Poland warns it will block Cameron's EU benefits crackdown unless curbs apply to British workers as well

• Poland's deputy foreign minister expresses alarm at Cameron's plan
• Rafal Trzaskowski says rules on migrants must also apply to Britons
• PM wants no tax credits or council houses for working migrants for 4 years
• Jobless migrants to be offered no support and kicked out after six months

David Cameron has been warned by Poland that he must water down his plans to curb benefits for EU migrants or they will be blocked.

Rafal Trzaskowski, Poland's deputy foreign minister, insisted the rules would have to apply to Britons as well as workers from other parts of Europe.

Mr Cameron used his long-awaited immigration speech last week to insist that curbs on tax credits, child benefits, jobseekers allowance and council housing will be a key demand for his talks on renegotiating Britain's EU membership.

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Rafal Trzaskowski, Poland's deputy foreign minister, insisted new rules on curbing access to benefits would have to apply to Britons as well as workers from other parts of Europe

Under the Prime Minister's plans, unemployed EU migrants in Britain will be banned from receiving state support, and would be deported if they do not get a job within six months of arriving.

For those in work, they would be barred from claiming handouts like housing benefit or tax credits until they have being in the UK for four years.

There will also be a ban on 'exporting' child benefit for children living in other EU countries.

Mr Cameron admitted that his proposals would require treaty change but would need support from across the EU to push through such measures.

Mr Trzaskowski said it was an 'absolute red line' for his government that there is no discrimination in the welfare system on grounds of nationality.

He said the plans to stop migrants from claiming benefits for the first four years after they arrive in Britain as well as kick out those who fail to find work after six months would go against all existing laws and insisted Poland would oppose the plans as they stand.

David Cameron has threatened to block any new members joining the European Union without limits on their citizens flocking to Britain for work

David Cameron takes tough stance on immigration

CAMERON'S KEY DEMANDS 

FOR WORKERS FROM THE EU:

No in-work benefits until they have been in Britain for four years

No social housing for four years

No child benefit or tax credits paid for children living outside the UK

FOR UNEMPLOYED EU MIGRANTS:

No support from the UK taxpayer

Deportation if they do not get a job for six months

Other measures include:

Impose restrictions on EU migrants bringing in family members from outside the EU

Longer bans on rough sleepers, beggars and fraudsters returning to the UK

Tougher rules on deporting foriegn criminals

Refusing to allow other countries to join the EU without imposing controls on the movement of their workers until their economies have reached UK levels

Mr Trzaskowski told BBC Newsnight: 'If one wants to get away with all the benefits that are enshrined in the regulation of EU and treat immigrants from EU differently, and for example only pay benefits after four years of their stay in Britain or extradite people who can't find work, that would be against all the existing laws of the EU and obviously that would be a red line for us.'

'The Polish government is quite ready to talk about abuses of existing systems, sham marriages, extraditing criminals and so forth.

'But to be truthful this is not the problem, it is marginal. When it comes to changing the rules in the EU, when it comes to social support and so forth, when it comes to undermining the existing laws, obviously we are going to react quite strongly and we are going to be against.

'But the most important thing is that David Cameron wants to talk about it and doesn't want to change policies unilaterally.'

He added: 'This is an absolute red line, that there is no discrimination on grounds of nationality. If Britain were to change its policy, for example, into contributory system in which everyone has to pay in to get some money from the system we then could talk about changes if they were absolutely non-discriminatory.'

Mr Cameron made clear that without agreement on allowing the UK to dramatically curtail the pull factors which make it so attractive to EU migrants, he will 'rule nothing out' – raising the prospect of backing Britain's exit from the EU if he does not get his way.

In an apparent attempt to win the support of countries like Poland, he appealed to other European nations who have seen thousands of their citizens move to the UK to support limiting movement across the continent.

But he warned Britain will veto any new countries joining the EU unless he gets his way on imposing limits on workers from poor countries moving in search of work.

EU willing to discuss UK ideas on immigration benefits (related)