Sir John Major said Britain had a 50 per cent chance of leaving the EU, adding the country 'could not absorb' so many migrants in the future . Britain is likely to leave the EU unless it allows us to restrict immigration, Sir John Major warned last night. In an extraordinary intervention, the former prime minister said ‘our small island cannot absorb’ the huge numbers moving here each year. Sir John, who declared as premier that he wanted Britain at the heart of the EU, claimed our chances of leaving the union were ‘just under 50 per cent’ – and warned this would increase unless Brussels reforms rules on freedom of movement. He said that although the country welcomed hard-working migrants, the ‘sheer scale of the influx’ had put ‘strains on our health, welfare, housing and education services’. Britain had accepted ‘one of, if not the largest population movement in peacetime European history’, he told an audience in Germany, adding that failure to tackle the trend would cause ‘huge public disquiet’. ‘It is a matter of numbers,’ he said. ‘Whereas some European populations are falling, the UK has grown by 7 per cent in a decade.’ More than a million people have entered Britain from Poland and seven other former Eastern bloc countries since 2004, when temporary restrictions on migrants from those nations were dropped by Labour. Officials had predicted that just 13,000 would arrive each year. Sir John, the last Tory leader to win a Commons majority, stressed that he grew up among immigrants in south London who were friends and neighbours. ‘I hate having to make this argument. I hate it. I don’t wish to close our doors to strangers, especially strangers with skills from countries that are often allies. ‘But I do recognise, reluctantly, that our small island simply cannot absorb the present and projected numbers at the current speed. It is not physically or politically possible without huge public disquiet.’ Sir John also launched a strong attack on Ukip, saying: ‘I hope we are going to push them back to the fringes of politics from which they should never have emerged.’ The Tory grandee – whose remarks were shown to and discussed with Downing Street in advance – sketched out David Cameron’s plan to negotiate looser ties with Brussels. Sir John said the country had received one of the largest population movements in peacetime European history, with droves more expected. Migrants try to board lorries bound for Britain in Calais (pictured) European migrants should only be entitled to child benefit equal to the rate paid by the country where their child lives, Nick Clegg has said. The move would result in Polish parents in Britain with children who live in Poland receiving £18 per month, rather than the British rate of £80. The call for change – ahead of wider government proposals to limit migrants’ benefits – follows a ruling by European judges to restrict benefits tourism. Mr Clegg said on LBC Radio that we should go further to address the ‘absurd’ practice of paying child benefit to Europeans who live here but whose children are still abroad. The Deputy Prime Minister has told officials to look into a ‘fairer’ policy – although he conceded legal obstacles could be ‘difficult to straighten out’. Mr Cameron has promised to then hold an in-out referendum by 2017 if the Tories are still in power after the general election. Sir John told a foreign affairs think-tank in Berlin that a ‘great nation may be poised to leave the EU’ unless it is offered an opt-out from ‘ever-closer union’, reforms to free movement rights and legal guarantees that Brussels can only act where individual member states cannot. In what seems to be intended as a wake-up call to other EU leaders, he said: ‘Opposition has reached a critical mass and now, for the first time, there is a serious possibility that our electorate could vote to leave the EU. 'I put the chance of exit at just under 50 per cent. But if the negotiations go badly, that percentage will rise. 'Conversely, with genuine reform, it will fall. I ask our European partners to realise we are close to a breach that is in no-one’s interest.’ Sir John, who fought bitter battles with Eurosceptics when in Downing Street, appeared to rebuke Mr Cameron after he erupted over the EU budget at the last Brussels summit, suggesting it was time to ‘tone down the oratory and turn up the diplomacy’. However, he insisted that as large net contributors to the EU’s budget for 40 years, Britain expected the ‘national dilemma’ of seeking to control free movement ‘to be treated with consideration’. Labour leader Ed Miliband said Sir John's speech 'is a pretty damning indictment of David Cameron' ‘It is not too fanciful to say that our partners must weigh up a choice: help us on this issue, or deny us – knowing that the latter course can only fuel the Eurosceptic argument.’ Sir John stressed that migration across borders was not just a problem for the UK, arguing the ‘sheer volume of migration across Europe is alienating citizens from their governments’ in countries such as Greece, France and Italy. ‘It is powering the rise of single-issue political parties whose convictions are alien to a liberal and civilised society. 'Some are racist: others are border-line racist. Some are merely bigots,’ he added. Sir John went on to criticise Ukip, claiming the party is ‘anti-everything’. He continued: ‘They are anti-foreigner, they are anti-Europe, they’re anti-establishment, they’re anti-politics – I haven’t found out what they are for, but by goodness we know what they are against. 'A thoroughly negative body like that is not the place into which you should put your faith or your trust, and certainly not your vote.’ National Insurance numbers (NINOs) have been handed out to more than 420,000 people from the EU, up from 285,000 in the year before the coalition was formed . Labour leader Ed Miliband warned that leaving the EU would be a ‘disaster’, but claimed Mr Cameron was unwilling to take on his party’s Eurosceptics. ‘The Tory party is increasingly a party drifting towards exit from the EU – that is where the centre of gravity of the Tory party is,’ he said. Mr Miliband added that Sir John’s speech was a ‘damning indictment’ of the prime minister, who was ‘burning bridges and not helping Britain in Europe’.
Sir John Major said 'sheer scale of the influx' strained Britain's resources .
Former prime minister described immigration as 'a matter of numbers'
Criticised 'anti-everything' Ukip as a 'thoroughly negative body'
David Cameron promises an in-out referendum by 2017 if re-elected .
