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Telegraph
December 9, 2013
Mr Duncan Smith said it is too easy for migrants from the European Economic Area to pass a habitual residency test to prove they live in the UK and enable them to claim benefits.
He said the Government has met with stiff opposition from Brussels as ministers attempt to make it harder for so-called benefits tourists to abuse the system in the UK.
Ministers are currently exploring ways of limiting migrants’ access to social housing, healthcare and legal aid.
Responding to an urgent question from Labour MP Frank Field in the Commons, Mr Duncan Smith said: “I agree with you, there is somewhat of a crisis over this. I absolutely agree with you. For the last two years I have been fighting a rearguard action over what was left to me by the last government.
“The reality is that it is all right for [Labour] to moan but let’s put the facts as they are – I inherited a habitual residency test which simply isn’t fit for purpose. We are trying to tighten that up dramatically and I am being infracted at the moment by the European Union for doing that.
“But you are absolutely right, and I am with you on this, to describe this as a crisis.”
Mr Duncan Smith said that at present EU migrants must pass a habitual residency test but to do so they do not need to prove that they plan to stay here for any period of time.
It was also possible for EU migrants to claim child benefits from the UK, even if their offspring lived in their native country.
By claiming self-employed status, migrant workers could claim tax credits from the UK, he told MPs, adding that, under the Labour government, net migration stood at 2.2 million people, which is larger than the population of Birmingham.
