UK Govt Further Pressed to Shut the Door for Bulgarian, Romanian Workers

UK home secretary John Reid is under growing pressure to restrict access for workers from Bulgaria and Romania, when the two countries join the EU next year, EUobserver.com reported.

The article points out that the UK government hugely miscalculated the number of workers that took the opportunity to come and work in Britain, after the EU enlarged last time in 2004. It had expected up to 13,000 workers a year to move to the UK, but 600,000 have come since 2004.

Now British media have revealed that the government privately estimates between 60,000 and 140,000 Romanians and Bulgarians will arrive in Britain in the first year after the next EU enlargement.The figures prompted former Labour minister Frank Field to demand that the UK's borders should be closed to the new arrivals.

He said current immigration has serious effects on housing, healthcare and "the very nature of our community," according to media reports.