Nick Clegg will tomorrow signal a major change of tone for his party by saying the UK should be able to “put the brakes” on new EU immigration.
The Liberal Democrat leader will say new EU members should have to wait longer than the current seven-year period before their citizens can settle in Britain.
He will add that even after restrictions are lifted, countries such as the UK should be able to limit EU migrants coming in.
Mr Clegg defended EU immigration in TV debates with Ukip leader Nigel Farage this year. But in a speech tomorrow he will say rules which allowed a wave of immigration to the UK following the 2004 accession of eastern European states should be changed.
He is expected to say that “we’ll need to agree a period of time... in which existing member states including Britain retain the right to put on the brakes if people begin arriving in numbers too big for our society to absorb successfully”.
