By . Tim Shipman . PUBLISHED: . 19:40 EST, 25 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:39 EST, 26 November 2013 . Only 8,000 Bulgarians a year will come to Britain when restrictions on entry are lifted in January, the country’s ambassador suggested  last night. Konstantin Dimitrov’s forecast is in stark contrast to the 50,000 estimate by the Migrationwatch pressure group, and will be regarded as a woeful underestimate by experts considering between 8,000 and 10,000 Bulgarians already come to the UK every year. Ministers refuse to make their own forecast after the previous government got its figures so wrong. In 2004, Labour estimated 13,000 immigrants a year would arrive when restrictions on Poland and other Eastern European countries were lifted. The actual figure was more than a million in under a decade. Looking for a way out: Bulgarians queue for visa applications outside British Embassy in the capital, Sofia . A survey yesterday revealed that . almost half of Britons think the right to work and live in the UK should . be blocked for Romanians and Bulgarians. The . poll for Channel 5 News found that 47 per cent of people thought . migrants from the two countries should have no right to live, work or . claim benefits in the UK. A total of 56 per cent believed immigration had had a negative impact on Britain. More . than a quarter of voters (27 per cent) said UKIP had the best . immigration policies. Labour was on 18 per cent, the Tories on 12 per . cent and the Lib Dems on 7 per cent. Mr Dimitrov’s claim came as  ministers last night thrashed out plans with Government lawyers to double the time EU migrants have to wait to claim benefits from three months to six. Downing Street, the Department of Work and Pensions and the Lib Dems were also examining plans to force new arrivals to prove that they are seeking work before handing them welfare payments. Insiders say Britain will be fined millions of pounds a day if they seek to restrict benefits further. But senior Lib Dem sources have indicated they would back tighter rules and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was last night consulting lawyers. Mr Dimitrov told Channel 5 News that officials should expect ‘maybe 8,000 immigrants a year’. Although the figure is a lot lower than previous estimates, it still means Britain will have to build a new town the size of Harlow or Stevenage every decade to house new arrivals from Bulgaria alone. Earlier this year Mr Dimitrov’s Romanian counterpart, Ion Jinga, predicted between 15,000 and 25,000 Romanian arrivals each year. Mr Dimitrov said the Government ‘cannot stop the free movement of people and their legal access to the UK labour market’ and disputed claims that Bulgarians will steal jobs from English people. ‘If you are member of EU there is a competition of all job offers at stake. Everyone should compete for jobs offers on an equal basis if every applicant is a citizen of a member of the EU.’ Konstantin Dimitrov's forecast is in stark contrast to the 50,000 estimate by the Migrationwatch pressure group . Romanians and Bulgarians have had the right to live and visit the UK without visas since 2007, but companies have to apply for work permits and migrants for an ‘accession worker card’ if they want to be employed as regular staff. These restrictions will be lifted in January. Sir Gerald Howarth, who signed a Commons motion calling for controls to be kept in place on Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants, said even the 8,000 figure cited by the ambassador was too high. He added: ‘It is crystal clear that these people are coming here and they will add massive demand to British services and housing. ‘Immigration is a massive issue for the British people, who have been held in slavery for the last few years, frightened to speak out about their fears on immigration.’ Tory and Lib Dem sources confirmed they were looking at plans to tighten welfare rules so that new arrivals had to wait six months rather than three before claiming benefits. Any change would affect all EU arrivals, not just Bulgarian and Romanian migrants. Mr Duncan Smith is also drawing up plans to insist that many more questions are asked in the habitual residency test, to establish properly if the claimant is really trying to find work. One Tory MP said ministers were under pressure from backbenchers to ‘have a fight’ with the European Court of Justice, even if it was not successful. The MP added: ‘Several of us are arguing that it would be better to take on the system than just back down and say we are powerless to act.’ Labour grandees have admitted they made a ‘spectacular mistake’ by opening Britain’s borders a decade ago. Former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw . When Poland and other countries from Eastern Europe entered the EU in 2004, Britain lifted labour market controls that would have prevented people from those countries coming to work in the UK – while most other EU nations kept them in place for seven more years. Officials estimated that just 13,000 migrants would flock to the UK a year. In fact, nearly one million came to work from those countries to work in Britain, the equivalent of a city the size of Birmingham. Jack Straw, who was Home Secretary under the last government, recently admitted it was a ‘well-intentioned policy that we messed up’ and the estimates were ‘worthless’. Mr Straw said: ‘One spectacular mistake in which I participated (not alone) was in lifting the transitional restrictions on the Eastern European states like Poland and Hungary which joined the EU in mid-2004. We thought that it would be good for Britain if these folk could come and work here from 2004. ‘Research by the Home Office suggested that the impact of this benevolence would in any event be “relatively small, at between 5,000 and 13,000 immigrants per year up to 2010”.’ David Blunkett, Mr Straw’s successor as Home Secretary, warned that British cities could face riots as an influx of Roma migrants created ‘frictions’.
Konstantin Dimitrov's forecast is in stark contrast to the 50,000 estimate by pressure group Migrationwatch .
It will be regarded as a woeful underestimate by experts considering between 8,000 and 10,000 Bulgarians already come to the UK every year .
Ministers refuse to give their own forecast after the previous government got its figures so wrong .
