Ed Miliband today (Monday) unveils the second of Labour’s five key election pledges.

“We will control immigration with fair rules.

“People who come here won’t be able to claim benefits for at least two years.

“And we will make it illegal for employers to undercut wages by exploiting workers.”

Speaking in Great Yarmouth, Mr Miliband says that the next Labour government will introduce fair rules to tackle people’s concerns about the impact of immigration in our economy, our social security system and our communities.

And he announces plans for a new law to stop the exploitation which leads to wages and conditions being undercut.

Labour has already promised to increase the fines ten-fold for firms paying below the National Minimum Wage, close down loopholes in agency worker laws that allow firms to undercut directly employed staff, ban recruitment agencies from hiring only from abroad, and calling for a new law against extreme cases of exploitation.

Today, Mr Miliband will go further by announcing how the next Labour government will stop employers exploiting foreign workers which leads to the undercutting of wages and conditions for their existing staff.

For the first time, it means that such undercutting can be used as a piece of evidence of exploitation – although it will not be sufficient on its own to secure a prosecution.

To prove that a criminal offence has been committed, evidence would also have to be provided that some abuse of power had occurred and that migrants were employed on significantly different terms to local workers.

The pledge also includes Labour’s plans to stop people who come to Britain claiming benefits for at least two years, putting fairness and contribution at the heart of the social security system.

Labour will work with other European countries to:

• Extend the period that EU jobseekers wait before claiming out of work benefits from three months for at least two years.
• Limit in-work benefits paid to EU migrants to tackle undercutting by employers who rely on low skilled migrant labour
• Stop child benefit and child tax credits being claimed for children living in other countries.

Ed Miliband’s opening remarks

It is great to be here in Great Yarmouth.

And it is great to be here with Lara Norris, our brilliant parliamentary candidate.

She calls herself a “Mum on a mission”.

And Lara, I am proud to support you.

Now we have people here today from different backgrounds, different parties, including people who aren’t Labour.

That’s because we’re trying to do politics in a different way and this is mainly your chance to ask me questions.

But I want to say a few words at the start about how I want to change the country.

Above all, how we make Britain a country that works for everyday people again, and not just a privileged few, the richest in our country.

And today, I want to talk about how our approach to immigration fits into this.

I know how big an issue this is in Great Yarmouth.

So on this issue, let me say something about me, something about Labour and something about the changes I will bring. 

I am the son of immigrants, parents who came here as refugees fleeing from the Nazis.

I am incredibly grateful and proud that Britain enabled my parents to build a home here and have a family.

They worked hard and made their contribution to this country.

And I am proud of the contribution that immigrants of all origins, races and faiths have made to Britain over the years. 

But for that contribution to benefit all our citizens and not just some, immigration has got to be properly managed and there have to be the right rules in place. 

That’s why I have been determined to change Labour’s approach to immigration since we lost the General Election in 2010. 

When people worry about the real impact immigration has, this Labour Party will always respond to those concerns, not dismiss them.

It isn’t prejudiced to worry about immigration, it is understandable.

So let me say how we will act to address peoples’ concerns.

People want there to be control of immigration. 

And I agree. 

That means strengthening our borders, with proper entry and exit checks.

And we will introduce those checks.

It means longer controls when new countries enter the European Union: we got it wrong in the past and we’ve learnt from it.

And my point today is also that control doesn’t stop at the borders.

It is also about fair rules when people get here. 

Fair rules means people integrating into communities and learning English. 

It’s what my parents did.

Fair rules means that entitlement to benefits needs to be earned. 

You should contribute before you claim.

So when people come here they won’t be able to claim benefits for at least two years. 

But it isn’t just the benefits system that needs to be fair. 

I think for too long, we’ve ignored what’s been happening at work: to people’s jobs and wages.

We know that so many workplaces are so far from being fair today. 

And that is especially true in some workplaces with a large number of workers who have come from overseas.

There are truly shocking stories of people in Britain today having their wages stolen and having to live in the most appalling conditions: exploited because they come here from abroad.

When people can be exploited for low wages or endangered at work, it drags the whole system down, undercutting the pay and conditions of local workers.

We must end the epidemic of exploitation.

We must stop people’s living standards being undermined by scandalous undercutting.

