- Labour MP even bought some a coffee to find out why they are here
- Romanian Victor Spiresau told him he would send his cash back home
- 'I don't come to rob your country. I work and then go home,' he said
- Mr Vaz says Britain should hold referendum on number of EU migrants
- Companies advertise 5,000 jobs to recruit Romanian workers
- Adverts promise cash daily and say command of English 'unnecessary'
- Today 4,896 jobs advertised in England, but less than 150 in rest of Britain
MP Keith Vaz has started 2014 by personally greeting Romanians who took the first New Year's Day flight into Britain as restrictions on the UK labour market were lifted today.
The Labour politician even bought some a cup of coffee as he waited in the arrivals hall at Luton Airport this morning.
On board the flight from Tirgu Mures in central Romania was Victor Spiresau, who has come to the UK to work in a London car wash so he can send the cash he earns back to his family in a Transylvanian village.
Welcome to Britain: MP Keith Vaz greets Romanian Victor Spiresau as he arrived at Luton Airport today as UK labour market rules were relaxed today
Pleased to be here: Mr Spiresau told the Labour politician that it was his first visit to Britain and that he was to work in a London car wash so he could send money back to his family
Meeting: Mr Vaz even bought Mr Spiresau and fellow Romanian Julian Barbat a cup of coffee to find out where they are from wand what they do
'Here you pay a lot, in Romania it's very cheap'.
The 30-year-old, who said he earned 10 euros a day working in construction at home, said he hoped to make 10 euros an hour here.
'I don't want to stay here. I want to renovate my home and to make a good life in Romania because it's much easier to live in Romania because it's not expensive,' he added. Mr Spiresau, who has left his wife at home in their small village, added: 'She hopes to see me with a lot of money.'
After speaking to reporters the Romanian was invited to join Mr Vaz for a coffee where the MP asked him what he planned to do in this country.
Touchdown: Passengers arrived in the UK on board a Wizz operated airliner, flight number W63701 from Tirgu Mures in Romania (pictured)
New arrivals: Some of the Romanians on board said they were here to work and send money back home while others were already settled here and returning after Christmas
Unclear picture: The Government has not revealed estimates about how many Romanians or Bulgarians would arrive in the UK from today onwards
They discussed Romanian politics as well as the health service over there.
Mr Vaz, who had ordered a cheese toastie for himself told Mr Spiresau 'I think you will miss Transylvania' to which he replied 'I love my country.'
Also on the flight into Luton was 35-year-old Adrian Pop who said he was an emergency doctor back in Romania who had come to the UK to work in a hospital near London.
Medic: 35-year-old Adrian Pop is an emergency doctor back in Romania who had come to the UK to work in a hospital near London
'I chose the UK because of the language. English is a much easier language.'
He said 'I don't know if I will be staying here permanently. My wife and five month old daughter are back in Romania'
20-year-old Benjamin Alexander said: 'I want to build a new life here. It's a new year and I have a new start. Here I can have a better life.'
Also on the flight was Silviu Todea, who was returning to London after visiting Romania over the holidays.
He said he believed the majority of his compatriots would want to work.
Mr Todea, 27, who has a job in marketing in the capital, said: 'Everyone has their own opinions especially with their past experiences with other nations, but I think it won't be so bad.'
After giving the Romanian workers a warm welcome, Mr Vaz said there should be a referendum on how many EU migrants should be allowed to come to the UK.
He said that the issue had become a 'drama'.
'This is an issue that does need to be put to the British people, so we don't get this kind of drama and people rushing around thinking hundreds of thousands of people are going to arrive at Luton on the first day,' he told Sky News.
'We do need to look at this sensibly. It needs to be part of negotiations for a reformed EU, because freedom of movement is very important.
'It's one of the cornerstones of the EU and we need to have a proper discussion, and that means at the end of the day the British people have to make that decision.'
The Labour MP for Leicester East added: 'There are already 141,000 Romanians and Bulgarians living in the UK.
'The concern of the committee has always been the lack of robust estimates of people coming here and we still feel very strongly the Government ought to have asked the Migration Advisory Committee to have conducted a piece of research which would have told us the number of people who were came into this country or were coming into this country.
'We think that would have been extremely helpful. The fact that we don't have those estimates means that we have this kind of drama at the end, which is not helpful to anybody.'
