British Government Told: ‘We are Importing a Crime Wave’

Daily Mail
December 21, 2013

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From January 1st all restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian residents entering Britain will be lifted.

Britain risks ‘importing a wave of crime’ from Bulgaria and Romania when work immigration curbs are lifted on January 1, the government was warned today.

Tory MPs said crime rates linked to eastern Europeans were ‘really quite startling’ and will only get worse in the New Year.

Ministers also came under pressure for failing to draw up any estimates on how many more people might move to the UK to help schools, hospitals and the police to plan ahead.

Britain is required to lift temporary restrictions on the free movement of people from Romania and Bulgaria at the start of 2014.

The government is rushing through new laws to stop migrants claiming benefits in the UK for the first three months.

But in a debate in Parliament today, Tory and Labour MPs lined up to criticise the government’s approach and for not knowing what the impact will be when the borders are opened.

Conservative MP Philip Hollobone: ‘We are importing a wave of crime from Romania and Bulgaria.’

He warned that crime among Romanians in England was ‘really quite startling’, adding: ‘Romanians are seven times more likely to be arrested in London than a British national.

‘Romanians account for more than 11 per cent of all foreign offenders, despite making up, at the moment, just a tiny proportion of residents.

‘Last year, Romanians accounted for almost half of all arrests for begging, and one third of all arrests for pickpocketing in the capital.’

Mr Hollobone said that as a special constable with the British Transport Police on the London Underground he has first-hand experience of the problem of Romania criminals

‘And I must tell you, that eight out of 10 pickpockets are from Romania.

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