The new Eurosceptics

[Josquius]

I dread to think how much worse London would be if the government hadn't started taking a bit of interest, setup the green belts, etc...
It truly would be a cyberpunkesque mega city. Tokyos negative sides amped up to the nth degree.

[PJL]

Why would he need to alter his outlook? Hardcore libertarianism and open borders policies go hand in hand.

Only with no welfare state. Otherwise immigration should be banned.

[Syt]

Unless you bill the originating country for the expenses incurred.

A lot of welfare in Germany is (or was? haven't followed the developments of last 15 years too closely) paid for by the states. If a person moved from state A to state B and required welfare in his new place within 6 months (I think), then the bill went to his state of origin.

[Tamas]

Slightly related, a major Hungarian online news sites has got a recording from last year from Jobbik's then-treasurer being royally pissed off at the workings of the far-right EU party-alliance in general and the leader of the British National Party in general, as the party finances were apparently a total mess and the BNP guy had "wanted me to help him steal money" as he put it, also complaining how everyone in his family and their dog had fake jobs in the alliance, and how he shipped his family everywhere he went, on EU-party money, and so on.

[Josquius]

Unless you bill the originating country for the expenses incurred.

A lot of welfare in Germany is (or was? haven't followed the developments of last 15 years too closely) paid for by the states. If a person moved from state A to state B and required welfare in his new place within 6 months (I think), then the bill went to his state of origin.

That would be lovely on a European level.

[celedhring]

Why would be being more open to EU citizens moving to the UK mean being less open to people from 3rd countries?  It's not a zero sum game.

Which leads to the perverse situation of the Home Office boasting how much tougher they've made it to get a student visa and the Business Office pleading for more student visas to be issued.

How is clamping down on non-work visas being of any help here? 

[Gups]

There were a number of bogus institutes securing student visas for immigrants who had no intention of studying.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26024375


Of course, babies were thrown out with bathwater.

[The Larch]

Unless you bill the originating country for the expenses incurred.

A lot of welfare in Germany is (or was? haven't followed the developments of last 15 years too closely) paid for by the states. If a person moved from state A to state B and required welfare in his new place within 6 months (I think), then the bill went to his state of origin.

That would be lovely on a European level.

That is already done, at least for health related expenses. Spain bills Britain and Germany lots of money each year for all the retirees that live here.

[Agelastus]

Why would be being more open to EU citizens moving to the UK mean being less open to people from 3rd countries?  It's not a zero sum game.

Which leads to the perverse situation of the Home Office boasting how much tougher they've made it to get a student visa and the Business Office pleading for more student visas to be issued.

How is clamping down on non-work visas being of any help here? 

Apart from the fraud issue it's also an easy target - it reduces the headline figures so it looks like your doing something to the general public while not actually having to make much effort (or be forced to admit that in the current circumstances you can't do very much about the level of immigration anyway.)

It's no different in form to the way Labour tackled anti-poverty targets by mainly fiddling with the tax system to lift those who were closest to the poverty line above it rather than by tackling the issues of those in genuine poverty (note: this is the opinion of an accountant in my family.)

[Syt]

Unless you bill the originating country for the expenses incurred.

A lot of welfare in Germany is (or was? haven't followed the developments of last 15 years too closely) paid for by the states. If a person moved from state A to state B and required welfare in his new place within 6 months (I think), then the bill went to his state of origin.

That would be lovely on a European level.

Austria does it differently. In 2006 they changed their law, so that if you don't have the means to support yourself, you have to leave after three months, even if you're a EU citizen. Not sure how tightly this is enforced in practice, though, or how much you can drag out that deadline. A bigger focus in recent years here has been tightening the rules for family members of currently resident non-EU foreigners moving to Austria (mandatory German courses, for example).

[Josquius]

I really hate the current UK government's immigration policy. They're determined to reduce immigrant numbers at all costs, so they can proudly proclaim to be tough on immigration....but all they're doing is making it a complete pain for those with valid reasons to move to the UK.
I recall an article a few months ago about a British woman married to a Japanese guy but they couldn't move to the UK since he was the main wage earner (and he earned a lot) and the laws required the British person to earn a certain amount. It was just silly.
They've also recently disallowed the TOEIC test as proof of English skills after they found out some people taking the test online were faking it- except woops, TOEIC is the standard go-to test for East Asians wanting to prove their English skills. I know one guy who has been working to build up his score for years so he can get a job in the UK.

Austria does it differently. In 2006 they changed their law, so that if you don't have the means to support yourself, you have to leave after three months, even if you're a EU citizen. Not sure how tightly this is enforced in practice, though, or how much you can drag out that deadline. A bigger focus in recent years here has been tightening the rules for family members of currently resident non-EU foreigners moving to Austria (mandatory German courses, for example).

I'm pretty sure when I lived in Sweden that I officially had to register and prove I had the money to support myself in order to stay there for over 3 months, I recall one or two European students did this....I never bothered to do that though. There would have been no point in the authorities nabbing me as I could legally re-enter right after being deported anyway.
Is it not the same in Austria?
Somewhat brings to mind the deportation merry-go-round scam that some Romanians had going in France IIRC.

[Syt]

Is it not the same in Austria?

I honestly don't know, as I've not heard of any such case.

[Legbiter]

And that's how Danes encourage young voters to vote in the EU Parliament elections. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25I3qM26J9M