Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Good speech. The other day he said that he would campaign for leaving the EU if changes were not made. The Conservatives are the only party with realistic plans for the EU.

good speech rubbish it was all bollocks ever word he said was we COULD IF THE EU AGREES STOP BENEFITS , not will stop them the man is a liar why did he not say we are now going to stop them from today . he is talking of 5 years time

all lies and crap

from Europe news another 200m heading for the uk from migrants landing in Italy Tenerife and malta all heading for the uk

we can all just speculate as to whether DC will or will not give the public a vote on eu membership or will or will not implement these restrictions on benefits and (especially) housing, but none of us actually know a damn thing .... and the same applies equally to whatever party happens to be in power

my own betting on the housing issue is that there will be so many exceptions - being homeless or in the process of seeking asylum etc etc - that the reality will be little different from now

Tenerife
long swim from there!

BBC.co.uk/News
28 November 2014 Last updated at 10:32

Immigration: David Cameron outlines benefit restrictions
David Cameron speaking in the West Midlands
Mr Cameron said the UK was experiencing the largest level of peacetime immigration

Q&A: What benefits can EU migrants get?
The prime minister has set out plans to curb welfare benefits for migrants from the EU.

David Cameron said EU migrants should have to wait at least four years before receiving benefits such as tax credits or council houses.

He insisted the changes, which he will seek if he is elected in May, were an "absolute requirement" in future talks over whether to stay in the EU.

It follows news that net migration to the UK has risen above 2010 levels.

In a long-awaited speech in the West Midlands, Mr Cameron said he was confident that he can change the basis of EU migration into the UK and therefore campaign for the UK to stay in the EU in a future referendum planned for 2017.

But he warned that if the UK's demands fall on "deaf ears" he will "rule nothing out" - the strongest hint to date he could countenance the UK leaving the EU.

The main proposals in the speech - which are dependent on Mr Cameron remaining in power after May's general election - are:

* Stopping EU migrants from claiming in-work benefits, such as tax credits, and getting access to social housing for four years
* Stopping migrants claiming child benefit and tax credits for children living outside the UK
* Removing migrants from the UK after six months if they have not found work
* Restricting the right of migrants to bring family members into the UK
* Speeding up deportation of convicted criminals
* Longer re-entry bans for beggars and fraudsters removed from the UK
* Stopping citizens from new countries joining the EU from working in the UK until "their economies have "converged more closely" with existing members.

Mr Cameron said the UK public's concerns about levels of EU immigration over the past decade are "not outlandish or unreasonable" and the changes will create the "toughest welfare system" for migration in Europe.

"We deserve to be heard and we must be heard," he said.

"Here is an issue which matters to the British people and to our future of the European Union.

"The British people will not understand - frankly I will not understand - if a sensible way through cannot be found, which will help settle this country's place in the EU once and for all."

'Cap dropped'
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Cameron's welfare curbs were "a tougher version of an approach already set out by Labour and the Liberal Democrats" but the proposed four-year limit on benefits would be difficult to negotiate in Brussels.

But he added that ideas of a cap on the numbers coming in had been abandoned amid the realisation he could not get support from other EU leaders for it.

Analysis by BBC political editor Nick Robinson
It is a speech which David Cameron and his advisers have agonised over for months.

Ideas for it have been floated in the media, tested in capitals across Europe, debated with civil servants and, no doubt, market tested as well.

What is revealing is not just what has stayed in but what has come out.

At the moment EU citizens are free to come to the UK and compete for jobs without being subject to any immigration controls. Those from outside the EU face much tighter controls if they wish to enter the country.

Mr Cameron responded to criticism that the Conservatives' stated aim in opposition to reduce overall levels of net migration below 100,000 - which has never been a coalition target due to Lib Dem opposition - is "in tatters".

He acknowledged the goal would not met by May, saying "more time and work" was needed and "additional metrics" would be applied.

'Action now'
Former Conservative minister Sir Gerald Howarth said the speech contained "good measures" but questioned whether they would be enough to reduce migration numbers.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We need action this day and our view is that we need to restore to the UK Parliament, immediately, control over our borders and if the Liberals don't like it then let's go to the country".

EU migration figures
Chart showing migration into and out of the UK


Note: 2014 shows provisional rolling quarterly estimates

London Mayor Boris Johnson said Mr Cameron was "on pretty much the right lines" in trying to stop the UK's welfare system from being "a suction force".

But he warned against discouraging "talent" from moving to Britain, adding: "The last thing we should be is negative."

The Conservatives' 2010 election manifesto said: "We will take steps to take net migration back to the levels of the 1990s - tens of thousands a year, not hundreds of thousands."