By . Tim Shipman . PUBLISHED: . 19:40 EST, 25 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:39 EST, 26 November 2013 . Only 8,000 Bulgarians a year will come to Britain when restrictions on entry are lifted in January, the country’s ambassador suggested  last night. Konstantin Dimitrov’s forecast is in stark contrast to the 50,000 estimate by the Migrationwatch pressure group, and will be regarded as a woeful underestimate by experts considering between 8,000 and 10,000 Bulgarians already come to the UK every year. Ministers refuse to make their own forecast after the previous government got its figures so wrong. In 2004, Labour estimated 13,000 immigrants a year would arrive when restrictions on Poland and other Eastern European countries were lifted. The actual figure was more than a million in under a decade. Looking for a way out: Bulgarians queue for visa applications outside British Embassy in the capital, Sofia . A survey yesterday revealed that . almost half of Britons think the right to work and live in the UK should . be blocked for Romanians and Bulgarians. The . poll for Channel 5 News found that 47 per cent of people thought . migrants from the two countries should have no right to live, work or . claim benefits in the UK. A total of 56 per cent believed immigration had had a negative impact on Britain. More . than a quarter of voters (27 per cent) said UKIP had the best . immigration policies. Labour was on 18 per cent, the Tories on 12 per . cent and the Lib Dems on 7 per cent. Mr Dimitrov’s claim came as ministers last night thrashed out plans with Government lawyers to double the time EU migrants have to wait to claim benefits from three months to six. Downing Street, the Department of Work and Pensions and the Lib Dems were also examining plans to force new arrivals to prove that they are seeking work before handing them welfare payments. Insiders say Britain will be fined millions of pounds a day if they seek to restrict benefits further. But senior Lib Dem sources have indicated they would back tighter rules and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was last night consulting lawyers. Mr Dimitrov told Channel 5 News that officials should expect ‘maybe 8,000 immigrants a year’. Although the figure is a lot lower than previous estimates, it still means Britain will have to build a new town the size of Harlow or Stevenage every decade to house new arrivals from Bulgaria alone. Earlier this year Mr Dimitrov’s Romanian counterpart, Ion Jinga, predicted between 15,000 and 25,000 Romanian arrivals each year. Mr Dimitrov said the Government ‘cannot stop the free movement of people and their legal access to the UK labour market’ and disputed claims that Bulgarians will steal jobs from English people. ‘If you are member of EU there is a competition of all job offers at stake. Everyone should compete for jobs offers on an equal basis if every applicant is a citizen of a member of the EU.’ Konstantin Dimitrov's forecast is in stark contrast to the 50,000 estimate by the Migrationwatch pressure group . Romanians and Bulgarians have had the right to live and visit the UK without visas since 2007, but companies have to apply for work permits and migrants for an ‘accession worker card’ if they want to be employed as regular staff. These restrictions will be lifted in January. Sir Gerald Howarth, who signed a Commons motion calling for controls to be kept in place on Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants, said even the 8,000 figure cited by the ambassador was too high. He added: ‘It is crystal clear that these people are coming here and they will add massive demand to British services and housing. ‘Immigration is a massive issue for the British people, who have been held in slavery for the last few years, frightened to speak out about their fears on immigration.’ Tory and Lib Dem sources confirmed they were looking at plans to tighten welfare rules so that new arrivals had to wait six months rather than three before claiming benefits. Any change would affect all EU arrivals, not just Bulgarian and Romanian migrants. Mr Duncan Smith is also drawing up plans to insist that many more questions are asked in the habitual residency test, to establish properly if the claimant is really trying to find work. One Tory MP said ministers were under pressure from backbenchers to ‘have a fight’ with the European Court of Justice, even if it was not successful. The MP added: ‘Several of us are arguing that it would be better to take on the system than just back down and say we are powerless to act.’ Labour grandees have admitted they made a ‘spectacular mistake’ by opening Britain’s borders a decade ago. Former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw . When Poland and other countries from Eastern Europe entered the EU in 2004, Britain lifted labour market controls that would have prevented people from those countries coming to work in the UK – while most other EU nations kept them in place for seven more years. Officials estimated that just 13,000 migrants would flock to the UK a year. In fact, nearly one million came to work from those countries to work in Britain, the equivalent of a city the size of Birmingham. Jack Straw, who was Home Secretary under the last government, recently admitted it was a ‘well-intentioned policy that we messed up’ and the estimates were ‘worthless’. Mr Straw said: ‘One spectacular mistake in which I participated (not alone) was in lifting the transitional restrictions on the Eastern European states like Poland and Hungary which joined the EU in mid-2004. We thought that it would be good for Britain if these folk could come and work here from 2004. ‘Research by the Home Office suggested that the impact of this benevolence would in any event be “relatively small, at between 5,000 and 13,000 immigrants per year up to 2010”.’ David Blunkett, Mr Straw’s successor as Home Secretary, warned that British cities could face riots as an influx of Roma migrants created ‘frictions’.
forecast is in stark contrast to the 50,000 estimate by the Migrationwatch pressure group, and will be regarded as a woeful underestimate by experts considering between 8,000 and 10,000 Bulgarians already come to the UK every year. Ministers refuse to make their own forecast after the previous government got its figures so wrong. Dimitrov's forecast is in stark contrast to the 50,000 estimate by the Migrationwatch pressure