Talk of benefit tourism is about fairness not cost

Iain Duncan Smith may only have been thinking aloud when he suggested migrants might have to wait a year or two before claiming benefits, but remarkably his political opponents have been quick to agree with his line of thought. Even the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Rachel Reeves says she could support such a policy, depending on the details.

European politicians say Britain is getting this wrong; migrants come here to work, not claim benefits. Benefit Tourism is talked about a lot more than it happens.

But perhaps that misses the point.

YouGov recently performed a fascinating polling exercise trading off different policy ideas against each other to see which was most popular. In the final round free social care for all elderly people was actually less popular than banning immigrants claiming welfare for two years. In that poll restricting migrants right to welfare was actually the most popular idea in the country.

This doesn't seem to be about a huge problem bleeding the Treasury dry; it looks like this is just about fairness.