UK Independence Party leader, Nigel Farage, and the Daily Mirror's associate editor Kevin Maguire spoke to Daybreak about the e-petition which aims to stop mass migration form Bulgaria and Romania.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage and Associate Editor of the Mirror, Kevin Maguire Credit: Daybreak
Mr Maguire said: "We've got to be very careful in this debate because passions get enflamed, and people actually get the wrong end of the stick, it fans the flames of extremism".
Speaking about the number of people on benefits, Mr Farage said: "Nobody should be able to claim benefits until they have been here for five years and obeyed the law. Wouldn't that be a more logical way of going about this?"
Poll: No mass influx of Romanian or Bulgarian migrants
Parliamentary elections polling booths in Romania in 2008 Credit: Raul Stef/Press Association Images
A poll conducted by BBC Newsnight suggests that the lifting of work restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians will have little impact on life in the UK, as many are not planning to move to Britain.
The majority of the people surveyed by the independent team said they would only migrate to Britain if they had a concrete job offer.
Campaigner: Britain is not first choice for migrants
Dave Landau, 'No One Is Illegal' Credit: Daybreak
Dave Landau, from the campaign group 'No One Is Illegal' told Daybreak the 'Stop migration' petition being discussed by MPs today "is a dreadful thing", he added, "I think it's scaremongering, spreading fear and also it's discriminatory."
He said it was unlikely there would be a big influx of migrants from Bulgaria and Romania to the UK, as their countries of preferred choice were Italy, Spain and Germany.
Theresa May: UK not the 'only' country to open borders
Home Secretary Theresa May said the UK is not the "only" country which will be opening its borders to Romania and Bulgaria in 2014.
Today MPs will debate an e-petition entitled 'Stop mass immigration from Bulgarians and Romanians in 2014'.
It is not the case that the UK is the only country that is suddenly going to find its borders open on January 1 2014 to Romania and Bulgaria. There are other significant countries within the EU such as Germany, Austria, France who will also be opening their borders to Romania and Bulgaria at the same time.
An e-petition on calling for the government to stop mass immigration from Bulgaria and Romania in 2014 will be debated by MPs today.
Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Estonia all joined the EU in 2004, giving them unrestricted access to the UK's labour market
Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2005, but restrictions were put on the number who could move to Britain, those restrictions will be abolished in 2014 and cannot be extended
Once the restrictions are lifted all new comers will be entitled to claim benefits, there are currently an estimated 1.5 million people seeking work within the two countries
Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz is urging the Government to conduct a "full study" into the impact of the lifting of the access restrictions between the UK and Bulgaria and Romania. He said:
Though this report is helpful, what the Government needs to do is to commission a full study into the impact of the raising of transitional arrangements placed on Romanian and Bulgarian citizens.
This report contains no estimates of expected arrivals, yet when we deal with immigration it is essential we have the facts and figures.
It would be helpful if Theresa May visited Romania and Bulgaria to gauge the reasons why their citizens would chose to migrate to the UK.
The way we handle this issue will be fundamental in shaping our relationship with the EU, and with future enlargement applicants such as Turkey.
Migrant impact on public services will be 'modest'
A report conducted by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research into the impact of migration to the UK from Bulgaria and Romania concluded that the impact on public services would be "modest", only potentially increasing if migrants choose to settle in the UK on a long-term basis.
In the areas of schools, the NHS and housing the report said:
Schools
Families migrating from the two countries could put pressure on primary school places and although migrant children do not bring school performance down, language assistance will need to be provided.
Housing
The widespread public perception that migration from Romania and Bulgaria will put pressure on social housing is not backed up by evidence to date, the NIESR report said.
It added the effect on housing is highly dependent on whether migrants settle in the long-term, but evidence from local surveys showed that while Romanians and Bulgarians are interested in coming to the UK...Many are interested in temporary stays rather than long-term moves.
But initially, future migrants are likely to be young, low-skilled workers, who do not have families, the report said
NHS
Because most migrants will be young - mainly under-35 - and healthy, they will have a minimal impact on the health service, it said.
Report downplays migrant impact from eastern Europe
Fears an influx of Romanians and Bulgarians to Britain will put a strain on public services have been downplayed in an independent report, published by the Foreign Office.
But the number that may arrive on UK shores after immigration restrictions are lifted next year remains unpredictable, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) study.
Restrictions on migrants from Romania and Bulgaria to the UK are to be lifted in 2014. Credit: Press Assocation
Schools were likely to take much of the strain but the effect on the NHS, the housing sector and the welfare system will be less pronounced, it said.
Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007 but under "transitional arrangements" workers from the two countries were prevented from travelling to the UK.
'Alarmist predictions' over immigrants can cause racism
"Inflammatory rhetoric" about an influx of Eastern European immigrants are putting Romanians in the UK at risk of racist attacks, the country's ambassador to London has warned.
In a column published online by the Daily Telegraph, Dr Ion Jinga, who has lived in Britain for five years, dismissed the projected figures, adding that he "highly doubts" there will be any significant increase in the number of Romanians coming to the UK from January.
Temporary curbs were imposed on Romanians and Bulgarians in 2005 ahead of both countries joining the EU in 2007, to protect the British labour market.But the restrictions expire at the end of the year and cannot be extended.
Dr Jinga said: "Emotional approaches to this issue are counterproductive.
"They do not benefit the British public and they do not benefit the Romanian community in the UK either, as there is an increasing sense among the Romanians here that they are being discriminated and treated as second-class EU citizens."
