Citizens of new EU member states should be barred from freedom of movement, says David Cameron

But his demands are likely to be strongly resisted by EU leaders, many who see freedom of movement as a core EU principle that must not be compromised

Lord Kinnock asked the Government to provide 'all factual evidence' that shows benefits encourage EU migrants to come to the UK (PA)

Citizens from new EU member states should be barred from one of the founding principles of the European Union - the freedom of movement - David Cameron has said.

In his letter to the European Council president Donald Tusk, Mr Cameron said new member states must wait until their economies are in sync with existing members before their citizens are able to migrate to richer nations.

Cutting down on the number of EU migrants coming to the UK is crucial to the Prime Minister's pledge to cut net immigration to the "tens of thousands".

He has succeeded in reducing non-EU migration since coming to power in 2010 but the Government's lack of control over migration from the continent led to net migration reaching a 10-year high of 320,000 last year.

Downing Street believes that reducing the 'pull factors' encouraging migrants from poorer EU countries to move to the UK in seek of work or benefits would be a way of cutting net migration.

In the letter Mr Cameron wrote: "We need to ensure that when new countries are admitted to the EU in the future, free movement will not apply to those new members until their economies have converged much more closely with existing member states."

However his proposal is likely to be strongly resisted by EU leaders who see the freedom of movement as a core EU principle that must not be compromised.

In a response to Mr Cameron's letter, which set out his four main objectives in his bid to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU, the EU Commission said that although some of his proposals were feasible, other demands were "highly problematic".