Cold welcome for Bulgarian plumbers

Press reaction to the British government’s decision to restrict the right of Bulgarians and Romanians to work in the UK after they join the EU has been swift and intense. After all, it was mainly the media who instigated the move, having for weeks run sensationalist stories warning of wave after wave of immigrants coming to Old Blighty.

The Independent sums up the view of the few papers who oppose the restrictions. "The fear whipped up by the populist press has brought us to this," its editors write. "After screaming for years that we are being ‘swamped’ by immigrants from eastern Europe, a weakened government is bowing to their will."

The Guardian, however, doubts the action will have any effect. "Yesterday the government came up with an optical illusion that offered the appearance of action, designed to calm fears on both the left and the right," it argues. "Its new policy might be summed up as a pact with new EU citizens from Romania and Bulgaria: we will pretend to keep you out if you pretend not to come here."

The Times tries to have it both ways: "Immigration has brought willing workers into unfashionable sectors of employment, including the caring professions. It has boosted economic growth. It would get a better press if it were not for the fear that indiscriminate immigration brings criminals with it."

Ah yes, the criminal element. The Sun takes that and runs with it. "Much more alarming is that Bulgaria and Romania are seen by Brussels as ‘hubs’ of crime, corruption and gangland slaughter," its ‘editors’ write. "Once in, they will provide a route into Europe for drugs, sex slavery and money-laundering from neighbouring states. By offering them an open door, Britain risks becoming the capital of organised crime."

A Daily Mail leader is scathing. "Manifesting that very New Labour characteristic - an utter detachment from reality - [UK Home Secretary] John Reid assures us that his new ‘transitional’ work-permit scheme will drastically restrict the numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians who migrate to Britain when their countries join the EU next year…the truth, as Mr Reid well knows, is that the government is powerless under EU law to turn away any Bulgarians or Romanians who wish to come."

The Telegraph highlights the benefits of the last enlargement’s wave of workers and questions the government’s priorities. "Rather than setting up an expensive new bureaucracy in a vain attempt to control this flow of labour," it asks, "wouldn’t ministers be better employed using their energies to get the millions of economically inactive Britons languishing on welfare benefits, notably disability benefits, back into the workplace - which, in turn, would ease the demand for foreign workers?"

Finally, in a story on Ireland’s decision that it would also restrict Romanian and Bulgarian workers, the Irish Times points out that similar limits "will be imposed by all the original EU states, except Finland and Sweden".

But, it adds, "Poland and Slovakia said they would not impose restrictions on the rights of Bulgarian and Romanian workers". Is Poland ready for the Bulgarian plumber?

• Craig Winneker is a freelance writer based in Brussels.

Press reaction to the British government’s decision to restrict the right of Bulgarians and Romanians to work in the UK after they join the EU has been swift and intense. After all, it was mainly the media who instigated the move, having for weeks run sensationalist stories warning of wave after wave of immigrants coming to Old Blighty.