UK a net beneficiary from immigration

EU migrants to the UK paid more in tax than they received in benefits in the past decade, according to a report that threatens to stoke the political debate over immigration.

People who moved to the UK after 2000 contributed £20bn (€26bn) to the public finances between 2001 and 2011, the study by UCL Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration showed.

Migrants from the 10 mostly eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 accounted for £5bn. Immigration has become a key political battleground as Prime Minister David Cameron seeks re-election in May. With his Conservatives losing votes to the anti-EU Ukip, ministers are intensifying their rhetoric. Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, talked of towns and communities being “swamped” by migrant workers.