Bulgarians and Romanians will pay more tax than British 'natives' However, during a debate in the House of Lords on Tuesday, Lord Davies of Stamford said that despite the "unpleasantness" in some parts of the media, a study by University College London had found that the impact of EU migrants has been positive. He said that unlike the "native population," EU migrants have contributed "far more" in taxes and National Insurance contributions than they have consumed in public services and benefits. He said: "In other words, they have supplied us with a substantial financial and fiscal surplus to the benefit of every surplus in this country. Is there not every probability that hard working Romanians and Bulgarians will follow in the same footsteps. Earl Attlee told peers that said he "broadly agreed" with the "thrust" of the comments. Many economists link higher immigration to stronger growth and increased personal wealth. The Office for Budget Responsibility, Britain's economic watchdog, believes a complete freeze on immigration would see the economy grow at 1.9 per cent over the next fifty years. "Let's be flexible on work permits, let's recognise that we do have some skills shortages in the British economy - which is very much a failure of our education system," he said. But in terms of immigration, in terms of people coming to settle, I would suggest that for up to a five-year period we don't have people coming to settle until we sort out the mess.