Cameron: Migrants on welfare a red line

British prime minister David Cameron said restricting EU migrant access to Britain’s welfare system was a red line in his negotiations with the bloc, ahead of an EU summit he wants to use to launch informal talks on the issue.

Cameron, reelected on May 7, has pledged to re-shape Britain’s ties with the EU before holding an in-out membership referendum by the end of 2017.

He is under growing pressure to cut immigration. Official data released hours before he spoke showed net annual migration hit a near record high of 318,000 in 2014, despite his pledges to cut it to less than 100,000, much of it from the EU and fuelled by Britain’s strong economy.