IMMIGRANTS will have to EARN the right to UK benefits and council housing under a tough crackdown. Some will have to wait TEN YEARS before they get a penny in the toughest shake-up of the rules in a generation.

Easy street ... Afghan's £1.2m mansion

Immigration minister Phil Woolas revealed details in an exclusive interview with The Sun.

All legal economic migrants will first have to win the right to a passport by serving a five-year "probationary citizenship".

Those who keep out of trouble and do voluntary work will become eligible for benefits one or two years after that.

But any who fail to commit to Britain can be denied handouts for a second five years.

Mr Woolas said: "Entitlement to benefits should be for citizens of our country, not other people.

"If you are a citizen you have earned the right to benefits. People must show they are here to work."

The bombshell measure will put an end to scandals like the housing of a jobless Afghan family in a £1.2million West London mansion while on £13,000-a-month benefits.

UK this way ... queue for visas in Bulgaria

It is included in the new Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Bill, published in January.

Mr Woolas intends to use the system to make it tougher for migrant workers to come here during the recession, safeguarding jobs for Britons.

Mr Woolas said: "We only need foreign workers if there is a clear skill shortage."

He admitted the Government has been partly to blame for current lax immigration rules.

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Mr Woolas said: "It has been too easy for illegal immigrants to stay in this country. We have not counted them in and out."

He also pledged to stand by a vow to keep Britain's population, now 61million, below 70million.

And defiant Mr Woolas, who revealed he had death threats in his previous role as communities minister, admitted the Government were to blame for letting ethnic communities become ghettos where no one had to learn English.

He said: "Why is it my little boy's school has 'Welcome' in 20 different languages? Immigrants must learn English."

Mr Woolas vowed to speak out on immigration despite the risk of upsetting PM Gordon Brown. He said: "If I lose my job, I lose my job."

The bombshell measure will put an end to scandals like the housing of a jobless Afghan family in a £1.2million West London mansion while on £13,000-a-month benefits.

is this figure right???

if yes then I clearly moved to the wrong country!

benefits from Australian govt = $0.00 (per day)

is this figure right???

if yes then I clearly moved to the wrong country!

benefits from Australian govt = $0.00 (per day)

yes this is correct... and if i go back to the UK with my family now, i would get 0p from the goverment !!!!

Fantastic idea IMO.

My wife is an immigrant and we've never claimed (or tried to) a penny. It made her blood boil, while attending the local college, hearing just what some people get from our gov't.

is this figure right???

if yes then I clearly moved to the wrong country!

benefits from Australian govt = $0.00 (per day)

yes this is correct... and if i go back to the UK with my family now, i would get 0p from the goverment !!!!

Although i'm not 100% sure. I think if i go back i would get job seekers but i have contributed to the system for almost 30 years.

I think if i go back i would get job seekers

and i dont think you even get that for the first 8 weeks while they process you, and i believe it is only 53 pound a week ...

I think if i go back i would get job seekers

and i dont think you even get that for the first 8 weeks while they process you, and i believe it is only 53 pound a week ...

Robbing gits. To be honest, i've been lucky to have been employed all my working life, so i wouldn't know where, when and how to claim anything.

seriously though

can someone explain to me how the figure got to be that high? even if its for an entire family of 8 people or 16 people for that matter

(taking into consideration Middle east and Asian culture can have a big family)

thats still close to 1000 pounds per person per month. (on top of having a house?)

I know my friend makes about 2000 pounds per month (I think).... and shes a skilled professional

in germany, you get somethng like 600 euros per month..which is already enough to make people not put enough effort into finding work, or in being choosy about what job they get.

hence my argument against the welfare state. it encourages people to be non productive, and in the long run will bring down the productivity of the country, making it less competitive in the world market, and eventually will end up bankrupting the system

About time, I have never claimed any benefit (excluding child allowance which every child gets, about 80 quid a month) & my husband has been here nearly 5 years, recently became a British citizen & has never claimed a penny either. Why would he, he is capable of working, has no serious medical or mental condition that prevents him for doing so & even though he couldn't find a job in his chosen field took a manual, low to mid income job as it was available & he needed a job.

Why these spongers get so much help is beyond me, if they are refugees then put them in hostels until they find work, assist them with the deposit for a place they can afford to rent privately & give them food stamps etc to tide them over then let them get on with it. We have to.

Not just throw cash at them each month.

So yeah, about fcking time.

The world is F#$^^ed

Contribute to society, earn the right to be there and be looked after by a state who's finances have come about from the toil of it's collective mass, and live within the norm of the society you choose to contribute to. Simple mantra ?

PS I'm never drinking again

This is blatant discrimination!!

It will not apply to EU citizens, as they have the right to move freely around Europe.

So, it's the Africans and Asians that this is directed against - the Bulgarians seen in the photo will all be OK, as are the petty-thieving, drug-pushing guys who infest Hounslow (Balkan origin)

This is blatant discrimination!!

It will not apply to EU citizens, as they have the right to move freely around Europe.

So, it's the Africans and Asians that this is directed against - the Bulgarians seen in the photo will all be OK, as are the petty-thieving, drug-pushing guys who infest Hounslow (Balkan origin)

Whats so good about Hounslow then ???

Whats so good about Hounslow then ???

Lots of pigeons. (Sorry - sky rats according to the local authority posters all over Hounslow)

I was there for a fortnight, having flown in from one posting and getting medical-plus-visa for my next job. I uised to live in Chiswick and knew the area quite well (I thought) but was shocked at the number of Balkan migrants (refugees? economic migs?) littering the streets there every day - and, watching them, noted the activities they were engaged in.