MPs and HGV drivers have warned that EU plans which would force Britain to accept 90,000 refugees in the next year as part a quota will make Calais 'even more of a magnet' to migrants.

There has been widespread fury at the plans from Brussels but a failure to agree a quota could see the UK denied the right to deport asylum seekers to their country of arrival.

Number 10 last night vowed to fight the proposal, which is a major blow to David Cameron’s EU referendum ambitions.

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There has been widespread fury at the plans from Brussels, but a failure to agree a quota could see the UK denied the right to deport asylum seekers to their country of arrival (Pictured: The Calais Jungle)

MPs warned the meddling by eurocrats and judges meant Britain had lost control of its borders.

‘This is scandalous,’ said Sir Gerald Howarth, a former Tory minister. ‘The tribunal should have no business in this matter. We have very strict laws on immigration and asylum that are set by Parliament.

‘It is not for the courts to undermine them in this way.’

The European Commission wants a new quota system under which member states share out the estimated 1.3million people expected to arrive in Europe this year.

Britain, which would be expected to take around 90,000, has been warned that – if it refuses – it will lose its right to send home migrants who should have made their claims elsewhere.

MPs and hauliers warned this would make Calais even more of a magnet for asylum seekers. Richard Burnett of the Road Haulage Association said: ‘The floodgates would open. The migrants that are already there don’t want to be in France, they want to get to the UK, and this would just make the problem far far worse.’

Tory backbencher Peter Bone said: ‘This is absolutely absurd. It is typical of the European Union to want to change the rules to penalise Britain.

AND STILL THEY COME THROUGH THE ICY BALKANS... It is a scene that proves how desperate migrants are to reach safety in Europe, as hundreds of families continue to trek through the Balkans, despite snow and sub-zero temperatures. As this picture from Macedonia shows, more than 2,000, including large numbers of children, are crossing daily from Macedonia into Serbia – even though temperatures yesterday plunged to -19C (-2F). Many of those travelling through the Balkans do not have winter clothing or shoes, putting them in serious danger of hypothermia. As this picture from Macedonia shows, more than 2,000, including large numbers of children, are crossing daily from Macedonia into Serbia – even though temperatures yesterday plunged to -19C The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, last night warned that some have pneumonia but are refusing hospital treatment and insist on pressing on with their journeys. UNHCR spokesman Liene Veide said: ‘The weather isn’t stopping people; it’s just making the trip more difficult. ‘People are very determined and want to keep on their journey. This makes it challenging to provide immediate assistance. Even when they are sick they are not willing to stay here in a hospital.’ Save the Children said women and children in particular are in danger of hypothermia. They reported that distressed migrants have been arriving in Serbia with blue lips and shaking from the cold. Exhausted mothers told aid workers they are unable to keep their babies warm and dry, and that some have slipped while carrying them on icy roads. Yesterday a five-year-old girl and a woman died of cold as they tried to reach Greece by sea. Police said the girl died after the vessel she was travelling on capsized. Officers also rescued another boat, but were unable to save one woman, who also died of hypothermia. Advertisement

‘Genuine asylum seekers should be delighted to be looked after in the first safe country they reach. Why would they need to be offered a choice? The longer we stay in the EU, the more there will be a creep that weakens our ability to control our borders.’

Lord Green, who chairs the pressure group Migrationwatch, said: ‘If the result of this is that asylum seekers know they will never be sent back to Europe once they get across the Channel, it is bound to increase the pressure on our borders at Calais.’

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the chaos already seen at Calais could increase as more desperate migrants massed there.

