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I'm sorry to sound a contrary note, but can we really afford all this largesse? People flock to the UK already for our state benefits. Take the case of the Philipino mother of a half-italian boy who discovered her son had the right to live in Italy. Because he was a minor and she a single parent, she could come too. Because of that she discovered she could come anywhere in EU including, of course, the UK. Because of that she discovered, because she was a single mother of a minor, she would be given a council flat to live in. So she came here. And the boy grew up to become a murderer. He murdered Philip Lawrence, a headmaster of a school in west London.

Do we really want to add to the incentives for people to try to get into UK? We already have a problem with matrimonial 'forum shopping'.

And quite apart from that can we really afford all this largesse? The public sector pension gap is already "crippling" and that is not, repeat NOT, included in the national debt. And no that is not the Daily (So it must be true) Telegraph talking, it is the Adam Smith Institute. Every man, woman and child in the UK would have to contribute £53,000 to cover the cost of public sector pensions...

Well, it certainly takes my breath away, I don't know about you.