Many of you may have read in your papers over the weekend stories (like this one in the Sunday Telegraph) purporting to be based on an EU report and claiming that there are 600,000 unemployed EU migrants in Britain claiming benefits.  This is complete nonsense and blatantly untrue and typical of the anti-EU brigade.

The real figures as shown in the DWP January 2012 report on the nationality of benefit  claimants for 2011 was that the total number of non-British claimants was 371,020 of which only 37,850 were from the EU.

According the response from British Influence, the only way the Telegraph could reach the 600,000 number was to include every EU born UK resident including retired people, 130,000 students & partners of British citizen, who don’t have work and then claim that they were “unemployed” and suggest they all are claiming Job Seekers Allowance

In a special report from British Influence, the claim that these EU migrants are costing the NHS £1.5 billion is also demolished; this is only the higher of two estimates of the direct cost and at best represents about 1% of the annual NHS budget but “Given that EU nationals account for more than five per cent of employment in the UK if they only cost us one per cent of the NHS budget we’re getting a good deal. There aren’t accurate calculations of the cost to the NHS because doctors do not record the nationality of those they treat.” Without the EU migrants we would need to find billions extra to fund the care of British citizens so it is daft to claim they are a drain on the NHS.

Indeed, these stories and others so the lengths that the vested interests and right-wing zealots who want us out will go to distort the facts about the EU.   Most of British industry is clear, we are better off in the EU and we would risk catastrophic economic decline if we left.  Don’t let yourself be fooled by these attempts to twist the truth, for all its faults we are better being part of the Europe Union, leading its reform and making it responsive to the needs of all its citizens, than going it alone as a tiny offshore island with little say in our own economic destiny.  This is why we need you support in making sure we have a strong Liberal Democratic voice representing Bassetlaw & the East Midlands in the European Parliament after the Elections next year