Dominic Casciani
Analysis by BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani

The prime minister's speech on immigration has been billed as a plan that will change the face of the nation.

But the official figures published on Friday show how it has already been transformed and will continue to change in an era of mass movement of people.

But the coalition agreement pledged only an "annual limit" on people coming to the UK from outside the European Union for economic reasons, without a specific number.

Net migration - the numbers coming to live in Britain minus those leaving - is estimated to have risen by 78,000 to 260,000 in the year to June, 16,000 higher than it was when the coalition government was formed in 2010.

Some 228,000 EU citizens came to the UK in the year to June 2014, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday.

The figures led Mr Cameron's political rivals to say the Conservatives' policy on immigration had failed.

'Dishonest'
Lib Dem Deputy PM Nick Clegg, who has called for a higher earnings threshold for tax credits and other benefits rather than a ban, said "over-promising and under-delivering" did damage to public confidence in the immigration system.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said Mr Cameron had made a "dishonest promise" as it was not possible to reduce net migration by such an extent while the UK was a member of the European Union.

And shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the target had been left in "tatters".

She said: "Rather than ramping up the rhetoric, David Cameron must now set out sensible, practical plans."

Labour's own proposals include a two-year ban on EU migrants claiming in-work benefits, a ban on child benefits being sent abroad and stopping firms exploiting immigration to undercut wages and jobs.

Net migration peaked at 320,000 in 2005. It fell to a low of 154,000 in the year ending September 2012.

He can't stop anything from today as we are signatories to legally binding treaty. Our veto on treaty details was given away by Blair. Prior to that we could use our veto on other matters to get our way on things we we want. Thatcher did this to get our rebate, which Blair gave up 50% of.

Scratching the surface on Black Friday shopping incidents..........

ASDA Wembley:



The Manchester Evening News is reporting that police were called to seven stores across the city and arrested two people, one of whom allegedly threatened to "smash a shop worker's face in". At a Tesco in Middleton, police had to step in at 12.40am after 200 people would not leave, despite being told stock had all gone.

the eu law says you can not deport your criminals to anther country well they are clearing out their prisons if they leave their country we are getting all the eu criminals and they are now here killing people .

the eu is a rotten stinking corrupt shit hole
get us out now

camerons speech ment nothing it was all perhaps we might get our way we will not

how many grabbing for non-food items are on benefits? :-)
or perhaps illegals? :-))

My solution to it?

More yellow Mondays, green Tuesdays, pink Wednesdays, purple Thursdays, blue Saturdays and white Sundays.

All stores to be staffed by EU immigrants.

Sorted!

proposals in the speech - which are dependent on Mr Cameron remaining in power after May's general election -
todays speech was an election broadcast for the con party a con trick

Cameron's speech!

"Trust me and I am passionate!"

As many liars claim.

Another list of false promises and future U-turns.

He certainly is no longer plausible, but certainly has "brass".

It is almost knee jerk politics like him trapping himself in his PR rush to devolution.

Not fit to be PM.

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

pissed myself laughing on TANKERS running commentary of Devious Dave.

Real entertainment who needs the X factor or Strictly.

All the entertainment is here .

Didnt realise he was going to speak this morning on immigration thought I had heard 2.30pm.

Will see it on the news.

You can't stop EU people coming here ever. You expect to go on holiday to where ever you choose in Europe. People from Italy, France etc will always be able to come here on holiday. When they are here they can just stay on and look for a job. There is nothing you can do about it. The only way to cut the numbers is to cut the benefits so that EU visitors would not take the risk of not getting a job with no benefits or housing to fall back on.

The problem with dealing with the EU is that it regards all citizens as equal members of a federal Europe. They look upon it in the same way that a resident of California has the right to go and live, work and collect benefits in Florida or New York.

Haze,

Are you back on medication?

I agree with first part P51643.

However, not sure about cutting "benefits".

Depends on which benefit and whether there is deliberate "abuse" of a system.

(I repeat, if a person is working in the UK and has every intention of continuing to do so, breaks his leg or arm etc, and can't support himself or return to work for a period of time, does the state turn their back on him/her, expect either to sleep on the street and beg for money to buy food. Or perhaps, wrap him/her up and post back to country of origin. UMMM)

Also, if an immigrant is working in a low paid job, which a fellow indigenous worker would receive "benefits" for in order to provide for them a "living wage", will he/her be entitled to the same.

He is doing the same work for "society" and therefore entitled to the same reward.

Benefits a complicated.

Reviews are necessary, but they should not be political footballs to score goals with.

fred - you could say the same about nhs, teachers, firemen and any other number of things about which you like to (try to) make political capital - ie treat as "political footballs"!

Mitchels letter used as evidence in court..........