing and you will hear many immigrants saying the same thing, the trouble us that too many people came in too short as space of time. Policy is at fault.
    As I am beginning to understand it, the wealthier countries of the E.U. give financial support to the less wealthy, or poorer countries of the E.U. Other rules prevent certain kinds of competition between nations therefore, there is, inevitably, a “race to the bottom,” in order to create artificially, it would seem, a level playing field. Given that those countries are less well off and that we have free movement, many, if not most of those people will want to come here, in part, because of the strength of our economy but also, because of our language. English is THE international language so, it is far easier to find work here than in other European countries, particularly when you may not have particular skills to offer.
    I do not see this situation changing any time soon, because of the Union’s apparent resistance to change. We hear lots about reform but where is the evidence? Our Prime Minister seems uninterested and people who do express genuine concerns are branded, incorrectly, racist, while issues of true racism are swept under the carpet.

  5. shawn June 11, 2016 at 9:46 pm - Reply

    A hugely pragmatic stance that recognises the reality of international labour markets post-financial crisis and the vey slow recovery from its consequences.

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