1-0 TO ITALY! ROME CLAIMS VICTORY IN BATTLE TO SHARE MIGRANT BURDEN Rome yesterday declared it was ‘one nil to Italia’ after Brussels revealed it wanted to axe rules that keep most asylum seekers in the first EU country they reach. Italian officials have argued the Dublin Regulation places an unfair burden on southern countries that have been inundated with migrants. But the European Commission’s plan to replace Dublin with an allocation mechanism yesterday received a hostile reaction from Eastern Europe. The Visegrad 4 group of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic has been resisting the idea of the EU having a permanent quota system to share out new arrivals. They see this as an unacceptable snatch of power from capitals by Brussels. A Polish source warned: ‘Our position has always been to stress the importance of the security of the external border. ‘We’ve been saying for a long time that a permanent mechanism [to distribute refugees] does not seem to be a good response to the crisis itself, it does not provide an overall solution. ‘We need time and great care in the process, not a mechanism that automatically relocates people this way or the other – that would be chaotic and haphazard.’ Vincenzo Scarpetta, of the think-tank Open Europe, said: ‘If the idea is to replace Dublin with a permanent relocation mechanism and binding quotas then good luck with that. ‘We have seen from the existing quota system how problematic that would be with member states. It would be seen as a huge transfer of power from national capitals to the EU.’ EU leaders in September agreed to relocate 160,000 asylum seekers but only 300 have been moved so far. Advertisement

Number 10 insiders insisted there was no prospect of the UK accepting the quota scheme.

The Government also says it is determined to bolster security at Calais to deter would-be illegals.

One EU source said the timing could not be worse for Mr Cameron’s renegotiation: ‘It’s like they’ve laid out a minefield in front of him.’

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker says he wants a deal on refugees around the same time as one is struck on Mr Cameron’s reform demands.

He said he was ‘convinced the EU Council in February will reach a fair deal for Britain’ – paving the way for a referendum in June.

But Mr Juncker added: ‘I am worried we won’t have enough time there to tackle the refugee question in sufficient depth. I recommend to [European Council president] Donald Tusk that he holds a further summit.

‘We can’t have a success on the UK and not address the refugee quotas, that would be a mistake.’

Government insiders said the row made the prospect of a referendum in June even more likely, not less. Number 10 is unlikely to want to risk holding a vote after a summer of migrant chaos, sources said.

Asked whether the UK will lose its ability to remove people under the Dublin rules when the new scheme comes in, Natasha Bertaud, European Commission spokesman, said: ‘It’s very premature to talk now about what the future proposal will look like.

‘We will set out our plans in March. There are systemic deficiencies in the way the current Dublin system is working and it does need to be overhauled.’

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said the UK would strongly argue against any attempt to scrap the ‘first country of entry’ rule, adding: ‘It’s important and it’s obviously one we’ve made use of.’

Eurosceptic Tory Philip Hollobone said: ‘This is an outrageous proposal from the European Commission and underlines why the best future for Britain lies outside the EU.

‘It is increasingly clear that the EU does not even have respect for its own external frontiers when it’s very happy for asylum seekers to wash around within its boundaries to claim refuge wherever they choose.

‘I thought the Prime Minister saw the EU as a guarantor of our security but this flies in the face of that.’

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said the UK would strongly argue against any attempt to scrap the ‘first country of entry’ rule, adding: ‘It’s important and it’s obviously one we’ve made use of'

Meanwhile judges punched a further hole in Britain’s porous borders last night by letting a Calais migrant gang across the Channel.

The immigration tribunal ruling – justified on human rights grounds – paves the way for thousands of similar claims.

The ruling concerned four young Syrian men – two under-16s and a 17-year-old and his mentally-ill 26-year-old brother – all living in the notorious Calais Jungle.

They were desperate to be reunited with their siblings or parents in the UK, the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal in central London heard.

The claims should have been dealt with in France but, after lawyers argued the asylum system there was in meltdown, judges said they had a right to a family life in the UK.

Although the Home Office is understood to be planning an appeal the four refugees will be allowed to travel over from Calais because the tribunal’s decision has immediate effect.

Their barrister Michael Fordham QC said the situation would ‘apply to others – certainly, I would say, any unaccompanied minor in this camp with a sibling in the UK’.

The ruling was delivered while ministers were still reeling from the news, revealed in yesterday’s Mail, that Brussels wants to rip up the so-called Dublin Regulation.

This states that asylum seekers should lodge their claims in the first safe country they reach inside the EU. Those who do not, and who later arrive in Britain, can be forcibly sent home.

Lawyers for the Syrians said the conditions in the camp were 'intolerable' and they should be brought to the UK

Can we just refuse to open the door? Mail's political editor JAMES SLACK examines the latest attempt by the eurocrats to seize control of our borders

What is the EU threatening to do?

