We should examine what impact UK migrants have on EU countries

IT was good to see the latest Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report reinforce the fact that EU migrants to the UK are less likely to be receiving out-of-work payments, such as jobseekers allowance or disability and sickness benefits (“Impact of migrants on UK benefits is revealed”, The Herald, March 25).

This nails the argument that somehow EU migrants are coming here to leech off our supposedly generous benefits system.

Indeed, unemployed Britons in the EU are drawing much more in benefits and allowances in wealthier EU countries than their nationals are claiming in the UK.

As an example, four times as many Britons claim unemployment benefits in Germany as Germans do in the UK, while the number of jobless Britons receiving benefits in Ireland exceeds their Irish counterparts in the UK by a rate of five to one.

Indeed, the figures for nationals in the 10 Eastern European Union nations drawing jobseekers allowance in the UK indicates that there are only about 1,000 Romanians and 500 Bulgarians claiming such benefits, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Of those EU migrants living here a mere 1.2 per cent are not economically active, and according to University College London, between 2001 and 2011 EU migrants made a positive net contribution of £20 billion to the UK economy as they tend to be younger and more economically active than our own workforce, paying more in taxes and receiving less in benefits. To argue, as those wanting the UK to leave the EU will do, that somehow these individuals are a drain on our society, when they enjoy a higher rate of employment and qualifications than our own workforce, is preposterous.

Given the considerable focus there is on EU migrants to the UK, what would be good to see is some analysis done on the almost equal number of those from the UK living in EU countries and what impact they have on their economies and societies. Alex Orr, Flat 2, 77 Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh.