Clegg warns against EU migration 'guesstimates' 20 February 2013 Last updated at 10:28 Nick Clegg has refused to reveal official estimates of the number of Romanians and Bulgarians expected to come to the UK when restrictions are lifted next year. The deputy PM said the figures were not "precise," more like "guesstimates." Making them public would not help "public confidence in the immigration system," he told LBC Radio. Mr Clegg declined to say whether the official estimate was above or below 13,000 people a year. This was the figure quoted by the then Labour government when Poland and other countries joined the European Union in 2004, which was far exceeded. Citizens of Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, will have freedom to work across the union in 2014. Bandying Speaking on his weekly LBC phone-in show, Mr Clegg said the government had "estimates, but they are estimates," adding, when asked to reveal them: "I don't think it helps public confidence in the immigration system." He said: "I don't think we as a government should start bandying around estimates, estimates which at the moment aren't very precise." Asked whether the estimate was more than 13,000 people, he replied: "I can't give you clues... you are inviting me to get into a sort of guessing game about an estimate." The deputy prime minister added that Labour's incorrect prediction had "undermined much of the fabric of public support for immigration" and caused "the loss of confidence" in it. He added that "one of the reasons that happened" was because Labour "were bandying around guesstimates." Migration Watch, which supports tighter immigration controls, has recently predicted that 50,000 Bulgarians and Romanians will come to the UK every year when the restrictions are lifted. It analysed migration from other European countries and the number of Bulgarians and Romanians already in the UK before making its estimates. Home Secretary Theresa May said in November that temporary curbs could not continue under EU law and the government was looking instead at limiting access to benefits and the NHS to reduce the "pull factors" that encouraged migrants to come to the UK.