Angela Merkel forces David Cameron to retreat from E.U. migrant cap

David Cameron has stepped back from a radical plan to cap directly the number of E.U. migrants entering Britain after an intervention from the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who warned him she would not tolerate such an incursion into the principle of the free movement of workers.
The decision to row back from the harder rhetoric in a long-awaited speech on immigration on Friday disappointed the prime minister’s more Eurosceptic backbenchers, but delighted business leaders. However he still faces the task of persuading 27 other governments to change E.U. treaties to enshrine discrimination against European citizens working in Britain.
Downing Street officials said they were confident Cameron’s plan to deny E.U. migrants access to all in-work benefits for four years is negotiable and would deter tens of thousands from moving to Britain.

This post was published at The Guardian