The European Commission – the EU’s unelected policy-making body – wants to scrap the rule that means refugees must claim asylum in the first safe country in which they arrive. This is known as the Dublin Regulation.

Instead, it would introduce a new dispersal scheme for migrants to be shared out across the continent. The IMF is predicting the number of arrivals to the EU will be 1.3million in each of the next three years – a total of 3.9million.

Who is pushing the idea?

In addition to Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, Germany and Italy – which has come under great strain from migrants arriving by boat – are strongly in favour of quotas.

Angela Merkel is under huge domestic pressure after taking one million asylum seekers last year. The Cologne sex attacks by migrants have triggered a significant backlash against the German leader.

What would it mean for the UK?

The Commission wants to use a complex formula to share out the migrants, based on population size, unemployment rates and other factors.

This would see Britain take approximately 11.5 per cent of new arrivals each year, or around 90,000. Only Germany and France would be expected to take a greater share.

Can we refuse?

Yes. Britain is not a member of the Schengen agreement and has to opt-in if it wishes to join EU immigration policies (though it is duty bound to comply with general rules on free movement.)

ASYLUM-SEEKERS GIVEN LESSONS ON HOW TO FLIRT Asylum-seekers in Belgium are to be given lessons in civilised flirting so they learn to respect women. Tips such as ‘be funny’ and ‘make eye contact, but don’t stare’ have been listed in brochures to be distributed to refugee centres across the country. Other statements include: ‘If a women is wearing a “sexy” dress, that doesn’t mean she wants to have sex.’ The guidance is an attempt to avoid a repeat of the attacks on women in Cologne, and asylum seekers are warned there will be ‘zero tolerance’ towards such behaviour. The Belgian government admitted there are ‘no fixed flirting rules’, but said useful pointers will be given. Advertisement

Yesterday, Number 10 was clear that – while it has yet to receive a formal proposal from Brussels – it has no intention of taking part. In a shrewd move by David Cameron, Britain set up its own scheme for taking vulnerable Syrian refugees direct from refugee camps. Some 20,000, predominantly women and children, will arrive by 2020. This is in stark contrast to the huge numbers of single males who have poured into Germany, Sweden, Italy and Greece.

So what is the problem?

Some in Brussels are fed up with Britain allegedly ‘not taking its fair share’, despite this country receiving 30,000 asylum claims last year. In a move described as blackmail by one Tory MEP, the Commission is threatening to stop Britain sending back asylum seekers who have already lodged claims elsewhere in Europe, if we refuse to join the quota scheme.

Last year, 750 people were sent back to the country where they first came into contact with the authorities under the Dublin rules. In 2010, the number was 1,545.

How important is the Dublin agreement to Britain?

The numbers sent back to mainland Europe are low compared with the scale of the asylum problem. Last October alone, more than 5,000 people sought refugee status in the UK.

In part this is because many EU countries, notably Italy and Greece, ignore the Dublin rules and wave migrants through. However, it is thought to have a significant deterrent effect.

If Dublin is scrapped and migrants know that once they make it to Britain it will be almost impossible to kick them out, even more will mass at Calais and lay siege to lorries. Some MPs and MEPs fear the scenes of bedlam witnessed last summer will be nothing compared to what lies ahead if Dublin is axed.

And what does all this mean for David Cameron?

In some respects, it is his worst nightmare. Downing Street was given no warning of the plan by Brussels. The proposals are due to be formally tabled in March, which is likely to be in the middle of his planned EU referendum campaign. It also pulls a key plan from his campaign strategy: namely that the EU makes Britain more secure. And it’s a reminder of the ambition of Brussels to dictate the immigration policies of individual member states. Tory MPs have seized on it as yet more proof of why Britain must leave the EU if it wants to retake control of its own destiny

Could it all be a stunt?

With Brussels, anything is possible and cynics at Westminster wonder if it is making an idle threat. The eurocrats are desperate to keep the UK in the club. Imagine what a publicity coup it would be for Mr Cameron if he were able to go to the Council of Ministers in March and announce he had saved Britain’s power to send back asylum seekers after all.

It is thought the legal ruling could open the door to other similar cases brought by others. File photo