MP urges end to EU immigration scheme

A Labour MP has called on the government to scrap the worker registration scheme for Eastern Europeans immediately.

Ahead of a Westminster Hall debate on the subject on Tuesday, Stephen Pound said the scheme was an "absolute nonsense" that had brought only a "huge range of problems".

The scheme was introduced in 2004 when 10 new nations, mostly from the former Soviet bloc, joined the EU.

It requires all those from the new member states, mostly Poles, wishing to work in the UK to first register and pay a fee of £90 until next year.

However in an interview with ePolitix.com, the Ealing North MP slammed the policy as a "waste of time" and "£90 for something that they were going to get free from next year anyway".

"It gives a totally false and skewed impression of the number of Poles working in this country," Pound said.

"Firstly an enormous number of Polish workers are self-employed, so they don't register. Secondly, they take no account of people de-registering or leaving the country.

"If you have corrupted data, you get corrupt conclusions," he added.

"We all know the sensitivity of immigration as an issue in this country. If you have bonkers data to start with, people can draw bonkers conclusions."

He said he would be encouraging ministers in the debate that the scheme should be "abolished immediately now" as it "costs the government more to administer than they collect" and "causes an extraordinary amount of resentment in the Polish community".

"I think the government should simply say, we are going to abolish it next year anyway, lets bring it forward, make life a bit simpler and easier [and] recognise the incredible contribution that workers from the EU accession states have made," he argued.

"These are decent, hard-working Polish people having to fork out and it gives the government no discernible advantage whatsoever."