Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Home Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Brazier Excerpts
Monday 2nd December 2013

(10 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Julian Brazier Portrait Mr Julian Brazier (Canterbury) (Con)
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Although I welcome the measures that the Government have taken on benefits, which will have an effect, are not the concerns about immigration from Romania and Bulgaria really just the tip of a wider problem? With much of southern and eastern Europe still heading into recession, tolerance of the free movement of people is quite close to reaching its natural end.

Mark Harper Portrait Mr Harper
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My hon. Friend makes a good point. It is why our right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said last week that we very much want to look at free movement and how we negotiate future accession arrangements for large countries. He set out a range of things we might want to consider, other than just time limits—for example, relative income levels in countries—which I think has great merit.