Five million MORE on way, says Gove
MORE than five million European migrants could flock to Britain by 2030 if we stay in the European Union, Michael Gove claimed yesterday.
The Justice Secretary said the potential accession of Turkey, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia to the EU would result in soaring immigration levels.
Projections from the Vote Leave campaign suggest as many as 5.2million migrants could arrive over the next 15 years – equivalent to the entire population of Scotland.
Mr Gove said the influx would place unsustainable pressure on the NHS, with demand for A&E services rising by up to 57 per cent.
Speaking at an event in London, he said the new national living wage would prove irresistible to workers in low-pay countries such as Turkey. He added: ‘The reality is that voting to remain in the EU – and therefore voting to continue with a policy of free movement and enlargement – will only put huge additional pressure on the NHS.
‘The official response, given the vote in a month’s time, will be that further enlargement is “not on the agenda”. But enlargement is the explicit policy not just of the European Commission but of the British Government.
‘The public has never been given a vote on this enlargement. We never got a vote on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.
‘And if we vote to remain then there will be no future occasion on which we can vote to prevent the further enlargement of the EU.’
Mr Gove said leaving the Brussels club would also free up resources to give the NHS cash to help it cope with the pressures of a rising as well as ageing population.
Vote Leave said net migration from the EU would be between 3.2million and 5.2million if we voted to stay in the EU.
The figures assume that the five countries bidding to join are allowed in in 2020.
They also assume that, as with the accession of Poland, the Government chooses not to impose any ‘transitional controls’ restricting the free movement of people in the following years.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond yesterday dismissed the claims, saying: ‘These figures are very often plucked from thin air – they are not designed to inform, they are designed to confuse.’
He said the Government ‘will not contemplate’ allowing new EU countries to join without transitional controls. David Cameron has claimed that Turkish membership is ‘not on the ballot paper’ as it will not join for many years.
But Mr Gove insisted his figures were robust, saying that official projections had frequently underestimated numbers in the past.
Last night it emerged that Boris Johnson called ten years ago for Turkey to be allowed to join the EU. In a 2006 film for the BBC, he said it would be a ‘great moment’ when the two halves of the Roman Empire ‘are at last reunited in an expanded European Union’.