Jeremy Browne, Reciprocal Migration, New Statesman

Views of the 'unfashionable minority'?

I have to say I agree with Jeremy Browne (New Statesman) when it comes to his comments on Romanians and Bulgarians coming to the UK:

"Browne describes himself as part of the “unfashionable minority” that celebrates the opening of British borders to EU workers from eastern Europe. “I don’t think there was a mistake. It was transformational in terms of Britain’s relationship with countries like Poland . . . It was in our foreign policy interest but, at a much more direct, micro level, there are lots of employers in my constituency and around the country who are full of praise for the contribution that Poles have made to their businesses and the economy more generally.”

Will the Lib Dems be so enthusiastic about the Romanian and Bulgarian migrants who will enjoy new freedoms to work in Britain from next January? “They’re only complying with the same rules as British people who live in Spain or have holiday houses in France, or who work in Germany.” Browne is quick to add the caveat that the influx has put pressure on public services, which accounts for much of the political backlash. “But I think if you look at the overall ledger . . . the positives outweigh the negatives.”

The Telegraph

Daily Mail

The Times

Jeremy Browne, a Home Office Minister, compared Britons who buy holiday homes abroad to Eastern Europeans planning to live in the UK.

A Home Office minister caused anger last night after comparing Britons who buy holiday homes in France to Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants planning to live in the UK.

The remarks by Jeremy Browne, the Liberal Democrat Crime Prevention Minister and a senior figure in his deparment, were immediately dismissed as “bonkers” and “total nonsense”.

Pensioner and expat groups claimed it was absurd to make such a comparison with British expats living abroad on their own means.

In the print edition, The Times reports a later remark by Jeremy Browne, to the effect that it was simply a statement of fact that Britons heading to other EU countries did so under the same rules that allowed eastern European migrants to come to the UK. "Politicians who campaign against freedom of movement in the EU should be honest and admit they mean that no Brits would be allowed to work in a holiday resort in Ibiza, or ski chalets in France, or banks in Frankfurt".

BUT: not all expats do support themselves or live entirely on their own means overseas (I am not referring to France). There is plenty of evidence that many become part of the "black economy" in some of the countries where they choose to live or 'retire'.

Meanwhile, in Greece...

Retiring Britons falling out of love with France, Spain and Greece

More statistics from The Telegraph (Matthew Holehouse, 14 September):

"There are 683,000 workers from Poland and other former communist countries in Britain. Around a million Britons are thought to live in Spain, while 250,000 live in France".

Update: The myths of EU "Benefits Tourism"