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thomas davison

Number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in Britain up 15% in a year to 103,000 even before restrictions are lifted

Statistics on workers for the two countries published for the first time
Temporary limits on employment to end by 2014
Government promised curbs on benefits and housing for immigrants

By Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor

PUBLISHED: 16:25, 15 May 2013 | UPDATED: 16:41, 15 May 2013

More than 100,000 Romanians and Bulgarians are already working in the UK, new figures showed today.

While the number of people in work who were born in the UK rose by 1.4 per cent year-on-year, among workers from those two countries overseas it rose by 15 per cent.

The government has promised to curb access to benefits, housing and healthcare for immigrants in an attempt to curb the number of people who move to Britain.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics show 103,000 people born in Romania and Bulgaria are working in the UK

New figures from the Office for National Statistics show 103,000 people born in Romania and Bulgaria are working in the UK

Restrictions on workers from the two European countries are due to be lifted at the end of this year.

At present around a third of the country�s 67,000 seasonal farm jobs are filled by Romanians and Bulgarians, who are not allowed to work elsewhere in the economy.

But new figures released by the Office for National Statistics reveals there are 103,311 people born in Romania and Bulgaria working in the UK from January to March this year, a rise of 15 per cent on the same time last year.

Overall the number of foreign nationals in employment rose by 58,000 between the first quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, a 2.3 per cent rise. The total rise, combining UK and non-UK nationals, was 423,000.

Temporary curbs were placed on migrants Romania and Bulgaria in 2005 to protect the British labour market but they expire in December and under EU laws cannot be extended.

The cost of fruit and vegetables will soar unless Britain opens its borders to more foreign workers, it was warned yesterday. Prices for strawberries and celery in particular could rise by up to 15 per cent.
Rule change: Migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria will soon be eligible to work elsewhere in the economy

Rule change: Migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria will soon be eligible to work elsewhere in the economy

The Migration Advisory Committee said supermarkets will be forced to push up prices or import more food, piling pressure on British farmers.

When the restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians are lifted they will be free to take up jobs in hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and care homes, making it harder for farmers to high cheap labour.

Professor David Metcalf, MAC chair, said the Government should consider proposals for a new scheme that targets non-EU workers.

In particular countries which have a high number of agricultural students such as the Ukraine could be targeted.

Mr Metcalf told a press conference that if the labour supply �dwindled� once the scheme closed to Romanians and Bulgarians, operators may have to �drive wages up� to secure staff.

He said: �In those circumstances, therefore, it's possible that supermarkets would charge higher prices for their celery and strawberries and so on.�

Ministers have refused to publish or commission any data about predicted numbers of people moving to the UK from Romania and Bulgaria, with some observers predicting as many as 50,000 arriving each year.

The number of nationals in work in the UK from the group of eight countries including Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia rose by 0.6 per cent, from 660,000 to 664,000.

Those from the likes of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden by two per cent from 628,000 to 641,000.

This government is a joke along with the clowns from the last government, if we cannot get out of the EU then we must revolt.