We'll never fully control our borders while we're in the EU says Philip Hammond Foreign Secretary admits Britain will never have border control in the EU Philip Hammond warned that the EU needs to reform or Britain will leave Germany should realise UK will leave unless we get new powers, he said Only 20 per cent think the PM will be able to strike a deal with EU leaders By Daniel Martin, Whitehall Correspondent for the Daily Mail Britain will never have full control of its borders as long as we are part of the EU, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond admitted Britain can never have full control over national borders as long as we remain a member of the European Union, the Foreign Secretary has admitted. Philip Hammond warned the British people will vote to leave the EU if we do not get reform. In a forthright interview, Mr Hammond said "destabilising movements" across Europe in recent years had seen "large waves of migrants" settling in Britain, putting pressure on public services. He said Germany should realise that if we do not get new powers to at least limit the number of migrants from the Continent, British voters will choose to leave the EU in the 2017 referendum. "If your ambition is that we have total unfettered control of our own borders to do what we like, that isn't compatible with membership of the European Union, it's as simple as that," he said. So if that's what you want, you're essentially talking about leaving the European Union. If what you want is the ability to avoid the kind of destabilising movements that we've seen over the last decade or so - large waves of migrants settling in concentrations that puts pressure on public services, people coming in to take advantage of the benefits system, people coming here who are working but who are getting an unwarranted bonus out of our benefits system through things like child tax credits and so on - if that's what we want to deal with, I think there are ways we can agree to deal with these things with our partners in Europe. Mr Hammond went further than David Cameron has gone in saying Britain will walk away from the negotiating table if other countries are not prepared to give us greater immigration powers. The Foreign Secretary revealed he has already started talking to his counterparts among the other 27 member states to work out what their "red lines" are, ahead of official renegotiation after the election. He said the talks had made him more optimistic that Britain could get enough powers back without wholesale reforms to EU treaties. Only 20 per cent of Britons believe David Cameron will be able to strike a deal with the EU of border controls These treaties mandate freedom of movement, but Mr Hammond said the wording was more flexible than many countries think - and the freedom could be limited by "stretching" the meaning of the treaties. Last night, an opinion poll showed there is deep scepticism about whether Mr Cameron can deliver on his ambition to curb the free movement of EU workers. IpsosMORI found that only 20 per cent think he can strike a deal that will allow the UK to turn some European citizens away at its borders. The overwhelming majority, 73 per cent, are doubtful. Mr Hammond's intervention comes just after Sir John Major warned that Britain is likely to leave the EU unless it allows us to restrict immigration. Sir John Major warned that Britain is likely to leave the EU unless immigration can be restricted The former premier said the chances of Britain leaving the EU were now "just under 50 per cent" - and would grow unless Brussels agreed to accommodate UK concerns on freedom of movement. Yesterday Mr Cameron, attending the G20 summit in Australia, said he agreed with Sir John's "excellent" speech about "the need there is to address Britain's concerns about immigration inside the EU." But the Coalition received a blow last night when Irish foreign minister Charles Flanagan said freedom of movement was a cornerstone of the EU and unlikely to be reformed. But Mr Hammond, who has been on a tour of European capitals since taking the post in July, said: "We're in the beginning stages of a negotiation. I'd like to be telling my German counterpart honestly if you draw the line there, I don't think we're going to get this past the British public in a referendum. But if you could move your line to there, I think we might. He said that if Britain does not get what voters want, the referendum result is likely to be a "no." And the Foreign Secretary said Britain is floating the idea of an "emergency brake" which could be applied to limit numbers if migration exceeded forecasts. He welcomed this week's European Court ruling saying member nations can refuse to pay certain benefits to jobless migrants. "I don't want to knee-jerk react, but it clearly means that because most of our benefits system is non-contributory, it gives us probably more scope than almost anybody else in Europe to look at how we apply the availability of benefits to EU migrants," Mr Hammond added. The Foreign Secretary said the court's ruling showed that movement from Brussels on freedom of movement was possible. The Roma gipsy who sparked a crackdown on benefits tourism