Immigration from EU into Britain is 'not sustainable', says Cameron as he warns of pressure on schools and hospitals

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Immigration into Britain is 'not sustainable', David Cameron warned tonight as he insisted countries needed to control to protect public services from an influx of hundreds of thousands of people.  

The Prime Minister is in Romania today in his latest push for a deal on barring access to Britain's welfare state as a way of deterring migrants from the rest of Europe.

Downing Street insists it is prioritising the four-year ban, and in the absence of alternatives from other countries will remain central to demands for renegotiating Britain's membership of the EU.

David Cameron, pictured today with Romanian health minister Patriciu-Andrei Achimas-Cadariu, is challenging other European leaders to come up with alternatives to his plan to ban benefits for migrants for four years as the price of keeping Britain in the EU

Speaking in Bucharest following his talks with the Romanian president, Mr Cameron said: 'I want Britain to stay in a reformed European Union.

'That's why I am seeking important reforms to address the concerns of the British people about the status quo.'

He acknowledged that 'some areas are more difficult than others, particularly the reforms I have proposed on welfare'.

Eastern European countries including Romania and Poland have been major sources of migrant workers coming to the UK, and their politicians are sensitive to any measures which could discriminate against their citizens.

Mr Cameron insisted: 'I support the principle of free movement to work - it is a basic treaty right and a key part of the single market.

'And Romanians, alongside other Europeans, make a valuable contribution to the United Kingdom in a wide range of fields, from finance to science and medicine.

'But it was never envisaged that free movement would trigger quite such vast numbers of people moving across our continent.

'And countries have got to be able to cope with all the pressures that can bring - on our schools, our hospitals and other public services.

'Net migration in the UK is running at well over 300,000 a year and that is not sustainable.

'So we do need to find ways to allow member states to make changes to their social security systems that will help them to deal with this issue.'

Mr Cameron's hopes of securing an agreement were dealt a blow this week when European Council president Donald Tusk warned there is 'presently no consensus' on barring migrants from in-work benefits and social housing.

Mr Tusk said that EU leaders would need to 'hear more' from Mr Cameron before deciding how to proceed with the Prime Minister's plans on migration.

He warned EU leaders will have to overcome 'substantial political differences' to reach agreement on the issues of social benefits and free movement for EU citizens.

But Mr Cameron heads to eastern Europe today adamant that it remains a key demand.

'It is what we want to see,' said a Number 10 source. 'We considered other things - an emergency brake on numbers coming here, and so on - but the four-year ban we think is the right policy.

'It is why the Prime Minister included it in his demands to Tusk and it is still the only idea on the table.'

Mr Cameron laid a wreath at a memorial for the victims of a fire at the Colectiv nightclub, where 60 people were killed in a fire in October

Mr Cameron met Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos at Victoria Palace, in Bucharest for talks on keeping Britain in the EU

However, it emerged today that Brussels is working on a so-called 'Plan B' which could limit immigration if public services become overwhelmed.

The Financial Times reported a 'migration safety valve' would allow limits on EU free movement rules on the grounds of public security, public policy or public health.

Mr Cameron missed Prime Minister's Questions today to travel to eastern Europe for two days of talks with leaders in Romania and Poland.

He made the case that reducing the appeal of moving to Britain will allow countries to retain more of their young people.

Latest figures show that the number of Bulgarians and Romanians coming to the UK is up 61 per cent in a year to 50,000. 

Some 336,000 more people arrived in the UK than left in the last year, more than treble the Prime Minister's target of cutting net migration to under 100,000

75% OF EMPLOYMENT RISE WILL BE MIGRANTS TAKING JOBS IN UK 

OBR chairman Robert Chote said that by 2020 there would be 1.1million more people in work, entirely as a result of population growth

Three-quarters of a predicted rise in employment will come from more migrants finding work in Britain, the OBR said.

Chairman Robert Chote said that by 2020 there would be 1.1million more people in work, entirely as a result of population growth.

'Roughly about three-quarters of that would arise from migration rather than domestically,' he told the Treasury select committee.

While around half of the predicted rise in the overall population is linked to migration, a larger proportion of migrants is expected to get a job than Britons. 

In Romania, Mr Cameron held talks with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and President Klaus Iohannis before travelling to Warsaw for a working dinner with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo.

Tomorrow he will hold talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the latest leg of his EU charm offensive.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has claimed almost all European leaders privately back Britain's push to end migrants 'popping' between countries in search of higher benefits.

But the plan suffered a blow yesterday when a senior economist with the Office for Budget Responsibility warned banning migrants from claiming benefits would have little impact on slowing immigration.

Sir Stephen Nickell told the Treasury Select Committee: 'Changing the benefit rules for EU migration so that they become more difficult to obtain - you are asking me what impact that is likely to have. In my opinion: not much.'

Mr Cameron was given a fresh indication of the task facing him in Brussels in a Downing Street meeting on Tuesday with the leader of the liberal grouping in the European Parliament.

In talks about Mr Cameron's demands, Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, warned that 'some areas would be more difficult than others'.

A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister explained that he wanted Britain to stay in a reformed EU. He outlined the areas where British people had concerns about the status quo, which needed to be as addressed as part of the renegotiation - issues concerning sovereignty, competitiveness, economic governance and migration.

'Mr Verhofstadt said he wanted to engage on the UK proposals on EU reform in a positive, constructive way, while noting that some areas would be more difficult than others.'