Nick Clegg has set out his plans to curb benefits given to EU migrants, saying that they need to have paid taxes for six months before they can claim.
Nick Clegg
Europe and immigration is set to be a major fighting point at next year's general election, and has become an even bigger talking point in recent weeks thanks to the local election wins by UKIP - who are using immigration and pulling out of Europe as the centre of their campaign.
The deputy prime minister believes that curbs and changes can be made without infringing free movement within the EU - something that has been a sticking point with the European Union and the Conservatives.
As well as preventing migrants from claim the new universal credit, Mr Clegg has also suggested that access to in-work benefits should also be restricted. Migrants would have work on the minimum wage and full time to be able to qualify.
Mr Clegg has also called on Cameron to think about immigration before delivering his speech, claiming that caps and overall quotas would result in us living in 'the worst of all world'.
Writing in the Financial Times, Clegg said: "David Cameron will soon give his much built-up immigration speech. If the Prime Minister asserts that a Tory government will introduce caps or overall quotas on the number of EU migrants coming here, we will find ourselves in the worst of all worlds.
"Ukip will say it is not enough. Europe will say it is not possible. Once again, the British people will be plunged into a cycle of wild over promising and inevitable disappointment, their scepticism confirmed. And the risks to the openness of the British economy will be considerable."
Rather than dividing Europe Mr Clegg says that he is keen to work with other nations to help solve hits problem. He looks set to talk to German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel about the issues and his ideas to solve them during a visit to Berlin.
Mr Clegg continued: "I have already proposed that we work with other states to stop EU migrants from claiming child benefit for children who are not living here.
"As a first step, we should pay the same rate as the country in which those children reside. In the UK it is about £80 a month, whereas in Poland it is less than half that. And there are other proposals we must now explore."
The Conservatives are looking to take a hard line on Europe on the run up to the election in a bid to win back voters from UKIP; Mr Cameron is set to deliver a speech to outline his plans on how he will tackle immigration and the UK's position in Europe.
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