Cameron's claims on EU benefits vs. the truth about EU benefits

While introducing new benefits cuts to EU migrants today, David Cameron claimed that we have "an increasingly generous, no-questions-asked welfare system which drew migrants to Britain for the wrong reasons".

His statement comes despite the fact that, according to the government's own figures, 121,280 of an estimated 1.8m EU citizens in Britain are claiming out of work benefits - that's 6.7 per cent, compared to 16.4 per cent of working age British nationals.

Not to mention that a study released this month by the Migration Advisory Commission, the government's official advisors on migration, explains that "the causal effect between social welfare spending and immigration is very small and statistically insignificant".

Which is also backed up by this European Commission study that says "the majority of mobile EU citizens move to another Member State to work".

In other words, there is little evidence of the "magnetic pull of Britain's benefits system" that David Cameron speaks of.

So that leaves us wondering why on earth the prime minister would want to look so tough on EU migration...?

The next out of work benefits study by the DWP will be released on 13 August 2014