"I'll mix my metaphors on benefit tourists, says IDS"

From The Daily Mail:

Ministers will ‘shut the door’ to migrants wanting to come to Britain to live on benefits, Iain Duncan Smith claimed yesterday.

He said he was determined to tighten the rules around eligibility for welfare benefits before a predicted influx of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria next year. The Work and Pensions Secretary also suggested new rules to stop so-called benefit tourists could be applied to all migrants, even those from the rest of the European Union. The measures could include requiring people to show they had put down roots here before claiming state help...

He acknowledged he faces a ‘big battle’ with the EU, which is already threatening to sue Britain over existing rules on how quickly migrants can claim benefits. The issue is wrapped up in the free movement of labour rules, which are jealously guarded by Brussels. But Mr Duncan Smith said ministers were building a powerful alliance with countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, which also want to see changes...

He suggested that both issues would form part of David Cameron’s demands as he tries to claw back powers from the EU. The planned crackdown will be discussed at Chequers this week by the Prime Minister, Chancellor George Osborne and the Tories’ new election chief Lynton Crosby, who wants to put immigration and welfare at the heart of the 2015 election campaign.

Righty-ho, just to summarise: at the heart of the Tory 2015 manifesto will be forming a powerful alliance with other countries to go into battle against Brussels in order to claw back our right to shut the door on a flood of benefit tourists who haven't put down roots in this country.