Originally Posted by martyh (Post 35527519)

They can however claim jobseekers ,use the NHS and schools .I realise that it is not simply a case of foreigners turning up and taking our money but outside of the EU we would have a lot more freedom to turn foreign workers away and also asylum seekers who do get housing and benefits

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 35527521)

I don't think they can claim jobseekers until they've worked..

Originally Posted by martyh (Post 35527530)

they can't claim income based jobseekers
ordinary jobseekers is open to anyone even school leavers who have never worked

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 35527534)

I didn't think there was ordinary or income based. I thought income based was the lower, standard, one (it's means tested based on income) and the other was contribution based where you need to have paid NI for a x amount of years.

Originally Posted by martyh (Post 35527573)

I'm not sure how it works to be honest but as far as i know EU/EEA nationals have the same rights as British nationals aside from benefits that need NI contributions.Lets face it if they didn't get benefits the streets would be full of starving immigrants

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 35527578)

The links before suggest they only have the same rights after they've started working for at least three months with more and more of the same rights become available the longer they work.

Originally Posted by Maggy J (Post 35527583)

So are we only concentrating on benefits and immigration and emigration or is there any discussion to be had about the financial implications for our economy?

Originally Posted by marty (Post 35527593)

when i looked i found conflicting information ,i got confused ,my head exploded ,i stopped looking .How on earth anyone is supposed to keep track of this idiotically confusing system is beyond me





I don't see how you can avoid discussing immigration and benefits to foreign nationals in a referendum on leaving the EU thread as that is the first thing people who get to vote on the matter will be thinking of .
Imagine how many jobs would be available if foreign workers had not taken them ,imagine how reduced the benefits bill would be if we weren't supporting foreign workers on low wages ,Imagine how much the country would save if we weren't ploughing billions into the EU .Rightly or wrongly that is what joe bloggs will base their decision on so you can rest assured that every media outlet with an agenda will be pushing that agenda using immigration and asylum until the vote happens

Originally Posted by martyh (Post 35527593)

when i looked i found conflicting information ,i got confused ,my head exploded ,i stopped looking .How on earth anyone is supposed to keep track of this idiotically confusing system is beyond me

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 35527619)

It is far too complicated, on that we agree. From all the links it would seem that EU citizens are not entitled to benefits until they've worked and then it gradually increases until they get the benefits of any British Citizen.

I think they is an obsessive focus on benefits anyway. We seem obsessed with benefits and people taking advantage of it but in the larger benefit it's quite small. The largest expenses by far are pensions, elderly care and the NHS. However these are political nightmares so everyone focuses on benefits which seems an easy target.

I don't think leaving the EU will impact at all on benefits.

Originally Posted by Chris (Post 35527589)

Say something about the economy and we'll see. ;)

Originally Posted by Maggy J (Post 35527753)

Just hoping it's not going turn out to be the interminable immigration and benefits cheats thread that EU threads seems to generate.

I'm just wondering how much this could cost us and how it could possibly help as we seem to be entering a triple dip recession.Can we afford to be out of the EU?

Originally Posted by martyh (Post 35527796)

Maybe being in the EU is the reason why we can't get out of recession