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Theresa May repeatedly tried to interfere with a crucial Government report to put a negative slant on the effects of immigration ahead of the EU referendum, it has been alleged.
The former Home Secretary is accused of playing up the significance of “benefits tourism” - EU nationals coming to the UK to live on welfare - despite reliable evidence that it was only a “small-scale problem”.
Ms May also removed figures supporting EU immigration from the report, according to Liberal Democrat advisers working in the then Coalition Government.
The allegations have come to light after internal emails among Lib Dem immigration experts dating back to 2014 were leaked to The Guardian .
Referring to evidence from the Department of Work and Pensions - that benefits tourism was not a major issue - one adviser said: “My impression is that Conservative secretaries of state are determined not to admit this.”
A large amount of evidence supporting free movement was purportedly removed from the report under the Conservative minister’s leadership, including a report by UCL that found EU migrants were 58 per cent less likely to live in social housing .
Show all 11 1 /11What experts have said about Brexit What experts have said about Brexit Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond The Chancellor claims London can still be a world financial hub despite Brexit “One of Britain’s great strengths is the ability to offer and aggregate all of the services the global financial services industry needs” “This has not changed as a result of the EU referendum and I will do everything I can to ensure the City of London retains its position as the world’s leading international financial centre.”
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What experts have said about Brexit Yanis Varoufakis Greece's former finance minister compared the UK relations with the EU bloc with a well-known song by the Eagles: “You can check out any time you like, as the Hotel California song says, but you can't really leave. The proof is Theresa May has not even dared to trigger Article 50. It's like Harrison Ford going into Indiana Jones' castle and the path behind him fragmenting. You can get in, but getting out is not at all clear”
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What experts have said about Brexit Michael O’Leary Ryanair boss says UK will be ‘screwed’ by EU in Brexit trade deals: “I have no faith in the politicians in London going on about how ‘the world will want to trade with us’. The world will want to screw you – that's what happens in trade talks,” he said. “They have no interest in giving the UK a deal on trade”
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What experts have said about Brexit Tim Martin JD Wetherspoon's chairman has said claims that the UK would see serious economic consequences from a Brexit vote were "lurid" and wrong: “We were told it would be Armageddon from the OECD, from the IMF, David Cameron, the chancellor and President Obama who were predicting locusts in the fields and tidal waves in the North Sea"
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What experts have said about Brexit Mark Carney Governor of Bank of England is 'serene' about Bank of England's Brexit stance: “I am absolutely serene about the … judgments made both by the MPC and the FPC”
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What experts have said about Brexit Christine Lagarde IMF chief urges quick Brexit to reduce economic uncertainty: “We want to see clarity sooner rather than later because we think that a lack of clarity feeds uncertainty, which itself undermines investment appetites and decision making”
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What experts have said about Brexit Inga Beale Lloyd’s chief executive says Brexit is a major issue: "Clearly the UK's referendum on its EU membership is a major issue for us to deal with and we are now focusing our attention on having in place the plans that will ensure Lloyd's continues trading across Europe”
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What experts have said about Brexit Colm Kelleher President of US bank Morgan Stanley says City of London ‘will suffer’ as result of the EU referendum: “I do believe, and I said prior to the referendum, that the City of London will suffer as result of Brexit. The issue is how much”
What experts have said about Brexit Richard Branson Virgin founder believes we've lost a THIRD of our value because of Brexit and cancelled a deal worth 3,000 jobs: We're not any worse than anybody else, but I suspect we've lost a third of our value which is dreadful for people in the workplace.' He continued: "We were about to do a very big deal, we cancelled that deal, that would have involved 3,000 jobs, and that’s happening all over the country"
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What experts have said about Brexit Barack Obama US President believes Britain was wrong to vote to leave the EU: "It is absolutely true that I believed pre-Brexit vote and continue to believe post-Brexit vote that the world benefited enormously from the United Kingdom's participation in the EU. We are fully supportive of a process that is as little disruptive as possible so that people around the world can continue to benefit from economic growth"
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What experts have said about Brexit Kristin Forbes American economist and an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England argues that the economy had been “less stormy than many expected” following the shock referendum result: “For now…the economy is experiencing some chop, but no tsunami. The adverse winds could quickly pick up – and merit a stronger policy response. But recently they have shifted to a more favourable direction”
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The Liberal Democrats denied that they leaked the emails, but Tim Farron said: “These emails show that the then Home Secretary did everything in her power to try and water down the positives of our membership of the EU to try and curry favour with a few backbench Tory MPs.
“It worked for her in the long run, but Theresa May joins the band of Tory politicians who, for the last 30 years, have repeatedly done down our place in Europe for a tabloid headline.
“Now the PM has to pick up the pieces."
The allegations surfaced after Sir Craig Oliver, David Cameron’s former Director of Communications, accused Ms May of betraying David Cameron by failing to back the campaign to stay in the EU wholeheartedly.
The immigration report is not the first Government assessment Ms May has been accused of interfering with. In April, former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg accused Ms May and her aides of deleting sentences backed be scientific evidence from a report on drugs because they “didn’t like the conclusions”.
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