We learned this weekend that, supposedly, emergency border plans are being drawn up in case of a catastrophic meltdown in the Eurozone. There is a justified concern that, were the Euro to go belly-up, it would not just be the economic shockwaves that spread across the Channel. Were the worst to happen, and the debt contagion spread from Greece to Spain and even several other European countries, it could lead to Britain facing a major immigration problem. Restrictions: Mrs May suggested emergency border controls are being drawn up to control an influx of Greeks Faced with economic collapse in their home countries, would not tens of thousands of Greeks, Spainards or Italians look to the UK as a haven? (In this scenario, Germany and France would have themselves been so hobbled by the Euro meltdown that they would not present a viable alternative.) So what would the UK Government's response be in such a situation? More... May pledges to stop Greek migrants flooding into Britain if they are forced to pull out of the Euro We won't shut the door on migrants fleeing eurozone, says Clegg as he hits out at 'apocalyptic' warnings RIGHTMINDS: Crisis, what crisis? Have another Ouzo, Greece is staying in the eurozone In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Home Secretary Theresa May says the Government is already 'looking at the trends' to see whether immigration from European countries is increasing. Asked whether emergency immigration controls are being considered, Mrs May said: 'It is right that we do some contingency planning on this [and] that is work that is ongoing.' Concerns: Theresa May fears a Grexit could mean migrants flooding into Britain to look for work but border controls could face opposition from Europe, including President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, right All this sounds very reassuring: contigency plans, monitoring and so on. But in reality, a UK government attempting in any way to restrict Greeks, or Italians, or Poles or Czechs for that matter, would have very few options indeed. What Mrs May's lawyers are in all likelihood telling her is that yes, they were right on Abu Qatada, and no, she wouldn't be allowed to close the border. The minute Britain made any attempt to assert its national sovereignty and prevent even one EU migrant from entering, Europe would start flexing its muscles. Free movement rules of EU citizens are at the core of the European 'project', and for the massed ranks of Europe's bureaucraric elite, they are utterly sacrosanct. Witness their howls of outrage when, last year, France became concerned about north african migrants coming in through southern Europe and started blocking trains at the border. The reality is that Britain gave up control of its borders to Europe a long time ago, and is utterly impotent when it comes to restricting EU migrants. Those powers are now entirely vested in the European Commission, and unless Britain, or indeed Greece, were to withdraw from the EU or be kicked out, the Home Secretary has about as much power as Dover District Council. And don't think for a minute that in such an emergency things would change and a pragmatic approach allowed, relaxing some of the rules: the most important thing to Europe's elite is the preservation and continuance of the project itself. The welfare and best interests of its citizens will always be of secondary importance to their centralisation of power, however bad things get.
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