Migrant influx the size of Scotland will put ‘unsustainable’ pressure on A&E if we stay in EU
That is according to Michael Gove, as the Cabinet heavyweight attempts to push immigration to the heart of the referendum
A MIGRANT influx equivalent to the population of Scotland will put "unsustainable" pressure on the NHS by 2030 unless Britain quits the EU.
That is the view of the Justice Secretary Michael Gove, who said the worst case scenario figure of 5,229,000 more net migrants over the next 15 years was realistic.
The Cabinet heavyweight was attempting to push immigration to the heart of the referendum campaign, and insisted the national living wage would act as a pull factor resulting in huge strains on the health service.
But his claim assumes Turkey, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia will join the EU in 2020, and the UK will not impose transitional immigration controls on them.
The Brexit-backing minister said that between 172,000 and 428,000 migrants a year would be arriving in the UK until 2030.
This would mean A&E attendances would spiral up to a possible 12.8 million annually, increasing emergency NHS demand by up to 57%.
And Mr Gove said that even if no other countries join the EU, the current level of 172,000 people arriving annually over the next 15 years will continue at a time when the NHS needed an extra £4.6 billion a year just to stand still.
Denying he was scaremongering, the Justice Secretary said the British Government was in favour of Turkey joining the EU, and Brussels was speeding-up the process.
"Citizens from these countries will inevitably be attracted to the UK, not just because of our free health care, but also because of the additional pull factor that will result from the welcome introduction of the national living wage."
Mr Gove said: "The European Commission is in the process of speeding-up the accession process.
“It is already setting up the visa free travel programme with Turkey.
“That will create a zone of free movement from our borders to the borders of Syria and Iraq."
His comments come as the European Commission president warned the UK will not be "welcomed with open arms" by the remaining EU if it votes to "desert" the 28-nation bloc in the June 23 referendum.
Jean-Claude Juncker insisted that he was not making a "threat", but being realistic about the damage caused by Brexit.
Comparing the UK to a pet which does not enjoy its fur being rubbed up the wrong way, the European
Commission president said Britain would not "have its hair stroked in the right direction" by the rest of Europe if it chose to leave.
Asked by French newspaper Le Monde how Brussels would respond to a Leave vote, Mr Juncker said: "Deserters will not be welcomed with open arms.
"If the British say no - which I hope they will not - community life will not carry on as before. The United Kingdom will have to accept being considered as a third party, which does not have its hair stroked in the right direction."
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