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thomas davison

End 'absolutely crackers' rules which mean we pay �36million in child benefit to 24,000 families who do not even live in the UK

Former Home Secretary urged government to stop payouts
Millions of pounds sent to families who do not live in Britain
Two-thirds of claims are made for children in Poland
Labour leader Ed Miliband says benefits for immigrants must be 'looked at'

By Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor

PUBLISHED: 09:42, 17 January 2013 | UPDATED: 11:38, 17 January 2013

The taxpayer should not be paying child benefit to 40,000 children who do not live in Britain, David Blunkett has claimed.

The former Labour Home Secretary it it was 'absolutely crackers' that up to �36million a year was sent to families elsewhere in the European Union, amid growing concern about the number of Romanians and Bulgarians likely to move to Britain when restrictions are lifted.

Labour leader Ed Miliband entered the debate, saying the entitlement to benefits enjoyed by immigrants should be 'looked at'.
Former Home Secretary David Blunkett said it was 'crazy' that the British taxpayer was benefits to children who do not live here

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett said it was 'crazy' that the British taxpayer was benefits to children who do not live here

MailOnline revealed last year that there were 23,855 families claiming for 40,251 children at the end of September.

Two-thirds of the children (25,623) are based in Poland. Payments were also made for 2,529 children in Ireland, 2,146 in France, 1,953 in Slovenia and 1,291 in Spain.

Under EU rules, child benefit has to be paid to European nationals who are working in Britain and paying National Insurance � even if their families are based abroad.

More...

Up to 70,000 Romanian and Bulgarian migrants a year �will come to Britain� when controls on EU migrants expire
Are ministers too scared to say what they know about the next wave of migrants?
�36.6m in child benefit is paid to children overseas as Osborne imposes cuts on UK families with anyone earning over �50,000

Mr Blunkett said the situation was 'crazy'. 'If you are not here permanently, or the child is residing elsewhere, then the entitlement for that child should be [claimed from] the country in which they are residing,' he told The Times.

'It is absolutely crackers and I�ve argued long and hard with governments that they should renegotiate the rules.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said the rights of immigrants to claim benefits should be looked at

Labour leader Ed Miliband said the rights of immigrants to claim benefits should be looked at

'The big, developed countries in Europe have similar child welfare provisions and I wouldn�t have thought they are happy seeing them exploited any more than we are.'

His intervention comes as a report by MigrationWatch claimed up to 70,000 Bulgarians and Romanians will travel to Britain each year when they finally gain open access to the jobs market from the end of this year when temporary controls on new EU migrants expire.

Ministers have repeatedly refused to publish official estimates on how many people will arrive in Britain.

Today Labour leader Ed Miliband said immigrants' rights to benefits 'should be looked at'.

He told BBC Radio 4: 'Of course that�s an issue that should be looked at, the length of entitlement to benefits and how quickly people can get them.

'All of these issues would be on the table as we seek to manage our relationship with the European Union, and as we seek to manage migration.

'As I say, I actually think that diversity helps our country. But it can�t just work for some and not for all.'

Child benefit is paid at �20.30 a week for the first child and �13.40 for every other child.

The Treasury has refused to say how much international child benefits totalled, but Tory MP Priti Patel, who uncovered the figures through parliamentary questions, estimated it was �36.6million.

Mrs Patel called for the 'loopholes' to be closed.

I think its a laugh for a labour politician to say anything as it was his party who did it,
talk about the blind leading the blind..