Fears of mass migration call EU's freedoms into question

Hugo Brady of the CER also believes that the impact from the lifting of restrictions will be negligible. "I do not feel there is much to fear there," he said. Even if migrants come to the UK, he said, "they are more likely to work, less likely to be on benefits, and moving up the ladder faster” than the UK-born population. “That means they are putting more money into the kitty for welfare services such as education and health."

Despite this, he said, the British immigration debate is poisonous and problems with immigration are being blamed on the EU. "There is a kind of competition in the run-up to the European elections [in May 2014] to see who can sound toughest with the least consequences on Europe," he said. "In this atmosphere, there is no strong defence for the freedom of movement. Immigration has been another nail in the coffin of pro-Europeanism in the UK."