Sir John Major said Britain had a 50 per cent chance of leaving the EU, adding the country 'could not absorb' so many migrants in the future . Britain is likely to leave the EU unless it allows us to restrict immigration, Sir John Major warned last night. In an extraordinary intervention, the former prime minister said ‘our small island cannot absorb’ the huge numbers moving here each year. Sir John, who declared as premier that he wanted Britain at the heart of the EU, claimed our chances of leaving the union were ‘just under 50 per cent’ – and warned this would increase unless Brussels reforms rules on freedom of movement. He said that although the country welcomed hard-working migrants, the ‘sheer scale of the influx’ had put ‘strains on our health, welfare, housing and education services’. Britain had accepted ‘one of, if not the largest population movement in peacetime European history’, he told an audience in Germany, adding that failure to tackle the trend would cause ‘huge public disquiet’. ‘It is a matter of numbers,’ he said. ‘Whereas some European populations are falling, the UK has grown by 7 per cent in a decade.’ More than a million people have entered Britain from Poland and seven other former Eastern bloc countries since 2004, when temporary restrictions on migrants from those nations were dropped by Labour. Officials had predicted that just 13,000 would arrive each year. Sir John, the last Tory leader to win a Commons majority, stressed that he grew up among immigrants in south London who were friends and neighbours. ‘I hate having to make this argument. I hate it. I don’t wish to close our doors to strangers, especially strangers with skills from countries that are often allies. ‘But I do recognise, reluctantly, that our small island simply cannot absorb the present and projected numbers at the current speed. It is not physically or politically possible without huge public disquiet.’ Sir John also launched a strong attack on Ukip, saying: ‘I hope we are going to push them back to the fringes of politics from which they should never have emerged.’ The Tory grandee – whose remarks were shown to and discussed with Downing Street in advance – sketched out David Cameron’s plan to negotiate looser ties with Brussels. Sir John said the country had received one of the largest population movements in peacetime European history, with droves more expected. Migrants try to board lorries bound for Britain in Calais (pictured) European migrants should only be entitled to child benefit equal to the rate paid by the country where their child lives, Nick Clegg has said. The move would result in Polish parents in Britain with children who live in Poland receiving £18 per month, rather than the British rate of £80. The call for change – ahead of wider government proposals to limit migrants’ benefits – follows a ruling by European judges to restrict benefits tourism. Mr Clegg said on LBC Radio that we should go further to address the ‘absurd’ practice of paying child benefit to Europeans who live here but whose children are still abroad. The Deputy Prime Minister has told officials to look into a ‘fairer’ policy – although he conceded legal obstacles could be ‘difficult to straighten out’. Mr Cameron has promised to then hold an in-out referendum by 2017 if the Tories are still in power after the general election. Sir John told a foreign affairs think-tank in Berlin that a ‘great nation may be poised to leave the EU’ unless it is offered an opt-out from ‘ever-closer union’, reforms to free movement rights and legal guarantees that Brussels can only act where individual member states cannot. In what seems to be intended as a wake-up call to other EU leaders, he said: ‘Opposition has reached a critical mass and now, for the first time, there is a serious possibility that our electorate could vote to leave the EU. 'I put the chance of exit at just under 50 per cent. But if the negotiations go badly, that percentage will rise. 'Conversely, with genuine reform, it will fall. I ask our European partners to realise we are close to a breach that is in no-one’s interest.’ Sir John, who fought bitter battles with Eurosceptics when in Downing Street, appeared to rebuke Mr Cameron after he erupted over the EU budget at the last Brussels summit, suggesting it was time to ‘tone down the oratory and turn up the diplomacy’. However, he insisted that as large net contributors to the EU’s budget for 40 years, Britain expected the ‘national dilemma’ of seeking to control free movement ‘to be treated with consideration’. Labour leader Ed Miliband said Sir John's speech 'is a pretty damning indictment of David Cameron' ‘It is not too fanciful to say that our partners must weigh up a choice: help us on this issue, or deny us – knowing that the latter course can only fuel the Eurosceptic argument.’ Sir John stressed that migration across borders was not just a problem for the UK, arguing the ‘sheer volume of migration across Europe is alienating citizens from their governments’ in countries such as Greece, France and Italy. ‘It is powering the rise of single-issue political parties whose convictions are alien to a liberal and civilised society. 'Some are racist: others are border-line racist. Some are merely bigots,’ he added. Sir John went on to criticise Ukip, claiming the party is ‘anti-everything’. He continued: ‘They are anti-foreigner, they are anti-Europe, they’re anti-establishment, they’re anti-politics – I haven’t found out what they are for, but by goodness we know what they are against. 'A thoroughly negative body like that is not the place into which you should put your faith or your trust, and certainly not your vote.’ National Insurance numbers (NINOs) have been handed out to more than 420,000 people from the EU, up from 285,000 in the year before the coalition was formed . Labour leader Ed Miliband warned that leaving the EU would be a ‘disaster’, but claimed Mr Cameron was unwilling to take on his party’s Eurosceptics. ‘The Tory party is increasingly a party drifting towards exit from the EU – that is where the centre of gravity of the Tory party is,’ he said. Mr Miliband added that Sir John’s speech was a ‘damning indictment’ of the prime minister, who was ‘burning bridges and not helping Britain in Europe’.
Sir John Major said Britain had a 50 per cent intervention, the former prime minister said ‘our ‘sheer scale of the influx’ had put ‘strains on matter of numbers,’ he said. ‘Whereas some promised to then hold an in-out referendum by indictment of David Cameron' ‘It is not too thoroughly negative body like that is not the