Jeremy Corbyn says he opposes making EU migrants wait to receive benefits


Corbyn is right, of course.

But then, everybody here knows This Writer thinks Reeves was a pathetic excuse for a shadow work and pensions secretary – right?

The comment that anyone working in the UK under the same conditions as everybody else should receive the same benefits is simple common sense.

Jeremy Corbyn has torn up Labour’s European policy, saying he opposes EU migrants having to wait to receive benefits when in the UK.

Labour said in its manifesto for the general election in May that there should be a two-year ban on EU migrants receiving tax credits. The policy had been set out by the then shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves.

But Corbyn, who is in Brussels for a meeting of the Party of European Socialists – a grouping of leftwing parties in the European parliament – rejected the policy. He said on Thursday: “If somebody is working, paying taxes, doing a job just like anybody else, then surely they deserve access to exactly the same benefits as anybody else.”

Source: Jeremy Corbyn says he opposes making EU migrants wait to receive benefits | Politics | The Guardian

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5 Comments

  1. paulrutherford8 December 18, 2015 at 3:04 pm - Reply

    Absolutely!

    As someone pointed out on BBCQT last night, anything less makes it appear as if migrants are coming here just to claim benefits. While that may be true for a minority [as shown on some ‘documentaries’], by far the majority come here to *work*, to try and make a better life than they have in their country of birth.

    These people are not coming here to be our slaves.

  2. Jenny Hambidge December 18, 2015 at 3:13 pm - Reply

    I dont know the answer – Don’t UK migrants to other counties receive benefits from the country they work in? So such a law would affect them too. would it not?
    I think it is reasonable that people who claim ANYWHERE in Europe should receive benefits if they have worked for a specified time – maybe 6 months with a proper contract. Onus on the employers to provide a contract.

    • Mike Sivier December 18, 2015 at 7:54 pm - Reply

      No, people from EU countries who live and work in other EU countries fill in an E303 form and hand it in to the authorities in their country of residence. That country then pays benefits at the rate the recipient would have them in their own country, and claims the cash back from that person’s country of origin.

      • hilary772013 December 18, 2015 at 10:40 pm - Reply

        I am totally confused, my hubby works for a company that employs a large percentage of Polish people & the majority are really really nice, they just want a better life for themselves but they claim tax credits for children still living in Poland which I find hard to understand because I don’t think they have tax credits in Poland or am I mistaken? Quote “That country then pays benefits at the rate the recipient would have them in their own country”
        I did not know that we claim back from their country any benefit they claim in our country which I believe should be made clear to the public, as I would assume most people like myself was under the impression that the money was coming out of our coffers.
        I must admit that is one of the main reasons I would have voted to come out of Europe but you have opened my eyes, so thank you for that Mike.

        • Mike Sivier December 19, 2015 at 1:13 pm - Reply

          Tax credits aren’t social security benefits, of course – they are a form of tax relief against value being brought into the economy. In the case of child tax credits, this is paid to people who work in this country because their children will also benefit this country’s economy.
          However, if your children aren’t in this country, I don’t see that it applies.
          Therefore I wonder why HM Revenue and Customs is paying it.

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