New arrivals: Fellow member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Tory Mark Reckless was also there to meet the 7.40am flight from Tirgu Mures
Off to start a new life: Mr Spiresau and Mr Barbat finished their coffee and then left the Luton terminal to head to London
'And my concern is that if we do see large numbers coming from Romania and Bulgaria then that could knock us off that target and the promise we made to the electorate.
'And I think it's essential we meet that promise and control immigration and I think we really need to judge whether in order to do that will require us to leave the European Union and to control again our own borders and ultimately I think that's the choice that the country will face in a referendum.'
A Home Office spokesman said: 'This Government has done, and will continue to do, everything possible to ensure people come to the UK for the right reasons - to work hard and contribute to our economy and society.
'Hard-working people expect and deserve an immigration system that is fair to British citizens and legitimate migrants and tough on those who abuse the system and flout the law. Net migration has fallen by nearly a third since its peak in 2010 and across government we are working hard to bring it down further.
'We welcome those that want to come here to work and contribute to the economy, but no EU national has unrestricted access to the UK - they must be working, studying or self-sufficient. We are focusing on cutting out the abuse of free movement between EU member states and addressing the factors that drive European immigration to Britain.
'Across government, we are working to ensure that our controls on accessing benefits and services, including the NHS and social housing, are amongst the tightest in Europe to protect the UK from abuse.'
It came as it emerged British companies are already turning to Romanians to work for them as chefs, care workers, midwives, doctors and even lapdancers as restrictions on the UK labour market were lifted today.
UK employers are advertising nearly 5,000 positions on Tjobs.ro this morning, a Romanian recruitment website which claims to help 160,000 from the country find work in Western Europe.
Many say the low-skilled jobs in this country will provide them with ‘cash daily’ and others claiming knowledge of English is ‘not necessary’.
Some 4,896 jobs were advertised today as being available in England, along with 80 in Northern Ireland, 24 in Scotland and 20 in Wales.
Recruitment drive: Companies are advertising 5,000 British jobs for Romanians on this website, including across the NHS, as restrictions were lifted today
Among them are 50 nursing positions in southern England, 100 private hire taxi drivers, 10 GPs in Liverpool, 100 warehouse metallurgists and 20 carpenters in London.
Other roles include chefs, carers for the elderly, secretaries, au pairs, butchers and warehouse workers.
Workers from Romania and Bulgaria will be able to work freely in the UK from today after temporary labour restrictions were lifted under EU treaty rules.
In the past year more than 60,000 British jobs have been advertised in Romania, as well as weekly job fairs.
All change in 2014: Fireworks light up the sky during New Year's celebrations in Romania's capital Bucharest, as many from the country prepare to head to Western Europe for work, including in Britain
But Raluca Stefanescu, of Tjobs, said that a major influx was unlikely because many of the Romanians who wanted to move to the UK were already here.
'Most of the Romanians (who travel to the UK) choose to leave the country for economic reasons and according to our statistics more than 80 per cent are planning to work abroad for a few years, save money and came back to buy a small house and maybe start a small business,' she told The Times.
Laszlo Andor, the European Commissioner for Employment, said the UK was unlikely to experience a large surge in immigration from the two countries because many Bulgarians and Romanians have already been able to settle in other EU countries.
Eight other countries imposed similar curbs, which are being lifted at the same time - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain and The Netherlands.
As of today, Austria had 245 jobs advertised on Tjobs.ro, Belgium 25, France 591, Germany 2,055, Luxembourg 50, Malta 95, Spain 130 and The Netherlands 214.
Mass movement: Immigrants huddle around the Marble Arch area of London as a mass influx of Romanians is expected, but experts in the country say many are already here
As fears continue to grow over the number of new migrants who are expected in the UK, a Romanian official spoke of his concern over the ‘invasion of people’ who will travel to Western Europe.
Daniel Teau, the president of the Federation of Romanian associations in Europe, said: ‘According to our estimations, based on the number of Romanians who have left the country during 2007 to 2012, around 30,000 to 50,000 will leave the country every month to travel to Western Europe from January.
'The invasion of people who will take advantage of the benefits system in those counties is imminent.
‘I’m warning the Romanian authorities to take the necessary measures to prevent the imminent exodus of Roma people into Northern Europe.
‘We ask the Romanian government to send police officers to these countries to prevent the crimes of the Roma gangs who are already in these countries, or those who will travel there.’
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