Economic asset or welfare tourists? Political reactions to Eastern European migrants in the UK

In this article, it is argued that Eastern European migrants have become the focus \nof critical migration discourse in the current Conservative-led Government in the \nUnited Kingdom (UK), after the more welcoming period of the preceding Labour \nGovernments. From the 1990s, the Labour Governments have favoured the enlargement of the European Union (EU) and the free movement of Eastern European \nmigrants within the Union by appealing to economic benefits. The speeches and \nstatements made by the British Ministers for Europe will be used as the main \nempirical material of the article, complemented with other political documentation. The analysis addresses the period from the 1990s until the current decade, \nwhen people from the new EU Member States have been able to move freely to \nthe UK. While both Labour and Conservative parties have restricted migration \nfrom non-EU countries, there are significant differences with regard to their approach to EU migration.