And we have a plan to do it. 

We will increase the fines for firms who avoid the National Minimum Wage. 

We will stop agency contracts being used to undercut permanent staff. 

We will ban recruitment agencies from hiring only from abroad.

And today, I am announcing that the next Labour government will go further still: 

We are serving notice on employers who bring workers here under duress or on false terms and pay them significantly lower wages, with worse terms and conditions. 

We will make it a criminal offence to undercut pay or conditions by exploiting migrant workers.

Only Labour has a plan to deal with all this.

Today we are announcing our pledge on immigration for what a Labour government will do:

We will control immigration with fair rules.

People who come here won’t be able to claim benefits for at least two years.

And we will make it illegal for employers to undercut wages by exploiting workers.

This is what I promise to do.

What I won’t do is make false promises to you.

David Cameron promised that immigration would be cut to the “tens of thousands”.

People may have heard on the news recently that he’s broken that promise.

Net migration is now in fact higher than it was in 2010.

We won’t make false promises and we won’t offer you false solutions either.

Like leaving the European Union.

I just don’t think that’s the right thing to do.

Great Yarmouth has always relied on trade. 

I’ve got to tell you, I believe leaving the EU would be a disaster for jobs, business and families here.

Instead of false promises or false solutions, we will seek to offer clear, credible and concrete solutions which help build a country that works for you.

And what we are doing on immigration is part of a plan for working people.

Dealing with our debts, but never slashing and burning public services.

A sensible approach on immigration, not false promises or false solutions.

Putting the NHS first, not privatising it.

Doing right by the next generation, not destroying the promise of a better future for our young people.

And tackling the cost-of-living crisis, with a higher minimum wage, freezing energy bills and creating good jobs.

I am fighting at this election for a Britain that works for you and your family.

I believe that we can make it happen. 

And I look forward to doing it together. 

Ends

Notes to editors

1. Labour’s proposal for a new law against exploitation has been heavily influenced by the example of Germany, where  similar legislation exists.

In Germany, section 233 of the Criminal Code states: “Whosoever exploits another person’s predicament or helplessness arising from being in a foreign country to subject them to slavery, servitude or bonded labour, or makes him work for him or a third person under working conditions that are in clear discrepancy to those of other workers performing the same or a similar activity, shall be liable to imprisonment from six months to ten years. Whoever subjects a person under twenty-one years of age to slavery, servitude or bonded labour or makes him work as mentioned in the 1^st sentence above shall incur the same penalty”

The German definition is significant since it applies two aspects that reflect (a) the fact that migrants might be especially vulnerable to abuse by employers; and (b) that work exploitation can be detected by comparison with the working conditions of others doing the same work. The German law is also not restricted only to trafficked people, illegal migrants or regular migrants – but is specific to being in a ‘foreign country’.

Labour is proposing to extend these principles into UK legislation – by incorporating undercutting into our new criminal offence of exploitation.

This would not stop firms from hiring from other EU countries under freedom of movement provisions. But it would mean that abusing those provisions by exploiting migrant labour would be subject to prosecuting, where there is evidence that some abuse of power had occurred and that migrants were employed on significantly different terms to local workers.

2. David Cameron and the Tories have failed to act on undercutting and exploitation in the labour market.

• Prosecutions for illegal exploitation by gangmasters have dropped by 84 per cent under this Government.
• There has also been a big reduction into the number of investigations into illegal activity by Gangmasters since 2011. In 2010, there were 107 investigations. So far this year, there have only been 65.
• The Government voted against Labour’s proposal to extend the Gangmasters Licensing Authority’s (GLA) remit to more sectors where it is suspected abuse and exploitation of workers or modern slavery or trafficking may be taking place.

The Government has failed to act on agency workers being exploited to undercut permanent staff

It has been silent on Labour’s plan to close agency worker loopholes to prevent exploitation of migrant workers and opposed to Labour’s plan to introduce a register of landlords, to prevent migrants being crammed into sub-standard housing, as a way to offset labour costs

The Government is also failing to clamp down on employers who do not pay the National Minimum Wage

In each year since 2010 the Government has issued fewer fines than Labour’s last year in Government, with the overall value of fines issued to businesses falling by over 53 per cent compared with 2009/10 in 2012/13.