The European Union should limit its principle of freedom of movement, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday, reacting to fears that his country would be swamped by Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants next year, dpa reported.
Writing in the Financial Times, the premier said previous British governments had made a "monumental mistake" by failing to impose tougher limits on immigration from new EU members in Central and Eastern Europe.
Britain is changing its rules to prevent new EU immigrants from accessing housing benefits and out-of-work benefits for the first three months they are in his country, he wrote. Those caught begging or sleeping rough would be deported and barred from re-entry for 12 months, he said.
"We need to face the fact that free movement has become a trigger for vast population movements caused by huge disparities in income," he wrote.
"It is time for a new settlement which recognizes that free movement is a central principle of the EU, but it cannot be a completely unqualified one," he said.
Cameron has been clamping down on immigration under pressure from the eurosceptic wing of his Conservative party, which fears the country will be flooded with Romanians and Bulgarians when EU working restrictions are lifted next year.