From The UK Telegraph newspaper

The Guardian.uk - Jeremy Browne, the Crime Prevention Minister, said opening Britain’s borders to eastern Europeans was in Britain’s foreign policy interests and good for the economy. He accused his ministerial colleagues of a “serious oversight” by not consulting him on a mobile billboard campaign organized by his department to encourage illegal migrants to return home.

From January 1 2014 Romanian and Bulgarian migrants will have free access to Britain’s labour market following the lifting of travel restrictions put in place when their countries joined the EU in 2007. It means that, like British holiday-makers, they will be able to move around the European continent without showing their passports. The Government has not released any estimate of how many will come because previous studies have been so inaccurate. Romanian and Bulgarian diplomats say 35,000 people are likely to come in 2014. Asked whether Liberal Democrats would be “enthusiastic” about their arrival, Mr Browne told the New Statesman: “They’re only complying with the same rules as British people who live in Spain or have holiday houses in France, or who work in Germany.”

He said he was part of an “unfashionable minority” that “embraces the opportunities of globalisation” and does not regret the opening of Britain’s labour markets to workers from Poland and other eastern European countries in 2004. The move had improved Britain’s diplomatic relationships, he said. “I don’t think there was a mistake. It was transformational in terms of Britain’s relationship with countries like Poland. “It was in our foreign policy interest but, at a much more direct, micro level, there are a lot of employers in my constituency who are full of praise for the contribution that Poles have made to their businesses and the economy more generally.” He acknowledged the incoming migrants had put pressure on public services but said "If you look at the overall ledger, the positives outweigh the negatives." He said he said the mobile billboards, which told illegal migrants they faced arrest unless they “go home”, sent out a poor signal. “I was not consulted beforehand, neither was Nick Clegg, and that is a serious oversight.” He added: “The debate about immigration should be conducted in a tone that is civilised and humane, rather than pandering to the least attractive elements in the human sprit.” There are 683,000 workers from Poland and other former communist countries in Britain, the majority of whom have arrived since 2004. Studies suggest around 800,000 British nationals live in Spain and 250,000 in France. Mr Browne's comments come ahead of the Liberal Democrats' autumn conference in Glasgow.